Browsing by Author "Escresa, Laarni C."
Now showing 1 - 20 of 25
Results Per Page
Sort Options
Item Restricted A comparative study of the alcohol and tobacco consumption levels of Filipinos pre- and post-sin tax implementation(2017-06) Dy, Genebe T.; Go, Audrey Stephanie Y. ; Escresa, Laarni C.In 2012, the Sin Tax Reform Law was put into effect. The law sought to reform the multi-tier structure implemented in the past by turning it into a simplified two-tiered structure. Using datasets that cover the years 2009 and 2015, the study aims to determine whether there were changes in the consumption patterns of alcohol and tobacco products among Filipinos. Furthermore, the study also examines the cross-price elasticities of both goods in order to ascertain whether they can be considered as substitutes or complements. Results from this study indicate that alcohol and tobacco are complementary goods.Item Restricted A cross-industry comparison of the wage effects on job education mismatch(2016-12-20) Abrenilla, Keeve Jazzer ; Valeza, Kristine Mae ; Escresa, Laarni C.Job-education mismatch occurs when an individual possesses a level of education in excess or lacking of the level of education required for their particular job (McGuinness, 2006). The objective of this study is to shed light on the quantifiable effects of having a job-education mismatch on wages, how these differ across the industries, i.e. capital-intensive and labor-intensive ones, and its implications on the labor force. It follows that there may be a unique corresponding level of education required per industry. We expect to see a low level of education required in industries that are labor-intensive and a high level required in industries that are capital-intensive ones. Over-education has a larger return than required education in the Philippines and this effect persists in the long run. In general, the wage effects of over-education has more bearing than the wage effects of under-education. We examined data from the Labor Force Survey (LFS) and organizing the individual’s primary occupation into the 11 sectors based on the national industry classification, the Philippine Standard Industrial Classification (PSIC), and comparing the wage effects across these industries.Item Restricted A household level analysis of the socioeconomic determinants of poverty in the Philippines(2016-12) Capistrano, Marinela Isabelle M. ; Melchor, Christine Jamie M. ; Escresa, Laarni C.The recent poverty report filed by the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) shows that the country has a poverty incidence estimated to be at 26.3 percent in the first semester of 2015. With this, it is only crucial to determine the socioeconomic factors that affect the poverty status of households in the Philippines using the most recent data available, to take into account the latest changes in the characteristics of the population. The study could thus serve as a contributing element for policy implications that target poverty reduction. The variables that are observed for poverty measurement are per capita income and probabilistic statements on the poverty profile of a household. The study uses three different approaches in measuring the poverty status, namely: a) the natural logarithm of per capita income, b) binomial logistic model, and c) ordered logistic model; which compensate for one another’s weaknesses. These logistic methods have not yet been used in examining poverty determinants in the Philippines. The characteristics of households in rural and urban areas will also be differentiated. Being that household information is needed in this study, the data set to be used is the most recent and available 2012 Family Income and Expenditure Survey (FIES) conducted by the National Statistics Office (NSO). Results may lead to a better understanding of poverty in the Philippines, providing policy makers a clearer picture of the problem they are trying to address and thus, helping them come up with policies that are up-to-date and fit to the poverty situation today.Item Restricted A politico - economic analysis of the voting behavior in the House of Representatives in the demand for land reform(1995-03) Escresa, Laarni C.This paper attempts to explain the political economy of land reform using the interest group theory. This study attempts to find the determinants of the level of land redistribution supplied by the members of the House of Representatives as reflected in the voting decisions in the process of adapting bills on land reform. Since land reform assumes the characteristic of a public good, its supply is a function of the intensity of the groups demanding and opposing it. The study shows that the probability of voting for the level of redistribution is related to the proportion of area planted to crops reflecting different degrees of lobbying power by the landowners and the amount of land owned by the incumbent.Item Restricted An appraisal of the effects of news and press releases on the stock price returns of mining firms in the Philippines(2016-06) Tan, Lerizze Angela Lee; Tan, Maria Patricia Castillo; Escresa, Laarni C.Various research have long been made to assess the effects of news on stock prices. This study provides a Philippine context of financial market and investor behavior analysis on which there is very little literature available. A focus was placed on the effect of news on mining and oil stock prices because of their particular susceptibility to be placed under media scrutiny. It strays from the norm of looking into the effect of news on the market as a whole. Rather, it delves into microeconomics news and its firm specific effects. The Wilcoxon Matched Pairs Signed Rank Test and Paired T-Test were performed to provide both a non-parametric and parametric approach to the study. The former followed Fama’s (1965) evidence that the distribution of stock price changes may not be Gaussian normal; the latter assumed normality and took interval data into account. The test results confirm that these news, indeed, have an effect on stock prices with positive news creating a positive effect, and negative news creating a negative effect. Negative news showed particular strength and significance in creating an impact on stock prices. This is consistent with literature on investor behavior. Insight on the effect of public relations investment, particularly on the use of press releases to deter negative company publicity was also provided. Though data was limited, a positive relationship between press releases and stock prices manifested. This substantiates recommendations of investment on public relations arms.Item Restricted Analysis of Philippine household savings: the effects of regional location and demographic factors(2016-12) Chan, Joshua L. ; Duenas, Erveen Mars G. ; Escresa, Laarni C.Household savings are important factors that contribute to most of the country's total savings. People decide to save for future consumption but also do so as a contingency plan against uncertainties. The purpose of this paper is to explore the relationship of regional location to household savings. The first part of this paper would analyze the effects of household characteristics like gender, age, and civil status, and income, educational attainment of the household head, urban-rural classification, household size, and other underlying demographic factors. Since the study has already been conducted in other countries, we then proceed to explaining why these demographics influence household decision making the way they do in the Philippines. Once we have determined each of their individual effects, these variables will be controlled for in our regression as we proceed to include regional location in our study. We hypothesize that regional location reflects geographical effects on household savings and it can serve as a measure for spatial dependency of the savings rate.Item Restricted Assessing competition using the Panzar-Rosse model on the Philippine banking industry(2017-06) Sanchez, Klarissa S. ; Tamayo, Antonette Allen M. ; Escresa, Laarni C.This paper is an application to the Philippine case of the Panzar-Rosse model, a widely used and accepted measure of competitive conduct, particularly in the banking industry, with several and varied representative variables on input costs, scale, bank-specific and other important factors. Referring to the variables and results of several international and local studies, the researchers identified and tested three input costs, and three bank- specific factors. The latter variables were tested individually rather than as a group as done in several other studies. The H-statistic was obtained by getting the sum of the coefficients of the input costs, after which a Wald test was conducted to validate the significance of the results. structure. Based on the data and evidence used in this study, the Philippine banking industry can be characterized as monopolistically competitive.Item Restricted Corruption and internet adoption in developing countries: an empirical cross-country analysis(2018) Jacinto, Daniela Felisa B. ; Serrano, Therese Adelaide L. ; Escresa, Laarni C.World literature supports the corruption reduction capacity of internet, however no conclusions have been made for developing countries, in particular, where corruption has more devastating effects. This study investigates the effect of internet adoption on corruption in a cross- country view, while considering income classifications per country. The researchers examine the consistency of its effect across three different cross-national measures for corruption, and hypothesize a weaker effect in developing countries. Using fixed effects and random effects models, there is evidence to support that the effect in developed and developing countries have inconsistent relationships across the different income classifications. The study also supports Rule of Law as a corruption deterrent, and the overall anti-corruption effect of internet adoption on corruption.Item Restricted Determinants of illegal drug use and crime: evidence from selected provinces in the Philippines(2016-12-20) Natata, Nelson Kersey N. ; Pecson, Joseph Ian T. ; Escresa, Laarni C.Recent events in the Philippines, particularly the policy shift focusing on solving the illegal drugs problem have caught much attention to the literature concerning the determinants of drug abuse and its effect on crime. This paper explores economic models that explain the factors affecting drug abuse and crime incidence using provincial data. We use three combined dataset sources (FIES, SWS, and PSA) to analyze the determinants of drug abuse in a specified province. Equally important, we examine the effect of drug abuse on crime in another model. We find interesting evidence to support a relationship between drug abuse and income, labor force participation, and poverty while education seems to have a positive effect. We also find that enforcement and unemployment on drug abuse seem to have no significant effects. Subsequently, in the other model, we find a positive relationship between crime and drug abuse.Item Restricted Determinants of the shifts in the household energy consumption patterns: the Philippine case(2018-05) Ramos, Clarebeth R. ; Retuya, Shaira Berline M. ; Escresa, Laarni C.Energy plays a significant role in the economic development of the country. With the current increasing trend in energy consumption, there have been changes as to what energy sources most people depend on. This paper aims to identify key determining factors for household energy consumption patterns in a developing country such as the Philippines. The researchers aim to evaluate various economic and demographic variables which might influence the consumption of different energy sources, namely charcoal, fuel wood, kerosene, liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), and electricity in the country. Using the data from the Household Energy Consumption Survey (HECS) 2004 and 2011, we apply Logistic and Multinomial Logistic Regression Models to determine the effects of household characteristics, fuel and electricity prices, and community type on the probability of households using the different energy sources. The study finds that price of electricity, household income, and community type, generally have significant effects on the shifts in the household energy consumption patterns. The results of this paper would contribute to existing literature on household energy consumption and its patterns and provide information to future researchers and policymakers in managing household energy supply and demand issues.Item Restricted Effect of internet in the Philippines: equalization or polarization(2016-06) Liao, Henny H. ; Reyes, Frances Abigail A.; Escresa, Laarni C.A number of researchers claim that the use of the internet can significantly decrease inequality while others claim that inequality in internet access causes polarization of economic and/or other opportunities. The main objective of this research is to determine whether the presence of internet has equalizing effects or polarizing effects on the socioeconomic conditions of individuals in the Philippine setting. We tested the basic condition for equalization and the main mechanism of polarization, that all individuals have access to internet technology. The results of the regional regression analysis show evidence for the latter.Item Restricted Evaluating the effects of the changes brought by the academic calendar shift on the academic performance of undergraduate students of the University of the Philippines Diliman(2017-04) Espiritu, Paula Mae ; Manatlao, Jemimah Irene ; Escresa, Laarni C.The study aims to evaluate the effects of the changes brought by the recently implemented academic calendar shift, which started last Academic Year 2014 - 2015, on undergraduate students of the University of the Philippines (UP) Diliman in terms of their academic performance during its first four semesters of implementation, in comparison with the academic performance during the last four semesters before its implementation. The study uses a simple OLS regression of the GWA of students before and after the academic calendar shift against their student profile − taking into consideration their age, socialized tuition system bracket, place of origin, gender, and degree program − as well as environmental external factors, such as the highest recorded temperatures and total precipitations during the academic years from 2012 to 2016. The result of the study is aimed at providing additional decision-making information to other schools which are considering to adapt the similar academic calendar shift, and to the UP system in looking into the possibility of bringing back the original academic calendar and in evaluating the possible adaptation mechanisms and innovations to address the problems and changes in the factors that will be proven to cause a negative effect on the academic performance of the students.Item Restricted Explaining 4P's success on children's school attendance: do social attitudes matter?(2018-05-04) Apostol, Josemilio Manuel Z. ; Vegamora, Jonathan Michael P. ; Escresa, Laarni C.Conditional cash transfer programs have been planned and implemented around the world as a way to alleviate poverty both in the short and long term. This study aims to examine whether social factors such as gender norms and perceptions toward domestic violence also have an influence on the education outcomes among conditional cash transfer beneficiaries. Our results confirm the findings of previous studies that receiving conditional cash transfers has a significant and positive effect on school attendance. Emigration from the household has no statistically significant impact on school attendance but work hours with pay does. Gender norms and the wife’s views towards domestic violence are found to be statistically significant, along with other variables: gender, hunger without food to eat, and repeating a grade or year level in school are a few. Lastly, community and spatial variables also have a statistically significant impact.Item Restricted Fiscal decentralization and regional economic growth: the case for the Philippines(2016-12) Madridejos, Joanne Nicole Marie L.; Tipan, Aaron Cielo G. ; Escresa, Laarni C.In the past years, there has been an increasing policy trend towards fiscal decentralization, especially in developing countries. This practice is expected to promote rural economic development by increasing government efficiency and responsiveness, and for that reason, it became the subject of many empirical studies. However, the existing theoretical and empirical discussions which address the question whether decentralization accelerates economic growth portray mixed results. This study aims to fill this gap by measuring the effect of fiscal decentralization in regional economic growth in the context of the Philippine economy using the different measures of decentralization introduced by Uchimura and Suzuki (2009) and another innovative measure by the researchers. Using fixed effects model in the empirical analysis of the Philippine regions from 2001 to 2011, excluding National Caspital Region (NCR) and Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao (ARMM), this paper demonstrates that increasing the capabilities of the local government units to self-generate their sources of revenue and their fiscal autonomy until it reaches its optimal level of decentralization have a positive effect on regional economic growth. Moreover, among all the measures of fiscal decentralization, revenue decentralization has the largest economic significance which suggests its important role on regional growth.Item Restricted Impact of remittances on financial inclusion in the Philippine context(2018-06) Cacnio, Bianca Patricia C. ; Magtoto, Sofia Q. ; Escresa, Laarni C.This paper contributes to the literature on financial inclusion in the Philippines by investigating the impact of remittances. The Philippines is the third highest remittance receiving country in the world, with an inflow of around $28B in 2015, and $31B in 2017. Using individual-level cross-sectional survey data from the National Baseline Survey on Financial Inclusion of 2015 and controlling for various socio-demographic characteristics, the use of key financial services, mainly savings, credit, and insurance, by individuals is examined to see if this is affected by receiving remittances. It is found that remittances have a positive effect on the use of financial services in general, though this impact is most significant in savings and a bit less so in insurance. The effect of remittances on borrowing is not found to be significant. The results of this study may provide useful inputs and information for future policy and strategies for broader financial inclusion.Item Restricted New age performance metrics in the current NBA landscape: how win shares and wage disparity affect an NBA player’s value and productivity(2017-06) Fernando, Giancarlo Luis Barretto ; Lao, Kyles Jefferson Tan ; Escresa, Laarni C.This study analyzes whether Win Shares, a newer metric which takes into account a player’s contribution as part of a basketball team, instead of the usual measure of individual performance (the Player Efficiency Rating or PER) can better explain the salary of an individual player. Additionally, this study also analyzed whether the level of salary dispersion affects the team output production based on theories articulated in past studies. To do this, the authors constructed the Gini coefficient as a measure of wage disparity in a team. The results obtained from the regressions indicate that Win Shares are undoubtedly a better measure of an NBA player’s value compared to the traditional measure of individual contributions which is PER. Moreover, the results also showed that the level of wage disparity is not significant and thus, does not affect production, which is different from the findings in other sports such as baseball.Item Restricted Performance statistics of football players as a determinant of transfer fees(2017-11) Aguillo, Lorenzo Riel ; Carreon, Andrew Dominic; Escresa, Laarni C.This study aims to find the performance statistics and characteristics that determine a football player’s value in the transfer market. Football players who were transferred in the summer window of the 2016/2017 and 2017/2018 seasons were used in the research. Players were divided into three groups - defenders, midfielders, and forwards. Along with a general model describing qualitative characteristics of these players, each group had its own set of performance statistics specific to their positions which were used to determine their values in the transfer market. Counterintuitively, only a few of these position-specific statistics were significant in determining a player’s value; more qualitative statistics were significant in determining the value. This may be due to certain intangible traits that the variables cannot capture that may hold more weight in determining how much a team is willing to pay to attain the services of a player.Item Restricted Social inequality in court ruling: an empirical study and critical evaluation on the correlation of annual income salary grade and acquittal court ruling(2017-06) Castro, Ma. Danielle Rose D. ; Say, Reuben Mar T.; Escresa, Laarni C.Inequality exists in any form of system. In this paper we test whether there is a relationship between the acquittal court ruling and the annual income salary grade of the defendant who is a public official. The motivation behind focusing on public officials is the information such as position, annual salary, area of residence, age, and etc. can be easily obtained than the private officials information. The cases that will be delved in are graft and corruption and malversation of funds. These are cases which requires the defendant to disclose his/her net worth or annual salary which will be the primary basis to determine if there exist a relationship between court ruling and the public official’s ranking. Researchers’ main hypothesis is that there’s a positive relationship between the acquittal court ruling and the annual income salary grade. However, results of this study debunked the claim of the researchers.Item Restricted The economics of off-grid: an analysis of subsidy graduation policy for missionary electrification(2016-06) Concepcion, Eina Izabela Zaide ; Escresa, Laarni C.This study determines the overall welfare and distributional implications of the Missionary Electrification Subsidy Graduation Program by studying three policy options, namely: Continued subsidy, Graduation through full private sector investment in renewables and Graduation through main grid connection. The Annualized Life Cycle Cost method was used to simulate these three options in a case study of the Missionary Electrification of the Romblon Electric Cooperative (ROMELCO). Findings of the study include the incentive for the area to stay under the subsidy or pursue graduation through full private investment in renewable energy and the disincentive to pursue graduation via main grid connection. The study recommends policy adjustments to improve efficiency and equity considerations of both Continued subsidy and Graduation policies for a more sustainable Missionary Electrification program and a smoother transition into the Subsidy Graduation Program.Item Restricted The effect of precipitation and temperature on hpusehold cooking fuel choice(2018-06) Ayson, Arian D. ; Escresa, Laarni C.The paper investigates whether temperature and precipitation have a significant effect on household cooking fuel choice. Households may change their cooking fuel choice depending on their external environment. Using the Household Energy Consumption Survey (HECS) 2011 data, Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) precipitation data, and temperature data from World Weather Online, the paper finds that the effects of temperature and precipitation are more significant on more sophisticated fuel types. Estimated marginal effects from the probit models show that electricity is most likely to be used for cooking in areas with warmer temperature and lower precipitation. Liquid fuels such as kerosene and LPG are more likely used for cooking in lower precipitation areas. Charcoal is also more likely used for cooking when the precipitation is lower while biomass is more likely used when the temperature is lower.