Directing government subsidies to social services such as health care is expected to bring about positive external/social benefits and improve equity in access to health services. In general, government spending on health is envisioned to improve the well-being of beneficiaries and enhance their...

Highly unequal access to health services and the large share of household out-of-pocket spending in total health expenditures underscore the importance of attaining universal health coverage. This study evaluates the major challenges involved in moving toward universal coverage of the Philippine...

The quantitative restriction (QR) on rice will last until the end of 2004. The paper employs a computable general equilibrium (CGE) model to analyze the possible poverty and distributional effects of the removal of QR and the reduction in tariff on rice imports. Policy experiments indicate that...