In the Philippines, skills mismatch has persisted since the 1970s, when the higher education system produced more college graduates than the economy could absorb. Prolonged skills mismatch can result in adverse outcomes such as lower wages, decreased job satisfaction, diminished productivity,...

Are new mayors more responsive to disasters than their reelected counterparts? The identification strategy is based on slim vote margin in which new and reelected mayors are found to be as if randomly assigned. We find that with greater storm exposure: new mayors spend more on health sector than...

The world is facing its biggest public health crisis in a century. Managing this crisis requires an intentional contraction of the economy of unprecedented proportions. This deliberate and unavoidable drawdown in market activity will put businesses at risk of destruction, with hundreds of...

This study examines the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the Philippine labor market, focusing on employment and real wages and their respective outcomes across sectors and various worker characteristics. To analyze the pandemic's impacts on employment outcomes at various stages of the crisis,...

Widespread chronic malnutrition in the Philippines is a human development disaster, which needs critical and urgent attention. Its consequences are multifaceted and extreme. Hence, it should be at the front and center of economic and health dialogue. This paper provides the current state of...

In hospitals, nutrition care is a set of actions that allows for the identification of patient nutritional needs and the provision of care to address those needs. Optimal nutrition for inpatients has a critical role in the prevention and treatment of diseases: It helps boost the body's immune...

In the Philippines, decisionmakers mostly rely on access indicators in measuring health system performance. However, as the country embarks on path-breaking Universal Health Coverage (UHC) reforms, assessing healthcare quality is more important than ever. In this study, we examined the...

Health care providers such as hospitals and primary health care facilities form an integral part of any health system. Providers must have both financial sustainability, such that they are able to continuously deliver health care services without bankruptcy, and sufficient profits to maintain...

This report assesses the Early Childhood Care and Development (ECCD) in the Philippines, aiming to support the Second Congressional Commission on Education (EDCOM2) of the Philippine Congress with empirical evidence for programmatic and legislative reforms. Our assessment uses a comprehensive...