Household savings are important indicators of family welfare, not only in terms of a household's investment and income generation prospects, but also, and perhaps more importantly--given pervasive borrowing constraints and limited social security coverage--in terms of its ability to secure...

This paper looks at the interaction of poverty, fertility preferences, and family planning practices in the Philippines using the series of nationally representative family planning surveys conducted annually since 1999 augmented by census and other survey data. Its contribution lies in...

Fifteen years into the implementation of the Local Government Code of 1991, now is an opportune time to assess how this landmark legislation has contributed to (or detracted from) the achievement of local autonomy with accountability. The literature on fiscal decentralization suggests that these...

This paper proposes a pricing model for health care markets wherein providers and patients play a Nash bargaining game. In this game, bargaining power is interpreted as a measure of market structure. Thus, marginal cost pricing (monopoly pricing) can be shown as the outcome of the absence of...

In recent years, the market for secondhand garments has flourished from its considered capital, Baguio City, province of Benguet. It is clear that people see this market as an alternative to counterpart goods burdened with soaring prices; however, with the invocation of laws that prohibit...

This paper demonstrates how family size can be an important contributor to poverty in the Philippines. It examines one of the mechanisms behind this link by focusing on the relation between number of children and the decision to seek a job and parents' wage earnings. It surveys the international...

Informed by a growing body of research showing that investments in early childhood health, nutrition, and cognitive and psychosocial development have immediate and long-term benefits on children, the Philippine government undertook a five-year pilot Early Childhood Development (ECD) Project. The...

This paper explores whether or not the saving behavior of Filipino households fits the life-cycle hypothesis. Using pseudo-panels, which are constructed from the public use data files of the Family Income and Expenditures Survey of 1988 to 2000, it shows that consumption rises with the age of...

This paper investigates determinants of shifts in living standards for Vietnamese households, measured by the difference in consumption at two different points in time. In agreement with studies on other countries, results show that education, household composition, and community infrastructure...

This paper compares the design features and implementation of the social health insurance (SHI) for the poor programs of the Philippines and Vietnam. The National Health Insurance Program-Sponsored Program of the Philippines and the Health Care Fund for the Poor Program of Vietnam both intend to...