Template-Type: ReDIF-Paper 1.0 Author-Name: Edita A, Tan Author-Name-First: Edita Author-Name-Last: Tan Author-Workplace-Name: School of Economics, University of the Philippines Diliman Title: A Call to Arms to Fight Mediocre Education Abstract: The paper puts together the very alarming poor state of the Philippines education system from basic to higher education based on recent available data from international and local sources. It points to the central role of universities as producers of the principal learning inputs for all levels. Considering the poor state of higher education with only a handful of high quality universities that produce a very small output of graduates with advanced degree especially in STEM fields, the paper proposes a massive scholarship program for advanced degrees to strengthen and expand the country's ten best universities. They would be the seed to strengthen other universities and the other institutions. Length: 17 pages Creation-Date: 2021-07 Publication-Status: Published as UPSE Discussion Paper No. 2021-01, July 2021 File-URL: https://econ.upd.edu.ph/dp/index.php/dp/article/view/1537 File-Format: Application/pdf Number: 202101 Keywords: Philippines; education Handle: RePEc:phs:dpaper:202101 Template-Type: ReDIF-Paper 1.0 Author-Name: Julian Thomas B. Alvarez Author-Name-First: Julian Thomas Author-Name-Last: Alvarez Author-Workplace-Name: Asian Development Bank Author-Name: Jahm Mae E. Guinto Author-Name-First: Jahm Mae Author-Name-Last: Guinto Author-Workplace-Name: Asian Development Bank and University of the Philip[pines Author-Name: Joseph J. Capuno Author-Name-First: Joseph Author-Name-Last: Capuno Author-Workplace-Name: School of Economics, University of the Philippines Diliman Title: Don’t let a "good" crisis go to waste: One-upmanship in local responses to the COVID-19 pandemic Abstract: Unlike in previous crises, the COVID-19 pandemic has wrought a crisis affecting all population groups, all economic sectors and all jurisdictions in the Philippines, as elsewhere. The impact of the COVID-19 vary across localities, however, partly due to differences in local government responses to the pandemic. Our objective is to examine the patterns in the types and timing of local responses among neighboring local government units (cities) for evidence of oneupmanship among their incumbent leaders (mayors). We assembled data for 25 selected cities and then grouped them into 28 neighborhood clusters. Using three indicators, we measure the immediacy, primacy and distinctiveness of the local responses within each cluster over the period March 2020-March 2021. Of the 28 clusters, we find in 19 (67.9 percent) evidence of oneupmanship consistent with the view that the type and timing of local responses are driven by mayors who wish to signal their talents and abilities. Further, mayors who face greater election competition pressures (low vote margin, many rivals) tend to implement responses ahead or uniquely of others. Thus, some leaders are able to turn the COVID-19 crisis into an opportunity to demonstrate their competence to their constituents, presumably to improve their popularity and re-election prospects. Length: 51 pages Creation-Date: 2021-07 Publication-Status: Published as UPSE Discussion Paper No. 2021-02, July 2021 File-URL: https://econ.upd.edu.ph/dp/index.php/dp/article/view/1538 File-Format: Application/pdf Number: 202102 Classification-JEL: D72, H73, I18 Keywords: COVID-19 pandemic; local responses; one-upmanship; yardstick competition; Philippines Handle: RePEc:phs:dpaper:202102 Template-Type: ReDIF-Paper 1.0 Author-Name: Joseph J. Capuno Author-Name-First: Joseph Author-Name-Last: Capuno Author-Workplace-Name: School of Economics, University of the Philippines Diliman Title: Dominance and divergence: Ethnic groups and preferences for redistribution in Southeast Asia Abstract: Does identification with dominant ethnic groups lead individuals to diverge in their preferences for redistribution? This paper contributes to the comparative analysis of the role of ethnic background in shaping attitudes towards government's role in reducing income inequalities in Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore and Thailand, where nearly half-a­billion people live and belong to more than sixty ethnic groups. Using a pool of nationally­representative survey data from the five Southeast Asian countries, we first classified the respondents by population dominance of the ethnic groups they claim to belong, and then examine for differences across members of dominant ethnic groups in their preferences for government redistribution. Relative to the biggest ethnic group, the second biggest ethnic group is found to have less preference for redistribution, after controlling for other factors. No systematic differences in their redistributive preferences are found, however, between the biggest ethnic group and other smaller groups. The results are fairly robust even after accounting for the possible moderating effects of income status, trust in government and in people, subjective social mobility, concerns about social fairness, and views on the importance of fate in one's life. Moreover, the results hold out even in the sub-sample of low-income people for whom economic considerations more than ethnicity are expected to determine their redistributive preferences. Notwithstanding the importance of shared norms or beliefs in aligning he social choices of people with same ethnic or racial background, our results suggest their population sizes, which possibly reflect their relative influence over domestic policies, also matter. Length: 42 pages Creation-Date: 2021-08 Publication-Status: Published as UPSE Discussion Paper No. 2021-03, August 2021 File-URL: https://econ.upd.edu.ph/dp/index.php/dp/article/view/1539 File-Format: Application/pdf Number: 202103 Classification-JEL: H20, H53, I39, Z10 Keywords: Redistribution; ethnic dominance; income inequality; social mobility; trust; Southeast Asia Handle: RePEc:phs:dpaper:202103 Template-Type: ReDIF-Paper 1.0 Author-Name: Joseph J. Capuno Author-Name-First: Joseph Author-Name-Last: Capuno Author-Workplace-Name: School of Economics, University of the Philippines Diliman Title: In whom we trust more? Heterogeneous effects of government assistance on trust in local officials in the Philippines Abstract: Does identification with dominant ethnic groups lead individuals to diverge in their preferences for redistribution? This paper contributes to the comparative analysis of the role of ethnic background in shaping attitudes towards government's role in reducing income inequalities in Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore and Thailand, where nearly half-a­billion people live and belong to more than sixty ethnic groups. Using a pool of nationally­representative survey data from the five Southeast Asian countries, we first classified the respondents by population dominance of the ethnic groups they claim to belong, and then examine for differences across members of dominant ethnic groups in their preferences for government redistribution. Relative to the biggest ethnic group, the second biggest ethnic group is found to have less preference for redistribution, after controlling for other factors. No systematic differences in their redistributive preferences are found, however, between the biggest ethnic group and other smaller groups. The results are fairly robust even after accounting for the possible moderating effects of income status, trust in government and in people, subjective social mobility, concerns about social fairness, and views on the importance of fate in one's life. Moreover, the results hold out even in the sub-sample of low-income people for whom economic considerations more than ethnicity are expected to determine their redistributive preferences. Notwithstanding the importance of shared norms or beliefs in aligning he social choices of people with same ethnic or racial background, our results suggest their population sizes, which possibly reflect their relative influence over domestic policies, also matter. Length: 41 pages Creation-Date: 2021-08 Publication-Status: Published as UPSE Discussion Paper No. 2021-04, August 2021 File-URL: https://econ.upd.edu.ph/dp/index.php/dp/article/view/1540 File-Format: Application/pdf Number: 202104 Classification-JEL: H31, H49, D72 Keywords: Government assistance; trust in officials; satisfaction with performance; treatment effects; Philippines Handle: RePEc:phs:dpaper:202104 Template-Type: ReDIF-Paper 1.0 Author-Name: Toby Melissa C. Monsod Author-Name-First: Toby Melissa Author-Name-Last: Monsod Author-Workplace-Name: School of Economics, University of the Philippines Diliman Author-Name: Sara Jane Ahmed Author-Name-First: Sara Jane Author-Name-Last: Ahmed Author-Workplace-Name: School of Economics, University of the Philippines Diliman Author-Name: Golda P. Hilario Author-Name-First: Golda Author-Name-Last: Hilario Author-Workplace-Name: School of Economics, University of the Philippines Diliman Title: Accelerating Resilience and Climate Change Adaptation: Strengthening the Philippines’ Contribution to Limit Global Warming and Cope with its Impacts Abstract: In its first Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) to the Paris Agreement, the Philippines committed to a GHG emissions reduction/avoidance of 75 percent for the period 2020 to 2030, referenced against a projected business-as-usual cumulative emission for the same period. However, the numbers do not add up, critical sectors such as forestry, which is central to the country’s climate change response, are excluded, and government is unconditionally committed to just 4 percent of that target. This begs the question of how the NDC squares with the country’s high level policy clarity and urgency on climate action, including the requirement to infuse all development plans and policies with it. A resetting of the NDC may therefore be warranted so that both national imperatives for climate risk resilience and climate smart development and global mitigation requirements are better served: an NDC that is based on first principles, with programs and measures anchored on adaptation/resilience and driven by their impact sustainable development rather than by GHG emissions reductions per se. This is not the standard ‘decarbonization’ path but a path that recognizes that highly vulnerable countries with relatively small carbon footprints per capita like the Philippines are likely to do more for global efforts to reduce the extent of climate change and cope with its impacts if they build robust community ownership for climate action and leverage opportunities based on their own comparative advantages; one comparative advantage of the Philippines is the biodiversity of its marine and coastal resources. This approach also recognizes that climate change impacts will be dire even if global warming is successfully limited to 1.5 degrees. Thus adaptation and resilience are imperatives for all countries and national contributions that are organized to support these efforts will be vital. Length: 42 pages Creation-Date: 2021-08 Publication-Status: Published as UPSE Discussion Paper No. 2021-05, August 2021 File-URL: https://econ.upd.edu.ph/dp/index.php/dp/article/view/1541 File-Format: Application/pdf Number: 202105 Classification-JEL: Q54, Q58, O53, O21 Keywords: Climate change; Climate policy; Development Policy; Emissions; Philippines; ASEAN Handle: RePEc:phs:dpaper:202105 Template-Type: ReDIF-Paper 1.0 Author-Name: Emmanuel S. de Dios Author-Name-First: Emmanuel Author-Name-Last: de Dios Author-Workplace-Name: School of Economics, University of the Philippines Diliman Title: Virtues and institutions in Smith: a reconstruction Abstract: I provide a formal explanation of the relationship between the virtues of prudence, justice, and benevolence described by Adam Smith in the Theory of moral sentiments and connect these with the themes Smith subsequently discusses in the Wealth of nations. I contend that the other-regarding concerns Smith discusses as internally held virtues in TMS are presumed addressed instead by formal mechanisms in the WN -- particularly the third-party institutions of law and anonymous market exchange. Length: 12 pages Creation-Date: 2021-10 Publication-Status: Published as UPSE Discussion Paper No. 2021-06, October 2021 File-URL: https://econ.upd.edu.ph/dp/index.php/dp/article/view/1542 File-Format: Application/pdf Number: 202106 Classification-JEL: B12, B15 Keywords: Adam Smith Problem; virtues; institutions; self-interest; altruism Handle: RePEc:phs:dpaper:202106 Template-Type: ReDIF-Paper 1.0 Author-Name: Emmanuel S. de Dios Author-Name-First: Emmanuel Author-Name-Last: de Dios Author-Workplace-Name: School of Economics, University of the Philippines Diliman Author-Name: Maria Socorro Gochoco-Bautista Author-Name-First: Maria Socorro Author-Name-Last: Gochoco-Bautista Author-Workplace-Name: School of Economics, University of the Philippines Diliman Author-Name: Jan Carlo Punongbayan Author-Name-First: Jan Carlo Author-Name-Last: Punongbayan Author-Workplace-Name: School of Economics, University of the Philippines Diliman Title: Martial law and the Philippine economy Abstract: Part of a proposed anthology, this article provides a concise review of the economic performance during the period of the Marcos dictatorship (1972-1985) from a comparative historical perspective. We examine the external events and internal policy responses that made possible the high growth in the early years of martial law and show that these are integral to explaining the decline and ultimate collapse of the economy in 1984-1985. The macroeconomic, trade, and debt policies pursued by the Marcos regime—particularly its failure to shift the country onto a sustainable growth path—are explained in the context of the regime’s larger political-economic programme of holding on to power and seeking rents. Length: 40 pages Creation-Date: 2021-11 Publication-Status: Published as UPSE Discussion Paper No. 2021-07, November 2021 File-URL: https://econ.upd.edu.ph/dp/index.php/dp/article/view/1543 File-Format: Application/pdf Number: 202107 Classification-JEL: N15, O53, P48 Keywords: martial law, Philippine economy, economic history, political economy Handle: RePEc:phs:dpaper:202107 Template-Type: ReDIF-Paper 1.0 Author-Name: Renato E. Reside, Jr. Author-Name-First: Renato Author-Name-Last: Reside, Jr. Author-Workplace-Name: School of Economics, University of the Philippines Diliman Title: Growth During the Time of Covid19 Abstract: This short piece discusses the results of simple regression analysis using cross country data to determine the factors that have influenced fluctuations in real output during the covid-19 pandemic period. Focus is on explaining not only output growth from 2020 to the first half of 2021, but also the length or duration of recessions. The most prominent factors influencing growth include the ability of a country to contain the spread of infections and vaccinate their population. The size of the covid19-induced fiscal stimulus, also matters, especially health care spending. However, the relationship is nonlinear. Beyond a certain point, fiscal spending leads to lower quarterly growth. Policy recommendations are given. Creation-Date: 2021-12 Length: 15 pages Publication-Status: Published as UPSE Discussion Paper No. 2021-08, December 2021 File-URL: https://econ.upd.edu.ph/dp/index.php/dp/article/view/1544 File-Format: Application/pdf Number: 202108 Classification-JEL: E6, E62, E65, H11, H12, H51, I18 Keywords: Economic growth, fiscal policy, government expenditures, covid19, crisis management Handle: RePEc:phs:dpaper:202108