A General Equilibrium Model for Philippine Agricultural Policy Analysis

This article has been presented at the Workshop on Methods for Agricultural Policy Analysis held at the UP Los Baños on August 13-14, 1985. It outlines the features of the computable general equilibrium developed by the author and describes the modifications undertaken to fit the model into agricultural policy analysis. This is in the hope of addressing limitations of the original model.computable general equilibrium (CGE), agriculture sector, econometric modeling

A General Equilibrium Model for Philippine Agricultural Policy Analysis

This article has been presented at the Workshop on Methods for Agricultural Policy Analysis held at the UP Los Baños on August 13-14, 1985. It outlines the features of the computable general equilibrium developed by the author and describes the modifications undertaken to fit the model into agricultural policy analysis. This is in the hope of addressing limitations of the original model.computable general equilibrium (CGE), agriculture sector, econometric modeling

Equity and Efficiency Tradeoffs in Philippine Tax Reforms

This study presents tax policymakers with a menu of alternative tax structures for the Philippines which will yield the best combinations of efficiency and equity achievable for a given target level of a government revenue. Analysis indicates that even after the reforms of 1977 and 1981, there are still a number of areas for improvement in the Philippine tax system.tax structure, tax measures, efficiency issues, taxation

Equity and Efficiency Tradeoffs in Philippine Tax Reforms

This study presents tax policymakers with a menu of alternative tax structures for the Philippines which will yield the best combinations of efficiency and equity achievable for a given target level of a government revenue. Analysis indicates that even after the reforms of 1977 and 1981, there are still a number of areas for improvement in the Philippine tax system.tax structure, tax measures, efficiency issues, taxation

Methods for Agricultural Policy Analysis: An Overview

This article summarizes the articles that have been presented at the Workshop on Methods for Agricultural Policy Analysis held at UP Los Baños on August 13-14, 1985. It has four parts: the farm production/productivity change, the food consumption, the rural/ agricultural households in imperfect market settings and the methodologies for combining partial and general equilibrium framework.economic/development modelling, computable general equilibrium (CGE), agriculture sector

Reviving the Philippine Economy under a Responsible New Normal

After the reclassification of areas under enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) to general community quarantine (GCQ), the urgent task for the Philippine government is to provide an exit plan to revive the Philippine economy. Given the significant economic damage resulting from the shutdown of roughly 75 percent of the country’s total production in the National Capital Region (NCR) and in the CALABARZON and Central Luzon areas, a gradual reopening of the economy will be necessary to prevent further economic damage that could not only be difficult to repair, but also long to overcome. Indeed, based on recent directives from the government, a substantial number of industries and services have thus been allowed to operate in both the ECQ and GCQ areas. However, as the Philippine government begins to calibrate the opening of sectors, there remain concerns as to how this process will affect jobs and livelihoods now and beyond. In this context, an economic recovery plan that talks about short-term, a transition, and full recovery phases— encompassing a revision of the current Philippine Development Plan without losing sight of the long-term goals envisioned in Ambisyon Natin 2040— is still needed. Indeed, a key component of AmBisyon 2040 has been of building resiliency over the long-term, which includes resiliency in health and economic shocks apart from natural disasters. At the same time, this recovery plan should also be accompanied by structural reforms to enhance its implementation. The Department of Finance has crafted a four-pillar socio-economic strategy aimed at: (a) supporting the more vulnerable sectors of society; (b) increasing medical resources to contain the virus and offer safety to front-liners; (c) keeping the economy afloat through financial emergency initiatives; and (d) creating jobs and sustaining the economy. Yet while enumerating the costs of these plans, the said strategy lacked details on how the country could achieve some of the goals without the availability of widespread testing and adequate health facilities. Loan guarantees, cash transfers, and other forms of subsidies can revive disrupted supply chains but cannot restore productivity in the middle of a persisting health crisis, while the uncertainty of a possible outbreak can keep workers from supplying goods and services. It is crucial to have these programs and institutions in place since a number of cities, regions and provinces have started to reopen. A modified community quarantine without the necessary health system investments, protection measures, and economic recovery plan risks amounting to an unregulated herd immunity strategy. Opting for herd immunity allows governments to blame the failure of the health and economic system on the virus, rather than on bad governance. Under current GCQ protocols, the burden on containing the virus is mostly transferred to the public. Unless the government provides mass testing, the problem of information is aggravated, probably raising the transmission risks. Moreover, unregulated herd immunity will be differentially felt by the poor. As healthy workers may recover their earnings from the modified quarantine, the poor, who have limited access to the health services and are thus more susceptible to the virus, are unlikely to benefit from this system. In effect, this will only exacerbate the inequality that prevails in the country. Moving towards a responsible new normal requires a strategy that addresses both people’s wellbeing and the socio-economic weaknesses exposed by COVID-19. Thus, the strategy should have the following elements

Competition Policy: Key Pillar for Inclusive Growth

“We are forging a system of fairness… where true competition leads to opportunity and widespread progress,” declared President Benigno S. Aquino III in his State of the Nation Address on July 28, 2014. Four years earlier, in his first SONA, he had articulated government’s policy on competition: “Our Constitution mandates government to ensure that the market is fair for all—no monopolies, no cartels that kill competition. We need an Anti-Trust Law that will give life to these principles, and give small- and medium-scale enterprises the chance to participate in the growth of our economy”

Patterns of Inclusive Growth in Developing Asia: Insights from an Enhanced Growth-Poverty Elasticity Analysis

The primary objective of this research is to identify key factors that explain the observed wide variation in patterns of inclusiveness of economic growth—defined here as gross domestic product (GDP) growth that leads to significant poverty reduction—in Asia. In exploring this relationship, this study goes beyond defining poverty by the income or expenditure yardstick alone, but examines a more holistic measure of poverty that considers its multidimensional nature. [ADBI Working Paper 145]primary objective, research, economic growth, gross domestic product (GDP),