The Philippines health sector is at a critical stage in its transformation. While the country has undertaken several significant health sector reforms in the past decades, a large unfinished policy agenda remains. The achievement of the health Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), especially...

The Philippines regained a modest growth rate of 3.5 percent per annum for 1999-2001, but has not yet managed to reduce the incidence of poverty from its 1996 level. The Medium Term Philippine Development (MTPDP) growth targets of over 5 percent per year are attainable, but only if the key...

"The authors explore the relationship between transaction costs and generalized trust. Using panel data from 2,100 households in 135 rural communities of the Philippines, the paper shows that where transaction costs are reduced (proxied by road construction), there is an increase in generalized...

"This paper explores the social capital impacts of a large-scale, community-driven development project in the Philippines in which communities competed for block grants for infrastructure investment. The analysis uses a unique data set of about 2,100 households collected before the project...

"More attention and resources have been devoted in recent years to early childhood development (ECD) in low- and middle-income countries. Rigorous studies on the effectiveness of ECD-related programs for improving children's development in various dimensions in the developing world are scant....

"Since the early 1980s the Philippines has undertaken substantial trade reform. The current Doha Round of World Trade Organization (WTO) negotiations is now likely to bring further reform and shocks to world import prices and export demand. The impact of all these developments on the poor is not...

"Millions of households in developing countries receive financial support from family members working overseas. How do the economic prospects of overseas migrants affect origin-household investments-in particular, in child human capital and household enterprises? Yang examines Philippine...