With the lifting of the quantitative restrictions on rice imports, the Philippines is expecting an inflow of rice to enter in the next few months. Although this is expected to lead to a decrease in rice prices, this could similarly put pressure on some farmers' incomes to the extent that they...

The Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) was created under the Bangsamoro Organic Law (RA 11054 ) which was signed into law in March 2019. One key feature in this law is the creation of a BARMM block grant which is intended to help resource the new autonomous region which will...

Imperial Manila is often blamed for controlling public spending in at least three ways: a) by being the beneficiary of a disproportionatley larger share of public spending; b) by “controlling” public spending allocations to the LGUs; and c) by passing on unfunded mandates to the LGUs. On the...

As a contribution to the nascent literature, this study examines patterns of vote buying among poor voters in 17 cities in Metro Manila, using a dataset closely following the 2016 national and local elections. Specifically, it will examine the possible factors linked to vote buying, hopefully...

To achieve a better future by 2040, most Filipinos express the need for simple and efficient government transactions, affordable government services, and the elimination of corruption. This paper expounds on that vision by explaining how effective public goods and services are hinged on a...

This paper elaborates on the economics of the taxi sector in the Philippines, and the impact of emerging competition such as Uber. It argues that a better understanding of the economics of the taxi industry could help inform regulators on whether and to what extent they should regulate Uber in...

The “blue economy” is a version of the “green economy” made relevant to our seas and oceans. It is a model of economic development that focuses on the sustainable management and use of natural and other resources in the maritime sector. Given the Philippines' archipelagic nature and...

Excessive party switching potentially weakens accountability and ideological coherence based on which party-based democracies operate. This study empirically analyzes party switching in the Philippine House of Representations, touching on issues at the macro-level (e.g. the legislative model) to...

This paper estimates that 40 centavos out of every 1 peso in potential revenues is lost to corruption in the Philippine Bureau of Customs. Ending the “corruption finance” propagated through tax leakages in the BOC could be good in and of itself for the country, but international evidence and...

This paper examines possible reforms in the income tax regime of the Philippines, highlighting some of the proposals recently discussed in the Philippine legislature. Because it will focus only on income taxes, it will stop short of assessing what might be considered an optimal tax structure....