Targeting Transfers to the Poor: the Case of Food Subsidies

Provision of safety nets for the poor is a popular call in development policies especially in light of the government’s pursuit of structural and macroeconomic adjustments. A simple exercise in this article shows that even when the only information employed in identifying potential beneficiaries is the area of residence, an area-differentiated income transfer program amounting to P2 billion is capable of achieving the same poverty reduction as a universal program. Increases in food prices are also found to be inimical to poor households.agriculture sector, rural sector, food subsidy

Equivalence Scale and Poverty Assessment in a Poor Country

Mainly due to the dearth of available data, this article empirically illustrates that the practice of using household expenditures/incomes in assessing aggregate poverty tends to its overestimation. In the absence of reliable equivalence estimates, household size should be normalized to improve the estimation results.poverty, econometric modeling

Why Does Poverty Persist in the Philippines? Facts, Fancies, and Policies

Proposals peddled to address the poverty problem are plenty-and keep growing. At one end of the spectrum are proposals contending that the root of the problem is simply the lack of a respectable economic growth. Putting the economy on a high-growth path is prescribed as all that is needed to lick the poverty problem. At the other end are proposals asserting that the poverty problem is nothing but a concrete manifestation of gross economic and social inequities. Redistributing wealth and opportunities is viewed as the key to winning the war on poverty. A variant of such proposals holds that economic growth does not at all benefit the poor. Focusing on growth rather than on redistributive reforms is seen to exacerbate inequities, which could lead to further erosion of peace and social stability. Between these extremes are views that consider economic growth as a necessary condition for poverty reduction and recognize that reform measures have to be put in place to enhance the participation of the poor in growth processes. How do these proposals/views stand in relation to evidence and policy research? What are facts and what are fancies? Given the country's fiscal bind, what policy levers can be expected to generate high returns in terms of poverty reduction? This paper attempts to answer these questions by examining the Philippine experience in poverty reduction from an "international" perspective. The next two sections characterize the nature, pattern, and proximate determinants of poverty reduction during the past 20 years. The fourth section examines the economy-population-poverty nexus, specifically the quantitative significance of the country's continued rapid population growth to long-term income growth and poverty reduction.poverty, income growth, economic growth, population, agriculture, Philippines

Agricultural Growth and Rural Performance: A Philippine Perspective

Usual indicators of intertemporal rural performance are technically flawed mainly because of the “shifting” of the physical area of the rural sector as population grows and/or economic activity expands. This problem is illustrated here using Philippine recovery data. Also shown is the fact that Green Revolution has not substantially alleviated rural poverty in the Philippines.poverty alleviation, agriculture sector, investment, poverty, road

Targeting Transfers to the Poor: the Case of Food Subsidies

Provision of safety nets for the poor is a popular call in development policies especially in light of the government’s pursuit of structural and macroeconomic adjustments. A simple exercise in this article shows that even when the only information employed in identifying potential beneficiaries is the area of residence, an area-differentiated income transfer program amounting to P2 billion is capable of achieving the same poverty reduction as a universal program. Increases in food prices are also found to be inimical to poor households.agriculture sector, rural sector, food subsidy

Linkages, Poverty and Income Distribution

Despite high agricultural growth, the Philippine unemployed and underemployed has continued to swell. Rural poverty incidence has remained high and income distribution has become less egalitarian. What went wrong? This paper provides a survey of selected topics and issues in the economics of rural development. This includes concepts and empirical regularities concerning rural growth, linkages, poverty and income distribution; determinants of income diversification and demand and supply factors constraining rural growth linkages. This is to draw implications for public policy and further research on the dynamics of rural development.poverty alleviation, poverty distribution, income distribution, poverty, income

MDG 1 in the Philippines : Setting the Scores Right and Achieving the Targets

The official poverty data fall short of properly informing public policy and governance concerning the progress, or lack of it, in achieving the country’s commitment of halving, between 1990 and 2015, the incidence of poverty and hunger. Imposing consistency in poverty estimation shows that the poverty trend is actually even more alarming than what the official data depict. ?Business as usual? keeps the country from achieving the MDG 1 targets. Meeting the huge policy challenge of poverty reduction requires nothing less than rapid but sustained and inclusive growth.Human Development, Philippines, Poverty, Welfare

What has really happened to poverty in the Philippines? New measures, evidence, and policy implications

That poverty is a multidimensional phenomenon is no longer debatable. What remains a contentious issue is whether the various dimensions of individual deprivation should be aggregate

Toward a Fairer Society: Inequality and Competition Policy in Developing Asia

Rising inequality poses a serious threat to sustained growth and poverty reduction in developing Asia. Many countries in the region have adopted competition policy—also known as antitrust—to promote economic welfare by protecting competitive processes, as well as in consideration of public interests, including social equity. This paper uses the Philippine experience to illustrate the conceptual and institutional issues in operationalising competition policy for development. Competition policy in the Philippines has historical roots in its struggle for economic and social reforms aimed at achieving inclusive development. Properly framing competition policy to stay close to its core guiding principle is key to its effectiveness in contributing to inclusive development. The paper concludes that, in the Philippine context, adhering to consumer welfare standards in competition policy promotes a fairer social outcome (i.e., reduction of income inequality and poverty) while improving economic efficiency

Changing Comparative Advantage in Philippine Rice Production

This paper examines Philippine comparative advantage in rice production and whether government policies encourage the rice sector to exploit its advantage. Rice production has grown at 6.0 percent annually in 1970s. This growth has been due to yield increases from newer modern varieties and more fertilizer and to increases in irrigated area. Government policies have contributed to growth principally through irrigation investments. Although the Philippines have a comparative advantage in rice production, exports were unprofitable for the government-marketing agency in 1977 to 1979. Government control of exports puts a barrier between world and domestic markets so that world quality premiums are not reflected in domestic prices. The domestic milling industry therefore has no incentive to become competitive in higher quality international markets. Inelastic demand for low-quality Philippine rice on world markets then limits profitable exports. If private traders were allowed to export, they should be able to respond to world market incentives to produce and export good quality rice at a profit.trade sector, rice commodities, trade policies, comparative advantage