We investigate the effects of two accountability measures on the decisions of the local governments under decentralization. Using a panel of Philippine municipalities and cities in three election years, we find that term limits have negative but weak effects on the provision of health insurance...

Using a panel dataset from cities and municipalities in the Philippines in 2001, 2004 and 2007, we investigate whether yardstick competition

With their country located in the Pacific Ring of Fire and in the monsoon belt, Philippine households are perennially exposed to natural disasters and calamities. In addition, they face health, economic and sociopolitical risks. Using a nationally representative sample of households, we assess...

In this paper, we examine the theory and evidence on the various linkages between poverty, health and education. We introduce the idea of poverty webs to highlight both the cycles and intricate pathways from adverse health and education conditions to poverty and back, within and across...

In developing countries like the Philippines, a major policy concern is the inequity in access to health and education services. In this paper, we investigate the effects of factors over which households have control ('choices') or none ('circumstances') on their access to basic services. Our...

Are new mayors more responsive to disasters than their reelected counterparts? The identification strategy is based on slim vote margin in which new and reelected mayors are found to be as if randomly assigned. We find that with greater storm exposure: new mayors spend more on health sector than...

Evaluation studies on conditional cash transfers (CCT) in the Philippines found small if not insignificantly different from zero effects on household consumption. We use propensity score matching to examine how recipients made use of the money they received, taking into account possible changes...

This paper provides a review of the empirical evidence cited in the current public discussions on removing the remaining constitutional restrictions on foreign-equity ownership in certain economic sectors. A fuller appreciation of the given evidence shows that lifting equity restrictions is not...

The administration of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. is pushing for the creation of the Maharlika Investment Fund (MIF). Originally proposed as a sovereign wealth fund, the MIF later on morphed into what can be called a sovereign investment fund (SIF): a state-owned investment fund that aims to...

We are pleased to note that the discussion paper we wrote ("How to change a constitution by handwaving") has attracted some interest from the public and observers of economic policy. Among the more thoughtful responses the paper has received is that from the Foundation for Economic Freedom...