The paper aims to review our trade liberalization policy and its contribution to the country's industrial growth and performance. After more than twenty years of liberalization, the overall performance of the manufacturing industry has been weak, growth has been slow, and contribution to value...

The paper aims to examine how trade liberalization affects wage premium at the firm level. Using effective protection rate as trade proxy, the paper assumes that in the face of increasing competition, an import-substituting firm may decide to remain at the low value-added stage of the production...

In the light of the weak performance of the Philippine manufacturing industry and the absence of structural transformation of the economy from agriculture to manufacturing in the last two decades, the paper calls for the implementation of a new industrial policy. This is crucial not only to...

Firm entry and exit play a crucial role in spurring a reallocation of resources across firms as tariffs are reduced. In the light of the substantial trade reforms implemented in the Philippines over the last two decades, the paper examines the impact of trade reforms on the exit of domestic...

What is the impact of the removal of barriers to trade on the firms` innovative activities? Does the increase in competition arising from trade reforms lead to increases in innovation? This paper attempts to examine the link between trade liberalization and innovation using firm panel data on...

This paper reviews the current empirical literature on competition and market structure of Philippine industries. It shows that weak competition is one of the fundamental factors that explain limited growth, productivity, and employment in the economy. Philippine experience has shown that...