Using a panel dataset from cities and municipalities in the Philippines in 2001, 2004 and 2007, we investigate whether yardstick competition -- measured here as the average spending and revenues of surrounding jurisdictions in the same province -- influence local government fiscal decisions. For...

In 2010, the Philippines appeared to be on track to attain by 2015 its target for Millennium Development Goals 4 (Reduce child mortality), but less so for Goal 7 (Ensure environmental sustainability). In pursuit of the latter, the government expands its provision of water and services to more...

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...

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...

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...

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...

Using a panel dataset from cities and municipalities in the Philippines in 2001, 2004 and 2007, we investigate whether yardstick competition -- measured here as the average spending and revenues of surrounding jurisdictions in the same province -- influence local government fiscal decisions. For...

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...