The ASEAN SME Policy Index is an analytical tool to review, track, and identify gaps in small and medium enterprise (SME) policy development and implementation. The index covers the following eight policy areas: institutional framework; cheaper and faster start-up and better legislation and...

The Philippines has been more cautious in its policy toward free trade agreements (FTAs) than other ASEAN member-states, having signed, so far, only one bilateral agreement with Japan in addition to the various ASEAN+1 agreements. While the government is expected to progressively reduce...

The Common Effective Preferential Tariff (CEPT) scheme represents the main mechanism to remove barriers to intra-ASEAN trade. Its adoption will entail intraregional tariffs ranging from zero to five percent. AFTA and the increasing globalization (which occurs through trade and foreign direct...

The paper assesses the impact of trade reforms in the Philippines on pollution using CGE model simulations and two industry case studies on sugar milling and refining and cement manufacturing. Generally, trade reform is output augmenting and welfare improving. The overall impact on pollution is...

This paper looks at the regulatory reforms in the electricity and downstream oil industries, two important inputs to the production process that were heavily regulated by the government. While electricity has strong externalities as well as economies of scale and scope, the oil industry does not...

This paper aims to review the impact of the various tariff legislations passed from 1998 to 2003 on the structure of protection in the Philippines. The paper finds that while the overall level of effective protection has declined, it has remained uneven as some selected sectors have continued to...

The paper studies the impact of trade liberalization on competition and productivity. Competition is the main channel through which trade liberalization affects economic performance. Competition fosters innovation and technology adoption which leads to increases in competitiveness and growth...

This paper examines the country's investment incentive program for foreign investors and its success in attracting substantial FDI inflows. The analysis compares the FDI incentive system and FDI performance of the Philippines with other Asian countries. Since it is difficult to untangle the...

The development of the Philippine automotive parts and components sector is critical to the automotive assembly industry. The availability of competitive parts and components that are locally manufactured can significantly contribute to boost the competitiveness of the assembly sector. Given the...

Applying a conjectural variations (CV) model introduced by Haskel and Scaramozzino (H&S model 1997), the paper examines the impact of trade liberalization on the Philippine cement industry where alleged cartel activities have taken place after the entry of the world's Big Three cement firms:...