The past thirty years or so has seen microfinance take off from small group-based lending experiments to several thousand financial service providers (FSPs) serving a growing portion of the developing world today. Nevertheless, the challenge to improve broadbased access to financial services -...

In his 5th State of the Nation Address (SONA) last July 27, 2020, President Rodrigo Duterte called on Congress to swiftly pass the bill reinstating the death penalty, specifically for heinous drug-related crimes specified under the Comprehensive Drugs Act of 2002. Pro-death penalty lawmakers and...

This paper is the 19th Jaime V. Ongpin Memorial Lecture delivered by the author last 21 October 2020. The first section discusses inequality and its double-edged nature with respect to inclusive growth and development. The paper then elaborates on the related features of oligarchy and...

President-elect Joseph Biden faces challenges both at home and abroad in the aftermath of the Trump administration. The COVID-19 pandemic has deeply affected the United States, with over 23.5 million reported cases by early 2021. Much like many nations under lockdown and reeling from supply...

The COVID-19 pandemic has affected over 200 countries and territories, leading to well over 40 million confirmed cases and over 1.1 million deaths worldwide (covid19.who.int/). While many are hopeful, an effective vaccine is not yet assured, and the world still struggles with the so-called...

Participatory budgeting offers the promise of social accountability through citizens’ engagement in public sector budget allocations. The international evidence suggests that participatory budgeting initiatives can help produce more efficient and equitable budget allocations, but that the most...

Trade and investment flows into less advanced economies could bring about important technological spillovers that could boost firm-level productivity and bolster their long term economic growth. This brief paper outlines some of the motivations for public sector interventions to support learning...

Is a dramatic slowdown in global economic growth going to erase much of the progress in the last decade in terms of human development in the developing world‘ How might the crisis affect progress towards achieving the Millennium Development Goals‘ To address these questions, this paper...

In almost 30 years of implementation, the Sangguniang Kabataan, which is the Philippines’ version of the village youth council, has faced many challenges, from accusations of exposing ineffective and corrupt practices to young leaders to allegations of electoral malpractices such as...

Developing countries are presently experiencing or are shortly expected to see a “youth bulge” (a large number of young people in the national population) — some 71 in total and 11 in Asia alone — will face relatively greater employment and human capital investment challenges as a result...