Teaching Math with Confidence-Recommendations for Improving Numeracy from the Lens of Confidence Building

Despite the vast amount of literature surrounding the topic of financial literacy and related problems, there is still no universally accepted solution to this issue because the main factors causing financial literacy problems are still not fully understood both by researchers and current policy-makers. A possible new approach was discovered by Skagerlund et al. (2018), as their research suggested that financial literacy is driven by numeracy (the ability to process and perform basic numerical concepts and calculations) rather than direct knowledge about financial concepts. Given that numeracy is an effort based task, this policy brief provides a list of recommendations for developing numeracy from the standpoint of motivating effort to practice and improve the numeracy and mathematical skills of people for them to have the tools necessary to become financially literate, which may be more effective than creating a dedicated course on the topic of financial literacy. The results of the study confirmed that effort is indeed motivated by higher levels of confidence. Furthermore, information, particularly feedback regarding performance, plays a crucial role in shaping future confidence and, by extension, future levels of motivation and effort. Guided by these findings, this brief proposes the following policy recommendations

Testing the Relationship Between Confidence and Effort: A Behavioral Finance Perspective on the Problem of Financial Literacy

This experimental study tested the relationship between confidence and effort with the ultimate objective of discovering how these factors may influence financial literacy. This was done through a modified version of a slider test and ball allocation task. The population consisted of 85 random participants who were primarily approached through social media. A simple OLS regression, along with robustness checks, namely the Tobit model and instrumental variable (IV) regression model using Tobit estimators, were utilized to confirm the causal relationship between confidence and effort

Determinants of wage and employment disparities for TVET and High School graduates

Technical Vocational Education and Training (TVET) was institutionalized by the Philippine government in order to fill in the gaps left by the higher education system in transitioning students to the formal workforce. However, recent studies suggest that TVET graduates have a difficult time gaining employment and wage increases because of skills supply and demand mismatches and the devaluation of TVET degrees. The mismatch is observed through the high unemployment rates of TVET graduates and various job availabilities that could not be filled up by these graduates due to the incompatibility of skills formation with job requirements which is evident in several sectors including ICT, Health Services, Agriculture, and Tourism. This paper used Naive Bayesian Regression and Propensity Score Matching methods to measure the direction and magnitude of labor market outcome differentials between TVET and High School graduates, as well as the Blinder Oaxaca Decomposition to measure how much endogenous and exogenous sources explain said wage and employment differentials

The role of government financial institutions in a market-oriented financial system: The case of the Philippines

The Governance Commission for GOCCs (GCG) was established in 2011 to act as the central policymaking and governing body whose primary roles are to promote financial viability and fiscal discipline in government-owned and controlled corporations (GOCCs). Among its major functions is to evaluate the performance and determine the relevance of the GOCC, to ascertain whether such GOCC should be reorganized, merged, streamlined, abolished or privatized, in consultation with the department or agency to which a GOCC is attached. Included in GCG’s list of GOCCs are two government financial institutions (GFIs), namely, the Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP) and the Land Bank of Philippines (LANDBANK). They are among the 44 universal and commercial banks operating in the country. GFIs are a typical feature in developing economies, but they also exist in developed economies. This study assesses the roles and performance of these two GFIs. The study asks the fundamental question: Why do GFIs exist despite the government’s explicit policy to adopt a market-oriented, private-sector-led development strategy? The reasons for their existence can help specify the mandates assigned to them and provide guides in assessing their performance. In the review of literature conducted by this study, three major themes have emerged that provide the reasons forthe existence of GFIs. These are: (1) to address market failure by filling up gaps left out by the private financial institutions (PFIs); (2) to conduct countercyclical role; and (3) enhance competition. These three reasons for the existence of GFIs are not necessarily mutually exclusive. The performance of the two GFIs are assessed on the basis of these three themes and compared it with those of selected PFIs. The results provide the basis for formulating recommendations to reform both GFIs

A decomposition analysis of wage inequality in the Philippines

The data suggests that, in the Philippines, the wage gap between the 90th (highincome earners) and 50th percentile (middle-income) wage groups has been declining. As such, we aim to study this upper-tail wage inequality further by decomposing wage data using the October rounds of the Philippine Labor Force Survey (LFS) from 2007 to 2017 and by looking at trends in wages and employing two mutually exclusive methods. For the trend in relative wage changes, we observe that between the 90th and 50th percentiles of the wage distribution, the wage gap increased from 2007 to 2012 and decreased from 2012 to 2017. For the daily log wages for 2007 and 2017, we find that female workers belonging to the upper half of the wage distribution earn higher than males. In performing a simple regression, we find that 90-50 wage gap among each sub-group of gender, location and educational attainment is decreasing from 2011 to 2017. Furthermore, the 90-50 wage gap among nonNCR workers is greater than the 90-50 wage gap among NCR workers. A similar result is found between the wage gap among males and females, with a higher disparity for the former. For the standard variance decomposition method, the results show that overall variability in female wages explained by age, education and region is 48 to 55%. However, the overall and upper half variability in wages of males, NCR workers, non-NCR workers, high school graduates and college graduates are better explained by other factors (“within” variables) such as work experience or the worker’s type of job