Digital Commons Network^™

The Administration’S Objective To Reduce The Fiscal Deficit To 3% Of Gdp By 2028: Why And How?, Jesus Felipe

Angelo King Institute for Economic and Business Studies (AKI)

A few weeks ago, the author attended a presentation on the Philippine economy and prospects for 2023. A discussant from the Department of Finance indicated that the Administration aims at reducing the fiscal deficit from 8.6 percent of gross domestic product in 2021 (the result of the COVID pandemic) to 3 percent by 2028. She referred to this reduction as “solid fiscal management” that “will promote long-term growth". This article argues that this is a dubious target because the government cannot control the deficit. Moreover, claiming that this reduction will promote long-term growth is poor economics. So is the idea …

The Effect Of Lockdowns On The Status Of Women In The World, Angelika B. Magno

Angelo King Institute for Economic and Business Studies (AKI)

Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is an infectious respiratory illness that causes moderate to severe symptoms that can be fatal to older people or those with other underlying health concerns. Considered a global pandemic, this disease spreads rapidly across the world, calling for a need for the implementation of lockdowns. This study examines the effects of lockdowns on joblessness among women, controlling for household conditions, namely, perceived household responsibility, hours allotted for household chores, and safety at home. Data for lockdowns were sourced from Google’s Community Mobility reports, whereas joblessness among women and household conditions were sourced from Facebook’s Survey on Gender …

Language Issues Of Migrants During The Covid-19 Pandemic: Reimagining Migrant (Linguistic) Integration Programs In (Post-)Pandemic Times, Ariane Macalinga Borlongan

Journal of English and Applied Linguistics

This paper surveys the language issues experienced by migrants during the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequently proposes a (linguistic) integration program for migrants, which is responsive and sensitive to their needs particularly during crises and emergencies. Migrants’ access to disease prevention and health care has been limited, and one of the reasons for this is the language barrier. Likewise, migrants have also voiced out their difficulty communicating with health care providers also because of language. Migrants have also felt isolation because of their inability to reach out to people who could likewise speak their language and they can communicate with. Another …

Economic Violence And Its Associated Factors On Filipina Women: Evidence From The 2013 And 2017 Philippines National Demographic And Health Survey, Antonio Immanuel, Kevin Michael Limbaco, Virgil Raquedan, John Robert L. Roque, Mitzie Irene P. Conchada, Alellie B. Sobreviñas, Arlene B. Inocencio

Angelo King Institute for Economic and Business Studies (AKI)

Economic violence is referred to as any act that controls a victim’s ability to acquire, use, and gain resources, which threatens the victim’s economic security. This type of violence against women has largely been neglected in most literature, despite intimate partner violence being one of the more pervasive social problems globally. Most empirical studies focus on physical, emotional, or sexual abuse, or a combination of these, necessitating the study of economic violence, particularly in low- and middle-income nations such as the Philippines.High-income countries showed a lower lifetime prevalence of economic violence given that these countries have better-developed protective laws, and …

A Game Theoretic Study On Csr And Government Intervention For Sustainable Production, Katherine Ann J. Fernandez, Joshua Ryan C. Go, Jean Nicole L. Ng, Bianca Alanis Ysabel C. Redulla, Jason P. Alinsunurin, Dickson A. Lim, Mariel Monica R. Sauler

Angelo King Institute for Economic and Business Studies (AKI)

We use a game theoretic approach to assess how the government can influence firms’ CSR investment and production decisions to enhance social welfare, considering the negative externalities brought by unsustainable production and positive externalities brought by CSR investments. Using a Stackelberg duopoly as a base model and lump-sum tax as the government’s decision variable, we find that when the government chooses not to intervene, it results in greater environmental damage as firms will underinvest in CSR and overproduce in quantity to achieve profit maximization. As such, the model extends to the assumption that the government acts as a benevolent dictator …

Portfolio Selection Using Data Envelopment Analysis, Vishal Bhagia, Colleen Monica K. Chiu, Paulynne Castillo, Roberto Raymundo, Joel Q. Tanchuco

Angelo King Institute for Economic and Business Studies (AKI)

There has been a growing interest in applying data envelopment analysis (DEA) as a non-parametric approach in portfolio optimization due to its flexibility in overcoming the limitations of the conventional mean-variance portfolio (MVP) model. Therefore, this study highlights the use of DEA as a portfolio selection tool that may encourage individuals to invest in the Philippine stock market for its ability to integrate any technical and fundamental factors. This study shows that the DEA model outperforms the MVP model in terms of risk-adjusted returns. However, the investor may need to change the model used to generate the highest returns because …

From Tasks To Riches: A Task-Based Approach To The Determinants Of Wages, Samantha Baradas, Aileen Co, Brian Daguman, Martha Delos Santos

Angelo King Institute for Economic and Business Studies (AKI)

An empirical investigation of the effects of occupational skills, human capital, and other worker characteristics on labor market outcomes is examined in this study. Using the PSA Labor Force Survey and Philippine Standard Occupational Classification (PSOC), the group offers a task-based measure as a proxy for occupational skills. Such problems in measuring skills arise when skill endowments of workers are underivable in a survey dataset. With this, the analysis includes comparing and contrasting models with task-based measures of occupational skills and Mincerian wage models with occupational dummies. Regression analysis found consistent statistically significant positive returns on a change in computational, …

Examining Chronic And Transient Poverty Using The Community-Based Monitoring System System (Cbms) Data, Alellie B. Sobreviñas

Angelo King Institute for Economic and Business Studies (AKI)

With poverty reduction as the government’s primary goal, monitoring the poverty situation of households is deemed necessary. In the Philippines, several local government units (LGUs) have adopted the Community-Based Monitoring System (CBMS) as a local poverty-monitoring tool. This study used the constructed CBMS panel data for the municipality of Orion in Bataan province consisting of 4,299 panel households (for the period 2006, 2009, and 2012) to identify chronic and transient poor households.

Hedging Season: The Effect Of Hedging Using Financial Derivatives On Firm Value Of Publicly-Listed Non-Financial Firms In The Philippines, Julio Alfonso D. Arrastia, Christina Angela N. Balagot, Joseph Anthony Go, Dominique Ann Philomena V. Lacuna

Angelo King Institute for Economic and Business Studies (AKI)

Firms use financial derivatives as a way to hedge risky transactions to avoid financial risks. Studies have focused on firms’ use of financial derivatives in developed countries. However, there is limited research done on emerging markets like the Philippines because these economies have only recently adapted advanced reporting standards that obligate the disclosure of the nature and extent of risks resulting from the use of financial instruments. We used Tobin’s Q ratio to proxy for firm value and to determine the presence of a hedging premium. Because derivatives are used by firms to hedge against currency risks, interest rate risks, …

Does Partner Satisfaction Influence Contraceptive Use? Findings From The Philippines National Demographic And Health Survey 2017, Renz Adrian T. Calub

Angelo King Institute for Economic and Business Studies (AKI)

It is curious that despite campaigns in favor of modern family planning methods and widespread availability of family planning commodities, women still find it hard to meet their family planning needs. Although a myriad of sociological factors may come into play, such as religion or peers, it is interesting to find out how the woman’s propensity to satisfy partner needs factor in her contraceptive use. This paper develops a simple theoretical model to demonstrate how partner satisfaction, channeled through the psychological cost of partner satisfaction, is related to the likelihood of condom use. The empirical analyses suggest that women who …

Research Performance Of The Asean University Network Member Universities, Raffy A. Lacaden, Tereso S. Tullao Jr

Angelo King Institute for Economic and Business Studies (AKI)

The purpose of this research paper is to describe the research outputs of the member universities of the ASEAN University Network (AUN). The paper is an inductive type of research that used a variety of information from Scopus to determine what AUN member universities are actively writing about. The author captured data from 1997 to 2017 from scopus.com to analyze what the AUN member universities and their respective countries have been studying. Results show that almost 50% of the total research outputs of all the ASEAN nations are contributed by the AUN member Universities, with Singapore’s NUS and NUT contributing …

Monitoring The Philippine Economy Year-End Report For 2017, Mitzie Irene P. Conchada, Won Hee Cho

Angelo King Institute for Economic and Business Studies (AKI)

Growing at 6.7% in 2017, the Philippine economy realized robust full-year forecasts despite domestic and international economic challenges. Economic performance: Aggressive government spending on infrastructure projects, the growth of the manufacturing sector, and an uptick in the agriculture sector strengthen the Philippine economy.

Women On Boards Of Philippine Publicly Traded Firms: Does Gender Diversity Affect Corporate Risk-Taking Behavior?, Michelle Kris A. Ong Yiu, Louie Angelo Ricafrente, Angelo A. Unite, Ailyn A. Shi, Michael J. Sullivan

Angelo King Institute for Economic and Business Studies (AKI)

The idea that more women belong on corporate boards is attracting increased attention around the world. Some scholars argue that gender diversity on boards improves firm performance and induces more prudent corporate decision-making. This rationale is based on the hypothesis that women are less overconfident and are innately more risk-averse than men. Alternatively, other researchers argue that firms having more female directors are associated with greater corporate risk-taking as the profile of women making it to the board level has proven to be open to greater challenges and risks. Still another strand of literature argues that risk-aversion does not vary …

Monitoring The Philippine Economy Year-End Report For 2016, Mitzie Irene P. Conchada, Regina S. Villasor

Angelo King Institute for Economic and Business Studies (AKI)

Philippine economic growth topped regional performance for 2016. In line with election-year market expectations, annual growth accelerated to 6.9 percent from 6.0 percent in 2015, surpassing China (6.7%) and Vietnam (6.2%). Despite the global economic slowdown, Philippine growth has continuously improved since 2015, showing resilience to external shocks with manufacturing expansion. On the demand side, household consumption and investments flourished with modest inflation and strong imports. On the supply side, the industry sector led as the service sector slowed down. Meanwhile, the agriculture sector continues to contract with the onslaught of weather disruptions like typhoons Karen and Lawin.

Gender Diversity In Boards And Performance Of Philippine Publicly Traded Firms: Do Women Matter?, Angelo A. Unite, Ailyn A. Shi, Michael J. Sullivan

Angelo King Institute for Economic and Business Studies (AKI)

The issue of gender diversity in corporate boards has been attracting research interest in various countries because of the many socioeconomic contributions women directors are purported to confer to the firm, some of which involve improved board monitoring quality and a more ethical and democratic form of leadership. This rationale forms part of the “economic case” for women’s participation in boards, apart from the usual grounds of social or equality considerations. We examine this board-level gender diversity issue for the case of the firms traded in the Philippine Stock Exchange during the period 2003 to 2014. Using an unbalanced panel …

Women On Top: Diversity In Gender And Education Profiles Of Top Management And Board Of Directors Of Philippine Publicly Traded Firms, Angelo A. Unite, Ailyn A. Shi, Michael J. Sullivan

Angelo King Institute for Economic and Business Studies (AKI)

Women have been making headway when it comes to occupying corporate board and senior management positions in companies all over the world, particularly in the Philippines. Stylized facts released by international reports point to the surprising prevalence of women holding leadership positions among Philippine firms. Hence, this descriptive study bridges a gap in the Philippine corporate governance literature by using data on around 250 PSE-listed firms to examine gender diversity composition and trends among CEOs, boards, and top management teams in Philippine publicly traded firms on a five-year interval (i.e. 2003, 2008, 2013) and for the most recent year (i.e. …

Taking Back Migrants: A Theoretical Investigation On The Low Propensity Of Entrepreneurship In Ofw-Dependent Households, Carlo Anton G. Arguelles

Angelo King Institute for Economic and Business Studies (AKI)

In light of different Philippine economic issues, it can be said that this country is evolving and is constant at the same time. This evolution and consistency are present in the opportunity-seeking behavior of Filipino households. One aspect of change is the higher engagement of households in entrepreneurship as reported by GEM (2014a). Data on entrepreneurship presents the Philippines with an early-stage entrepreneurship (TEA) rate of 18.4%. GEM (2014b) stated that this rate is higher than the average start up rates of Asia and Oceania (13%); which implies that Filipino households, relative to their counterparts in these regions, are more …

Managing Excessive Entitlement In Support Of Family Business Longevity, Maria Andrea L. Santiago

Angelo King Institute for Economic and Business Studies (AKI)

Family members feel entitled to family wealth because of various reasons. Some claim that they deserve part of the wealth since they are members of the family. Others assert that they earned rights to the wealth through hard work, while still others argue that they deserve part of the family wealth because they are special. When family members do not get what they think they deserve based on their perceptions of entitlement, they declare that it is unfair. This becomes problematic when family members manifest their sense of entitlement in a dysfunctional manner. In a family business, this may result …

Can The Provision Of Social Services Limit Family Size? The Case Of Pasay, Eastern Samar, And Agusan Del Sur, John Paolo R. Rivera, Kurt Gerrard T. See

Angelo King Institute for Economic and Business Studies (AKI)

Rapid population growth is deemed by economists as one of the root causes of the Philippines’ underdevelopment, economic stagnation, resource depletion, and high crime rate, among others. According to Todaro and Smith (2008), it gives rise to poverty since economic growth cannot outpace and sustain the rate at which population expands.

Impact Of Accessibility To Schools And Economic Centers On Poverty And Gender Equity In The Philippines, Alexis M. Fillone

Angelo King Institute for Economic and Business Studies (AKI)

Accessibility as defined in Fillone, et.al. (2009) means the ease with which the individual could avail of the social services and economic opportunities laid in geographic space. In measuring accessibility, this study used as gauge the cost of travel instead of travel time. In order to relate accessibility to schools and economic centers with poverty variables and gender equity concerns, this study used descriptive analysis, correlation analysis and regression modelling.

Correlates Of Hunger: Evidence From The Community Based Monitoring System (Cbms) Data Of Pasay City, Frumencio F. Co, Rechel G. Arcilla, Shirlee R. Ocampo

Angelo King Institute for Economic and Business Studies (AKI)

Hunger is one of the major problems in several countries, and the objective to reduce it has become a global concern. A major initiative of the United Nations Millenium Development Goals (MDG) is the eradication of extreme poverty and hunger. However, the attempt to reduce the abovementioned issues, calls for proper identification as to who the impoverished and hungry are. There are several ways to identify the poor, but pinpointing who the hungry are, is another task.

The Accessibility Of Birth Control Methods: Assessing The Household Demographics & Socioeconomic Factors On The Demand For Contraceptives In The Philippines, Darlene Angelini R. Co, Charlyn Janna H. Francisco, Maria Theresa M. Nogoy, Wilhelm Matthew R. Ong

Angelo King Institute for Economic and Business Studies (AKI)

The Reproductive Health Bill No. 5043 (RH Bill) is a controversial issue in the Philippines. It has been a topic of debates by public and private groups. The RH Bill will allow citizens universal access to medically safe, affordable, and effective reproductive health care services and information. It encourages the use of contraceptives, like condoms, birth-control pills. It aims to reduce the rapid increase in the Philippine population. Hence, preventing it from reaching a hundred million in five years as estimated by the Department of Health.

This study highlights the most controversial issue of the bill: Making contraceptives readily available …

Limiting Family Size Through The Sufficient Provision Of Basic Necessities And Social Services: The Case Of Pasay, Eastern Samar, And Agusan Del Sur, John Paolo R. Rivera, Kurt Gerrard T. See

Angelo King Institute for Economic and Business Studies (AKI)

The socio-economic quandaries of rapid population growth and poverty have always been coupled. It is evident that the poorest households are those who have larger family size. Consequently, these households have to support more people with fewer resources, making the family live a life of inherited poverty. With this, the state has been on the pursuit of looking for solutions such as the Reproductive Heath (RH) Bill to address rapid population growth and eventually poverty. However, the Roman Catholic Church (RCC) condemns the RH Bill because it is contradictory to Catholic principles. For this reason, we will explore other possibilities …

International Migration And Remittances: A Review Of Economic Impacts, Issues And Challenges From The Sending Country’S Perspective, Tereso S. Tullao Jr, Christopher James R. Cabuay

Angelo King Institute for Economic and Business Studies (AKI)

The paper reviews the motivations of people to migrate and remit as well as the impacts of migration and the effects of remittances. Reasons for migration are quite varied ranging from economic asymmetries (also known as push-pull factors), demographic asymmetries, investment in human capital, maximization of household income, the culture of migration, and the movement in natural persons. On the other hand, remittances are sent to the home country for altruistic, exchange, strategic and insurance motives as well as an arbitrage in interspatial differences in purchasing power. The impacts of migration and remittances are felt on both the household and …

Toward Innovative, Liveable, And Prosperous Asian Megacities Gawad Kalinga: Innovation In The City (And Beyond), Raymund B. Habaradas, Martin Lorenzo Aquino

Angelo King Institute for Economic and Business Studies (AKI)

Gawad Kalinga (GK) is an innovative approach that could be the key to solving poverty and homelessness in the Philippines. It is potentially an effective, sustainable, and replicable model that could address the problem of urban housing in the developing world. Its most important innovation is a shift in paradigm of what community development ought to be. Instead of looking at members of the poor communities as passive actors (i.e. as mere recipients of donations or as beneficiaries of support programs), GK considers them as active participants in the development process. Through the help of the caretaker team and the …

Toward Innovative, Liveable, And Prosperous Asian Megacities: Medical Tourism, Mitzie Irene P. Conchada, Paulynne Castillo

Angelo King Institute for Economic and Business Studies (AKI)

Thanks to rapidly improving technology and medical practice standards, medical travel is able to combine the allure of exotic tourist destinations with the promise of affordable and high-quality health care as well as alternatives to western medical knowledge and procedures (such as traditional medicine including yoga, homeopathy, and "Chinese medicine"). Rising medical costs and lengthening queues for medical procedures in the Western world also contribute to making medical services in countries like India, the Philippines and Thailand more than acceptable substitutes to those offered in their developed country counterparts.

Moreover, the literature on the industry indicate that other than the …

Who Changed Their Minds About Erap? Hypothesis Tests Based On Design-Consistent Estimates Of An Ordered Probit Model Of The Philippine President’S Ratings, Michael M. Alba, Geriz Bigol, Reina Filipina Deacosta, Ria Pulumbarit

Angelo King Institute for Economic and Business Studies (AKI)

Using data from the March and June 1999 surveys of the Social Weather Stations (SWS), we generate and analyze design-based estimates of the subpopulation means and standard deviations of President Estrada’s ratings and of his net satisfaction index over certain respondent characteristics. We also estimate the parameters of a design-consistent ordered probit model of the ratings and compare the coefficient estimates as well as the marginal effects on the ratings probabilities of the March and June regressors to identify the respondent attributes that contributed to the net decline in his popularity. We find that although the estimates of the population …