MA Economics
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Browsing MA Economics by Author "Alburo, Florian A."
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Item Restricted An economic analysis of supply of and demand for rice in Nepal(1980-10) Amatya, Ramesh N.; Alburo, Florian A.This study attempts to add to the understanding of the rice situation at the regional (hill and mountain, and Tarai) and national levels in Nepal. The analysis is primarily based on past trends in consumption, production, prices, procurement and distribution and on estimated supply and demand functions for rice. Between 1967/68 and 1978/79 the production of rice increased at an annual rate of 0.9% whereas the consumption of rice has been increasing at 1.13% per year mainly due to population growth. Area expansion was the more important factor contributing to rice output increase whereas yield accounted for 31% of the growth in output. Yields grew at 0.63% per year for Nepal. Yields in Tarai grew at 0.9% per year whereas yields declined in the hill and mountain regions at 1.16% per year. Low growth rates of yield were due to slow growth in inputs used, availability of irrigated land, and a declining real rice price which is attributed to the government's frequent interference in the market. Price elasticities of rice hectarage are +0.46, +0.10 and +0.13 for the hill and mountain regions, Tarai, and Nepal respectively. Thus, price increases for rice do motivate farmers to plant more rice and thus stimulate rice production. Irrigation is also an important factor in increasing rice hectarage and production. Farmers in the hill and mountain regions are more responsive to irrigation than farmers in Tarai. Relative rice price elasticities of consumption are -.35, -.29 and -.30 for the hill and mountain regions, Tarai, and Nepal respectively. Changes in the relative price of rice significantly affect the demand for rice resulting in the substitution of wheat and maize for rice. Income elasticities of rice demand are +.53, +.20 and +.32 for the hill and mountain regions, Tarai and Nepal, suggesting that consumers in the hill and mountain regions spend higher proportions of their additional income for rice. Rice output is Projected to grow by 1.52% per annum whereas the demand for rice is projected to increase by 2.52% per annum. If those trends prevail Nepal is expected to be an importer of rice before the year 1989-90. However, it is still possible to stimulate rice production in order to meet the growing demand by providing a minimum guaranteed price to rice producers increasing irrigated land and raising the level of other inputs as well as providing production loans. Also, the demand for rice can be curtailed to some extent by changing its price relative to that of wheat and maize, resulting in the substitution of wheat and maize for rice.Item Restricted An inter-industry study of primary product exports of the Philippines(1982-04) Gavino, Susana N.; Alburo, Florian A.This paper is a study of the effects on economic activity of an increase in demand for primary product exports of the Philippines. It aims to evaluate the backward linkage-output and employment effects derived from exporting products in the un- processed or partly processed state compared with the alternative products in which exports are processed or in manufactured form. Direct and indirect backward linkage-output and employment effects arising from given changes in demand for said exports are estimated and analyzed through input-output analysis. Estimation and analysis of results show that for backward linkage-output effects greater benefits would be derived if export expansion strategies will be directed to manufacture of food, beverages, and tobacco, manufacture of non-metallic mineral products, forestry and logging, and metallic mining. Thus, it is suggested that these industries be the focus of export promotion policies that aim to increase output not only in the export industries concerned but also in the other producing sectors. In the case of employment effects, results show that labor-intensive industries, e.g. agricultural crops production, production of livestock, poultry and other animals, fishery, manufacture of wood and wood products, including furnitures and fixtures, manufacture of non-metallic mineral products, n.e.s., and manufacture of fabricated metal products, machinery and equipment, have relatively larger employment effects than their corresponding less labor-intensive sectors. Consequently, fiscal policies biased towards industries with large employment effects should concentrate on the above-mentioned labor-intensive industries.Item Restricted ASEAN trade in manufactures: a study in complementarity, special country bias, and trade intensity(1986-05) Gamolo, Nerio D.; Alburo, Florian A.This paper analyzes trade intensity in manufacturers within ASEAN. Two countries trade more or less intensively with each other than they do with the rest of the world because of the degree of complementarity and the degree of special country bias. Complementarity measures the extent to which one country's export pattern matches another country's import pattern more closely than it matches the pattern of world imports. Special country bias has been defined to include the trading partners' geographical proximity and special institutional and historical ties. Complementarity and special country bias together determine the intensity of trade. Results show that ASEAN countries are trading in manufacturers among themselves to a considerable intensity mainly because of a high degree of special country bias. The high degree of special country bias is largely attributed to geographical proximity among individual ASEAN countries. The low degree of complementarity which characterizes intra-ASEAN trade in manufactures shows that ASEAN countries' export patterns do not match their import patterns more closely than they match the pattern of world imports in manufactures.Item Restricted Determinants of hectarage accumulation of homestead grant in Palawan Province 1975(1979-06) Tiwari, Padma Nath; Alburo, Florian A.Item Restricted Domestic credit and the balance of payments: Empirical evidence for the Philippines, 1960-1980(1984-02) Tadle, Ma. Arlene M.; Alburo, Florian A.The study attempts to evaluate the relationship between domestic credit and the balance of payments within the framework of the new approach to the theory of the balance of payments and adjustment process - the question of the balance of payments being a monetary phenomenon. A model of the demand and supply functions of money is used to establish the relationship between domestic credit and the balance of payments. One interesting implication of the model is that for a balance of payments deficit to be reduced, expansion in credit should not exceed the rate of growth of the demand for money. Any expansion in credit which is greater than the rate of growth in the demand for money will most probably manifest itself as increases in demand for imports. As far as this model is concerned, the study implies that the balance of payments situation in the Philippines is explainable in monetary terms. The empirical evidence of the study is consistent with the view that there is an inverse relationship between domestic credit and the balance of payments. The different measures of domestic credit expansion show significant effects on both the current account balance and the balance of payments. For the Philippines, the credit variable that shows to have the most significant effect on the country's balance of payments is D1, defined as Central Bank's net credit to the public sector, banking institution and the private sector. This finding is consistent also with the view that the best definition of domestic credit is the net domestic assets of the Central Bank. This makes D1 a good policy instrument in bringing about a possible remedial effect on the country's balance of payments deficit.Item Restricted Export incentives and labor productivity in the Philippine manufacturing sector, 1956-77(1982-10) Israel, Danilo C.; Alburo, Florian A.This work is a study on the effects of export incentives, granted by the Board of Investments through the Export Incentives Act (RA 6135), on labor productivity of manufacturing in the Philippines. The study covers a period of twenty two years, from 1956 to 1977, and utilizes both multiple regression and production function analyses as the main tools of investigation applied on time-series and cross-section data. The estimation technique used is the ordinary least squares (OLS) regression method. Estimation and analysis of results show that for the manufacturing sector in general, the implementation of export incentives has no significant effect on labor productivity growth over time. Moreover, it also has no significant influence on labor productivity variations across Philippine manufacturing industries. For some specific industrial sectors however, the analyses show that export incentives have indeed positively contributed not only to the growth of labor efficiency but also to the generation of additional labor employment. This observation is true for five industries namely: Electrical Machinery, Apparatus, Appliances and Supplies, Chemical Products, Footwear, Machinery except Electrical Machinery and Transport Equipment. For the rest of the sectors on the other hand, the effects of export incentives have been insignificant.Item Restricted Income, productivity and labor utilization on (MV and TV) rice farms in Chitwon District, Nepal(1980-10) Mainali, Bharat K.; Alburo, Florian A.This study examines and analyzes (a) the relationship between output and inputs in the production of modern and traditional varieties (MV and TV) of rice, (b) the per hectare costs, revenues and labor utilization on MV and TV rice farms, and (c) the factors affecting demand for labor on these farms. Analysis of the fitted Cobb-Douglas production function indicates positive coefficients for human labor, capital expenses, nitrogen, and negative but insignificant coefficients for bullock labor in both MV and TV rice farms. Moreover MV farms were shown to operate on a higher level of technology as compared to TV farms. Marginal analysis confirms that human labor is the most productive and bullock labor is the least productive for both MV and TV cultivation. It also reveals that both farms inefficiently allocate inputs. Income and expenditure analysis asserts that MV cultivation is much more profitable, wherein a 22 percent increase in per hectare costs generates an increase in net income per hectare exceeding that on TV farms, by 84 percent. The statistical t-test verifies that per hectare yield, cost and income are significantly higher for MV than for TV rice farms. Analysis of labor utilization shows that the shift from MV to TV rice cultivation implies a significant 16 percent increase in per hectare labor use, a 74 percent increase in used of hired labor and a 28 percent decline in the use of family labor; labor use per ton of rice decreased however indicating higher labor productivity on MV rice farms. Output share of hired labor is also greater on MV than on TV rice farms. Finally, analysis of the factors affecting demand for labor shows working capital as having a significantly positive effect, while the wage rate is inversely related to demand for labor. The regression further reveals that the prices of output and tractors are positively related to labor demand while negative coefficients relate family size. Policy implications from the study indicate that the shift to MV rice cultivation should be actively supported by government by way of a packaged program which includes credit facilities, extension services, and access to supply of modern inputs and technical knowhow. The success of this program would mean a better standard of living for the people, as incomes rise and employment opportunities are opened, and a much needed expansion in rice production.Item Restricted Monetary analysis of import structure of Bangladesh: 1962-78(1980-05) Huda, Syed N.; Alburo, Florian A.This paper presents a simple monetary approach to the determination of import structure of Bangladesh. This study is based on time series data ranging from 1962 to 1978. The results strongly indicate the usefulness of this approach in explaining the behavior of imports with resect to domestic monetary variables. Increases in domestic money supply significantly influence imports of all categories (capital goods and consumer goods). It is evident from the result that increases in money supply and increase in imports are positively correlated. It has been argued that increases in domestic credit to either the private or the public sector affect adversely the balance of payments through increased import demand. In many countries, especially in Bangladesh, increases in domestic credit by the commercial banks to the private sector are used generally to finance imports, often consumer goods. Thus there is an explicit relationship between changes in domestic credit and the balance of payments. Domestic credit has an adverse multiplier effect on trade balances. In case of Bangladesh the magnitude of credit multiplier on trade balance is quite high. The policy makers concerned with achieving economic growth while minimizing pressures on the balance of payments are interested in the magnitude of the multiplier of domestic credit on the balance of payments and in the adequacy of the use of domestic credit (monetary policy) as a policy tool to bring about a change in the balance of payments position of the economy.Item Restricted Participation of offshore banking units (OBUs) in the peso market: implications for domestic credit and the money supply(1980) Africa, Maria Socorro L.; Alburo, Florian A.Item Restricted Philippine-United States manufacturing productivity differentials: a technoligical diffusion process(1968-11) Alburo, Florian A.; Encarnacion, Jose Jr.Item Restricted The demand for international reserves: the Philippine case(1980) Arboleda, Georgiana P.; Alburo, Florian A.A country's official reserves are used for precautionary purposes to maintain some degree of stability in the exchange rate when its balance of payments is in deficit. This study addresses itself to the problem of the Philippine monetary authorities in maintaining an adequate level of reserves. In relation to this, estimates of the reserves demand function are tested for its validity and stability during the period 1963-1978. Two types of reserves demand formulations are estimated. The first uses long-run explanatory variables such as money supply, net foreign exchange holdings of commercial banks, imports, and the opportunity cost of holding reserves. The second is called a stochastic formulation because it makes use of a measure of the variability of the balance of payments as an explanatory variable. These demand formulations are used to assess the adequacy of the official reserves holdings of the Central Bank from 1962 to 1978.Item Restricted The productivity and employment effects of the second IBRD rural credit protect on large and small farms in the Philippines(1982-04) Madrid, Ma. Teresa U.; Alburo, Florian A.This paper is about the impact of the Second IBRD Rural Credit Project on productivity and employment of large and small farms in the Philippines. The objective of the study is to assess the comparative impact of the Credit Program on two groups of farms, the beneficiaries of the program and the non-borrowers; further segregated by farm sizes. Data used in this study were based on a NEDA-Central Bank survey conducted from August to October 1980 in eight provinces distributed nationwide; these provinces having the greatest number of target beneficiaries. The impact on productivity was measured by using a Cobb-Douglas production model which indicated the percentage change in the quantity of output resulting from a percentage change in the quantity of input. The impact of non-measurable inputs associated with the farms' efficiency was also measured through a test for relative technical and price efficiencies for both rice and sugar. By using an input demand function, the least cost combination of two resources to produce a given level of output was arrived at. The amount of output that farms would wish to produce and sell given the level of inputs that would maximize profits was obtained from the supply function. The demand and supply functions were both derived from the Cobb-Douglas production function when translated to a profit function. The extent of project impact was imputed through the inclusion of the credit dummy and its corresponding production elasticity in the expressions. The impact of employment was measured by obtaining the differences in labor employment on a "before-after" basis, and the differences were tested for significance. The extent of relationship between labor and the various contributory factors that may explain changes in labor employment was determined through a multiple regression technique. Results obtained reveal that the Second IBRD Rural Credit Program has a positive impact on productivity and employment on both large and small farms; i.e. it increased the productivity and employment of farms.