Socioeconomic disparities run deep in the Philippines, but the COVID-19 pandemic further exacerbated these inequities. Globally, there is a renewed sense of urgency to break these inequities and place social justice at the front and center of the post-COVID recovery. Social justice is about...

The unprecedented coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic is the most challenging public health crisis the world has faced in a century. It has overwhelmed global and national health service and disaster management infrastructure and brought economies to a standstill/halt. It serves as both an...

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...

We explore in this study the potential impact of school closures to in-person learning on the labor supply of parents in terms of paid employment and hours of work. Using a probit model, we find that women with school-age children, regardless of educational attainment, face a lower probability...