In 2006, poverty incidence in the Philippines went up by 3 percentage points from 2003, marking a reversal against the downward trend in previous poverty estimates. This upward trend went against expectations after the Philippine economy exhibited a relatively robust performance during this...

The Philippines is one of the biggest pharmaceutical markets in the ASEAN region, next only to Indonesia and Thailand. It is a lifeline to thousands of Filipino workers and a significant contributor in terms of value of output. This industry is one of the fastest growing industries in the...

This paper has attempted to examine the impacts of competition policy reforms on the efficiency of the Philippine commercial banking system. It uses the stochastic frontier approach to come up with estimates of profit efficiency and cost inefficiency measures. The results are quite interesting....

Understanding migration behavior is crucial in designing policy interventions for influencing migrants' behavior. An aspect of international migration that lacks scholarly inquiry is temporary labor migration. This paper examines migration behavior of households from a labor-sending rural...

For many migrant workers, labor migration is not just a one-time, temporary means of livelihood, it has become the way of life. Among the 1.4 million land-based migrants in 2015, two-thirds comprise of re-hires. The number of new hires has been increasing as well. In fact, the trend of migrant...

While economic forces drive much of international migration, social factors are known to significantly facilitate movement. By providing information and other resources, networks reduce the cost and risk associated with international migration. The influence of migration networks, however,...

The Philippines is one of the biggest pharmaceutical markets in the ASEAN region, next only to Indonesia and Thailand. It is a lifeline to thousands of Filipino workers and a significant contributor in terms of value of output. This industry is one of the fastest growing industries in the...

The Philippine government shows its serious effort to combat poverty through the continuing expansion of the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps), the Philippines` version of the conditional cash transfer (CCT) program modeled by Latin American countries. The 4Ps by far is the most...

The year 2013 marks the fifth year of the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) implementation in the country since its inception in 2008. The first batch of beneficiaries will be graduating from the program in several months' time. Meanwhile, the government continues to expand the...