Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Author-Name: Joseph J. Capuno
Author-Workplace-Name: UP School of Economics
Author-Name: Aleli D. Kraft
Author-Workplace-Name: UP School of Economics
Author-Name: Stella A. Quimbo
Author-Workplace-Name: UP School of Economics
Author-Name: Carlos Antonio
Author-Workplace-Name: UP School of Economics
Title: Shocks to Philippine Households: incidence, idiosyncrasy, and impact
Abstract: Philippine households are perennially exposed to natural disasters and calamities, given the country's location in the Pacific Ring of Fire and in the monsoon belt. In addition, they face health, economic, and sociopolitical risks. Using a nationally representative sample of households, we assess the overall incidence of different shocks, the extent to which they simultaneously affect households in the same area, and their impact. A huge majority of households experience shocks, with the incidence of different shocks being roughly the same for poor and rich households. Natural and economic shocks appear to affect more households simultaneously in the same area than do sociopolitical shocks, health shocks, and deaths. Health shocks and deaths lead to greater short-term and long-term impacts in terms of lost assets, unplanned expenditures and non-monetary costs. Richer households are better able to recover than the poor. We draw some implications for the design and targeting of social health insurance, disaster management, and other social protection programs.
Classification-JEL: D10, I38
Keywords:  household shocks, coping mechanisms, welfare
Journal: Philippine Review of Economics
Pages: 1-27
Volume: 50
Issue: 2
Year: 2013
Month: December
File-URL: http://pre.econ.upd.edu.ph/index.php/pre/article/view/895/795
File-Format: Application/pdf
Handle: RePEc:phs:prejrn:v:50:y:2013:i:2:p:1-27

Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Author-Name: Raul V. Fabella
Author-Workplace-Name: UP School of Economics, Center for National Policy and Strategy
Title: State capacity, stakeholder buy-in, and collective action problems: the budget allocation case
Abstract: Weak state capacity can lead to poor economic performance owing to an inability to solve collective action problems associated with lumpy but highly productive infrastructure projects. We formulate a stakeholder buy-in game where two players (regions) must unanimously approve a lumpy infrastructure program in which one region first gets the total budget in period one to finance a lumpy and productive project and the other region gets all the budget generated in period two. The program involves the state undertaking several tax-andtransfer steps in the implementation phase. Both would be better off if the program succeeds. But weak capacity is reflected in the probability that the state fails to deliver at each step. If either player rejects the program, the default allocation is Òdivideby- NÓ, where each player gets an Nth part of the given budget, which can finance only small and less productive projects. When state capacity exceeds a certain threshold, unanimous approval is a unique evolutionarily stable strategy. If not, the Òdivide-by-NÓ rule dominates. A higher return on lumpy projects reduces the hurdle probability and improves the likelihood of stakeholder buy-in. A higher degree of myopia among the players has the opposite effect.
Classification-JEL: C70,O10, O12
Keywords: public goods provision, weak state, stakeholder buy-in game, Òdivide-by-NÓ rule
Journal: Philippine Review of Economics
Pages: 28-36
Volume: 50
Issue: 2
Year: 2013
Month: December
File-URL: http://pre.econ.upd.edu.ph/index.php/pre/article/view/896/796
File-Format: Application/pdf
Handle: RePEc:phs:prejrn:v:50:y:2013:i:2:p:28-36

Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Author-Name: Lino Briguglio
Author-Workplace-Name: University of Malta
Abstract: This paper describes the main thrust of competition law and policy in the European Union (eu) from which it draws some
lessons for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (asean), mainly with regard to the development of a single market in the region. The paper argues that the success of competition law and policy in the eu to further strengthen the single market can be attributed mainly to the fact that member countries accepted to forgo part of their sovereignty to the union, and to allow a central entity (the European Commission) to enforce competition law, with investigative powers, backed by an eu-wide legislative framework transposed into national laws. The paper contends that the creation of an asean single market by 2015 is not likely to be attained due to weaknesses in the institutional framework relating to competition law and policy within the region, particularly because of weak enforcement across the region.
Classification-JEL: K21, F15
Keywords: competition law, ASEAN, European Union
Journal: Philippine Review of Economics
Pages: 37-52
Volume: 50
Issue: 2
Year: 2013
Month: December
File-URL: http://pre.econ.upd.edu.ph/index.php/pre/article/view/897/797
File-Format: Application/pdf
Handle: RePEc:phs:prejrn:v:50:y:2013:i:2:p:37-52

Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Author-Name: Faith Christian Cacnio
Author-Workplace-Name: Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas
Title: Analysing inflation dynamics in the Philippines using the new Keynesian Phililips curve
Abstract: This study analyses short-run inflation dynamics in the Philippines using the new Keynesian Phillips curve (nkpc) framework. The nkpc highlights the inclusion of microbased behavioral models for economic agents (i.e., households and firms) in deriving the relationship between inflation and economic activity. A key finding of this paper is the declining sensitivity of inflation to changes in the real variables of the economy. Various reasons have been cited to explain this phenomenon, which is often referred to in the literature as the flattening of the Phillips curve. For the Philippines, the adoption of inflation targeting and increased trade openness contributed to the flattening of the Phillips curve.
Classification-JEL: E31
Keywords: inflation dynamics, New Keynesian Phillips Curve, flattening Phillips Curve
Journal: Philippine Review of Economics
Pages: 53-82
Volume: 50
Issue: 2
Year: 2013
Month: December
File-URL: http://pre.econ.upd.edu.ph/index.php/pre/article/view/898/798
File-Format: Application/pdf
Handle: RePEc:phs:prejrn:v:50:y:2013:i:2:p:53-82

Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Author-Name: Mitzie Irene P. Conchada
Author-Workplace-Name: School of Economics De Lasalle University
Title: The cost efficiency of state universities and colleges in the Philippines
Abstract: As part of its effort to combat poverty and improve the countryÕs competitiveness through education, the Philippine government provides financial support to hundreds of thousands of students coursed through subsidized state universities and colleges (sucs), which today number 110 all over the archipelago. The effectiveness with which these institutions use taxpayersÕ money is under constant public scrutiny. We explore the cost efficiency of sucs, taking into consideration their ability to produce graduates and board passers given the budget allocation they receive annually, for the period 2006Ð2010. Universities are analysed separately from colleges owing to the inherent differences in their operative structures. State universities are found to be more cost efficient than state colleges, a fact attributable in part to their larger scale and scope of operation. Calculations show that state universities are characterized by economies of scale and scope, while state colleges are not. This has significant implications for their educational function.
Journal: Philippine Review of Economics
Pages: 83-104
Volume: 50
Issue: 2
Year: 2013
Month: December
File-URL: http://pre.econ.upd.edu.ph/index.php/pre/article/view/899/799
File-Format: Application/pdf
Handle: RePEc:phs:prejrn:v:50:y:2013:i:2:p:83-104