One of the objectives of the evolving ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) is to promote free investment flows and freer capital flows. By deepening economic integration among them, ASEAN Member Countries can establish a region-wide production base that will attract more foreign direct investment and...

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 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...

This paper looks at the emerging issues and problems in promoting competition policy and coordinating its implementation under regional arrangements, particularly the APEC and the ASEAN. Implementing competition policy is a big challenge. As the review of country experiences shows,...

The industrys lack of competitiveness, absence of economies of scale and a weak supply base are the fundamental issues that must be addressed in order to strengthen the industry and integrate it with regional production networks of foreign automakers. The entry of cheap, smuggled second-hand...

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...

In this paper, results of the 2009 Survey of Innovation Activities are described and discussed. The term innovation, traditionally associated with research and development, has evolved to mean the implementation of new or significantly improved goods and services, production process, marketing,...

The paper aims to examine the characteristics and factors that constrain the growth of SMEs that are operating within and outside production networks. Based on a survey of 101 firms, the analysis shows that SMEs are not homogeneous. While they share certain characteristics such as age, Filipino...

The growth rebalancing model, which places the nontradable services sector on center stage, is important to spur on faster growth in this sector and tap its potential to become another engine of growth for ASEAN economies. While ASEAN countries have allocated the bulk of their fiscal stimulus...