This paper examines the relationship among poverty, economic growth, and inequality by decomposing poverty changes at subnational levels. The results were examined against the performances of the different economic sectors in the regions to understand the relationships while accounting for the...

The 2011 and 2012 fiscal program appears to score high in terms of contributing to the speed of fiscal consolidation despite limited gains in revenue generation. This came about largely because of fairly serious underspending during the first nine months of 2011. The slow utilization of spending...

Local road investments work for growth and poverty reduction in local areas. The paper highlights the importance of investing in local roads and directs attention to the critical role of local government units (LGUs) in improving the local road network. Raising additional monies to fund local...

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...

What is the impact of the removal of barriers to trade on the firms' innovative activities? Does the increase in competition arising from trade reforms lead to increases in innovation? This paper attempts to examine the link between trade liberalization and innovation using firm panel data on...