Telecommunications and investment decisions in the Philippines

This article is a rejoinder to the article written by R.J. Saunders published in the December 1983 issue of Telecommunications Policy on investment decisions in telecommunications. The author, in this brief paper, attemps to discuss the decision-making process in telecommunications investments described by Saunders and as it relates to the practical experience of the Philippines and other developing countries in a similar situation. Attention is given to how the national telephone programme in the Philippines is being developed. Efforts have been exerted to identify the similarities and basic differences of the Philippines to other developing countries.     

菲律宾大马尼拉供水工程隧洞混凝土衬砌施工

针对大马尼拉供水项目3.7 m直径、2 065 m长供水隧洞混凝土衬砌,采用三套全圆针梁式钢模台车快速施工,在通风、排水、供电、混凝土运输等方面采取了一系列措施,从而实现了保护层开挖支护、混凝土衬砌、灌浆消缺、底板清理等多工序最大限度的平行交叉作业,保证了施工速度和工程质量,为项目提前通水起到了决定性作用。     

Development of a small lake: Ecotourism enterprise for Pandin Lake,San Pablo City,Philippines

This study examines the development of Pandin Lake, a small lake in the Philippines, particularly the unconventional evolution of the ecotourism enterprise for the lake and the accompanying issues. The study concludes that Pandin Lake ecotourism development is mainly an endogenous initiative and that the intervention of the relevant administrative agencies is critical in addressing the contemporary issues. This study discusses the following issues: (i) the reasons for studying small lakes in the Philippines; (ii) Pandin Lake and its administration; (iii) the ecotourism enterprise evolution and issues regarding the lake; and (iv) the conclusions. It also addresses the extant gap in Philippine lake literature: specifically the scarcity of scholarly works on development‐oriented studies, noting the field is dominated by limnology and aquaculture studies, and on small lakes, noting the field concentrates heavily on studies of big lakes.     

Backyard Hog Production Efficiency: Evidence from the Philippines*

This article investigates the economic efficiency and the factors associated with efficiency for a sample of 126 hog producers in the Philippines. The input‐oriented efficiency indices are computed and bootstrapped using data envelopment analysis. Econometric analysis of the factors influencing the efficiency indices are conducted using the Tobit model. Fixed capital does not influence the efficiency scores, whereas labor does negatively influence the efficiency indices. On average, technical efficiency is low, an indication that most households are not using the most efficient technology. Scale efficiency is fairly high but constrained by lack of operating capital and managerial skills. Technical efficiency is constrained by lack of access to credit and limited experience in hog production.     

Risks and returns from soil conservation: evidence from low-income farms in the Philippines

This paper examines risks and returns associated with soil conservation on hillside farms in the Philippines. Stochastic efficiency analysis is combined with a heteroskedastic regression model to assess the impacts of contour hedgerows on low-income corn farms. Regression analysis indicates that, over time, contour hedgerows can improve yields up to 15% compared with conventional practices. The analysis also provides weak support tor a hypothesis that hedgerows are variance reducing. However, results show that the reduction in yield variability afforded by hedgerows is modest, and that yield variability may increase by as much as 5% as hedgerow intensity rises. Tests for stochastic dominance show that, compared with the conventional tillage system, hedgerows do not constitute an unambiguously dominant production strategy. Stochastic elticiency with respect to a function is used to identify a range lor the coefficient ol relative risk aversion within which hedgerows dominate conventional tillage. Results suggest this range would be rather high; hedgerows dominate the conventional cropping strategy only lor decision-makers with relative risk aversion coefficients in the range 3-5.5. Implications for soil conservation adoption in low-income settings are discussed.     

GLOBALIZATION AND CORRUPTION CONTROL IN ASIAN COUNTRIES: The case for divergence

The globalization of corruption has given rise to the concern in many countries on how to combat corruption and many international conferences on this topic. However, in spite of the sharing of ‘best practices’ in fighting corruption at these conferences, there is still a great deal of divergence in combating corruption in Asian countries because of the different contextual constraints and the effectiveness of their governments' anti-corruption strategies. This article describes and evaluates the three patterns of corruption control in six Asian countries and concludes that the third pattern of anti-corruption laws with an independent anti-corruption agency adopted by Singapore and Hong Kong is the most effective.     

Long- and Short-run Relationship Between Firm Creation and the Ease and Cost of Doing Business

Abstract

To promote private-sector growth, many countries have implemented reforms aimed at making it easier and less costly to do business. Using data from Philippine cities and municipalities from 2011 to 2015, this paper tested for the relationship between business creation and the ease and cost of doing business. The results provide evidence that the overall ease and cost of doing business is indeed associated with business creation, but the relationship becomes more apparent with disaggregation. In particular, lower cost of doing business is found to be a much stronger predictor of business creation than ease of doing business. The specific indicators that drive this relationship are minimum wage, price of electricity, price of water, and price of land from the “cost” dimension, and number of days to process a new business permit from the “ease” dimension. These relationships have implications on policy making, especially in designing programs that target firm creation.     

Tariff rate quotas: structural and stability impacts in growing markets

This paper examines several aspects of tariff rate quotas (TRQ) as adopted during tariffication of agricultural policies under the Uruguay Round of GAIT. Quota rents and non-tariff barrier effects may remain under TRQs, contrary to the objectives of the tariffication process. Further, price stability impacts of a TRQ are more complex than those for either tariffs or quotas, and under certain circumstances TRQs may be more stabilizing than either case, since TRQs truncate domestic production distributions much like price bands policies. This complexity results from the possibility of regime switching, and may reflect behavior under either a tariff, a quota, or a combination of cases. A TRQ policy may affect the timing of import decisions based on incentives created under quota allocation procedures envisioned for this institution. It may also allow increased imports as demand growth occurs because the quota is not necessarily a binding constraint. This means the above quota tariff is the critical policy instrument. An empirical study of Philippines port: imports illustrates these issues.     

Outsourcing in the IT industry: The case of the Philippines

Outsourcing of labor, especially in area of the Information Technology (IT) sector, has grown rapidly in recent years. This article further defines what is meant by outsourcing, and examines the opportunities and challenges for entrepreneurs to outsource in the Philippines. This emerging economy has been cited as one of the most attractive destinations for outsourcing, despite the lack of information. The article offers historical, business, and cultural insights and identifies strategies for outsourcing success in the Philippine environment.