Partnership between the public and private sectors, the main constituents of the economy, is not only logical but seems like a natural institutional arrangement. It can be a symbiotic relationship which brings about mutually beneficial processes and outcomes that redound to the economy and...

The population issue - now passé elsewhere in the developing world, even in the poorer countries - remains a durable puzzle in the Philippines. On the one hand, a majority of Filipinos regard rapid population growth as an impediment to socioeconomic development, requiring policy intervention;...

Following an earlier paper titled 'Population and Poverty: The Real Score' (UPSE Discussion Paper 0415, December 2004), the present paper was first issued in August 2008 as a contribution to the public debate on the population issue that never seemed to die in this country. The debate heated up...

This paper addresses the question whether and to what extent remittances contribute to poverty alleviation and regional development in the Philippines. It first revisits the causes and consequences of international migration, drawing on the more recent literature. It then zeroes in on...

Debates on the revision of the value-added tax (VAT) are about to reach the penultimate stage. Once house and senate have passed their respective versions of the bill, congress - through a bicameral conference committee sometimes referred to as the 'third chamber' - must then agree on the final...

"Recent research employing cross-national regressions shows that the incomes of the poor move one-for-one with overall average incomes, suggesting that economic growth is virtually sufficient for poverty reduction. This paper attempts to probe beneath cross-country averages by analyzing...

In line with the commitment of the Philippine government to adopt the Millennium Declaration, there have been efforts geared toward the achievement of the millennium development goals (MDGs) particularly the specific targets set for each of the eight MDGs. The MDGs include eradication of extreme...

Numerous studies have tried to explain the poor growth performance of the Philippines. This paper critically reviews related literature on constraints to long-run growth, as it applies to the Philippines. We evaluate several factors, namely: culture, corruption, and institutions. The last offers...

For the Philippines, quantitative policy analysis should incorporate regional differences in welfare and economic structure, which arise partly from geographic constraints. However, existing CGE models offer limited analysis of regional effects or national impacts of region-specific...

Fruits and vegetables comprise a large and dynamic subsector within Philippine agriculture. However, the country's agricultural development strategy continues to emphasize traditional crops. Evidence points to a significant role for fruits and vegetables in agricultural diversification and rural...