Development of a vibrant and competitive services sector is a key characteristic of modern economies. In the developed world, services frequently account for two-thirds or three-quarters of all economic activity. The transition from agriculture through manufacturing to a services...

Some services directly produce outputs that are important for human development, such as basic human services. Many other services are important inputs into the production and distribution of goods that are necessary for human development purposes. A more efficient services sector should mean...

The paper analyzes the impact of major policy changes on banking structure, performance and competition, using bank-specific data from 1990-2002. We find that the entry of more market players is correlated with drops in interest spread and profits which, partly, bespeaks of possible dissipation...

The paper describes the current decision-making structure for trade policy formulation in the Philippines and compares it with the systems in selected countries. It cites difficulties in the current set-up, such as : 1) turf mentality among government agencies that tend to paralyze inter-agency...

The paper analyzes how various preferential trading arrangements deal with agriculture liberalization and examines a few case studies highlighting the provisions on agriculture. It assesses the effect of preferential trade agreements on agriculture trade flows in the case of ASEAN. It finds that...

Non-tariff measures are everywhere vilified for preventing exports, especially of agriculture, from developing countries. Philippine exporters seem to be taking things in stride, however. The paper estimates the cost of certification regularly borne by a typical Philippine food exporter to be...