Browsing by Author "Ravago, Majah-Leah V."
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Item Restricted A study on the influence of hunger and alcohol consumption on suicidal tendencies among Filipino high school students(2016-01) Gaborni, Alessandra Mae B. ; Layug, Kim M. ; Ravago, Majah-Leah V.Suicide and mental health are among the pressing issues that different nations from around the globe are trying to address. A previous time trend study in the Philippines found that the younger age groups, especially females, are not only susceptible to suicides, but also to non-fatal self-harming and failed suicide attempts. While it is no surprise that people suffering from depression are at most risk of committing suicide, existing literatures from other countries have linked alcohol consumption and experiencing hunger to suicidal behavior. Hence, our paper aims to examine how these factors could influence high school students in the Philippines into exhibiting suicidal behavior. Our paper found that although experiencing hunger is not a very strong predictor for whether a student will seriously consider suicide, it is a strong predictor for actual suicide attempts. Alcohol consumption, on the other hand, has a positive relationship with both suicidal thoughts and actual attempts. Our paper also found that increasing frequency of both experiencing hunger and consuming alcohol could increase the probability that the student will attempt suicide. In addition, females have higher likelihood of exhibiting suicidal behavior than males regardless of levels of hunger and alcohol consumption.Item Restricted An analysis of the multidimensional energy poverty index: the Philippine case(2017-05-27) Catanjal, Alyssa Mari G. ; Lechoncito, Trexia Mae D. ; Ravago, Majah-Leah V.Despite the fact that there were studies that show that improving energy access contributes to poverty alleviation, there have only been a few studies here in the Philippines that look at the status of energy poverty. To this, we aim to introduce energy poverty in a multidimensional approach. Through this approach, a more in-depth and targeted way can be made in order to assess the situation and solve the problem at hand. We used the Household Energy Consumption Survey (HECS) of 2004 and 2011 which has sufficient sample households to represent the Philippines. Data from HECS include levels and patterns of energy consumption such as electricity access, usage of modern energy sources, and ownership of recreational appliances. We adapted the Alkire- Foster methodology in construction of the Multidimensional Energy Poverty Index (MEPI), which captures both the incidence and intensity of energy poverty, to assess the extent of energy poverty in the Philippines. Using this method, the results show that MEPI exhibits a significant reduction from 0.611 to 0.552 in 2004 to 2011 as fueled by a large decrease both in the headcount and intensity ratio. Moreover, the population of the MEPI-poor is heavily concentrated in the rural areas and the Mindanao region particularly in ARMM, Zamboanga Peninsula, and SOCCSKSARGEN where the use of traditional fuels for cooking is prevalent.Item Restricted An analysis on the effect of peak load pricing on the MRT3(2016-06) Padlan, Astin Louis R.; San Jose, Ray Jonas R.; Ravago, Majah-Leah V.The Metro Rail Transit Line 3 or the MRT3 is the most utilized train system in the Philippines. It has 13 station along Epifanio Delos Santos Avenue (EDSA), which is the main thoroughfare of Metro Manila. The MRT3 was created via the Build, Lease and Transfer (BLT) Agreement between the Metro Rail Transit Corporation (MRTC) and the Philippine government. Because of this, billions are spent each year just to subsidize the costs of maintaining the low prices of the MRT and the repayment of the BLT agreement. The MRT3 provides a fast and cheap alternative for commuters around the metro and thus provides a positive externality for the people and ultimately leads to a positive economic benefit. However, its demand has become too high and the trains are now exceeding their capacity during peak hours. There might be a way to efficiently ease the demand of the trains while simultaneously helping to reduce the burden of the government in subsidizing the MRT’s operations. Peak Load Pricing, a pricing strategy that sets different prices based on the demand of a good at a given time, could potentially be the key to solving both of these problems, since it will help ease the demand for the MRT and it will also provide a positive social benefit for all the stakeholders involved. Using the MRT Operations Data from 1999-2015, we did a regression model showing that the MRT will be better off with the implementation of the peak load pricing strategy. Through this model, peak load pricing does ease the demand of the MRT and it will have positive policy implications since the subsidy of the government will be lessened and may now be put into good use.Item Restricted Analyzing the effects of status-seeking behavior on household savings in the Philippines(2017-05-31) Abao, Charisse Hanna C.; Oliquino, Roland S. ; Ravago, Majah-Leah V.Several studies suggest that the increase in the gap between rich and poor households positively affects the aggregate savings as richer households have a higher marginal propensity to save than low income earners. examining the effect of income distribution on regional household savings in the Philippines, we used pooled cross-sectional data from 1988 to 2012 of 17 regions from the Family Income and Expenditure Survey (FIES). calculating the Gini coefficient and the income ratio of the 10th and 1st deciles as a measurement of income inequality, our regression analysis suggests that a 0.1 increase in the Gini coefficient results in a 0.61-percentage point increase in the saving rate. Meanwhile, a 1-percentage point increase in the income ratio results in a 0.1-percentage point increase in the saving rate. However, after analyzing the impact of income inequality on the saving rate of the rich and the poor, the results reveal that the rich tend to save, while the poor dis-save, which is contrary to our hypothesis that after satisfying their basic needs, relatively poor households would increase their savings due to status-seeking behavior.Item Restricted Are teachers more financially literate than the rest of the Philippine population?(2016-06) Galandines, Justine Maria Regina D.; Macasaet, Pamela Y.; Ravago, Majah-Leah V.Are teachers more financially literate than the rest of the population? We used data from the Consumer Finance Survey 2009 and Metrobank Foundation, Inc. and UPecon Foundation Inc.’s Survey of Outstanding Teachers under the project, “Economic Success and Awards: Impact Evaluation of the Metrobank Foundation Award for Outstanding Teacher” to answer this question. Using aspects of financial literacy, particularly financial behavior and financial attitude, we created an index for financial literacy. We then used OLS regressions to estimate how factors, including occupation (whether teacher or non-teacher), marital status, location, education, expenditures, household size, and gender, affect the financial literacy index. Results show that teachers have significantly higher financial literacy and financial behavior indices than that of the rest of the population. However, teachers do not have significantly higher financial attitude indices than that of the rest of the Philippine population. This indicates the importance of ensuring that teachers are capable of financial education through seminars, courses, trainings, and programs. It is vital that as we integrate financial education in the educational system, teachers are prepared with adequate financial knowledge, behavior, and attitude.Item Restricted Assessing the dependence of electricity demand on temperature: Evidence from the Philippines(2017-12-20) Fader, Cristine Dianne A. ; Javate, Pauline Grace D. ; Ravago, Majah-Leah V.Despite the ample amount of literature exploring the relationship of temperature and household electricity demand, none of them focused in the Philippines. Our research investigated the correlation of average monthly electricity demand with average yearly temperature, particularly taking into account how Philippine households across provinces differ in their electricity consumption given that each province had variations in average outside temperature. Employing a cross sectional analysis for Household Electricity Consumption Survey (HECS) 2011 and Family Expenditure and Income Survey (FIES) 2009 and 2012 showed that electricity expenditure is being affected by average mean temperature. Other factors that impact electricity expenditure are income, household size, household head sex and educational attainment, and cooling appliances.Item Restricted Contraceptive access and use and the effect on birth rate and child well-being(2017-06) Alba, Francesca Isabella R. ; Buban, Ana Regina A. ; Ravago, Majah-Leah V.The low and unsteady rate of modern contraceptive use in the Philippines has led to high levels of unmet need for family planning, especially among poorer families who have no access to contraceptives but want smaller families. As an effect, the increase in the number of dependents burdens households, leading to decreased investments per child and an overall negative impact on their well-being. We explore the inter-generational link between the mother’s ability to control her fertility and its direct effect on the child borne employing a two-step empirical approach. Using the Cebu Longitudinal Health and Nutrition Survey (CLHNS) in panel and logistic models, we estimate the effect of contraceptive use and access on mother’s birth rate, and its subsequent effect on the child’s well-being. We found that using contraceptives as well as obtaining contraceptive products and services from official sources are negatively correlated with birth rate, both decreasing the number of children borne to a mother by approximately 0.7 and 0.1 percent, respectively. As for the corresponding effect of birth rate on child well-being, we found that as the number of children borne by mothers increases, the less likely that their children are to have successful health and education outcomes. Consequently, we see that children with better educational outcomes have higher probabilities of being employed. The correlation established in our research can ultimately aid in the formulation and improvement of population and family planning policies.Item Restricted Determinants of short-run electricity consumption in the Philippines(2018-01) Racadio, Lorenzo Romeo C. ; Salarda, John Renz G. ; Ravago, Majah-Leah V.Electricity is an essential need to power appliance needs of households. We want to determine how households consume electricity with the aim of determining what factors affect electricity consumption using the Household Energy Consumption Surveys of 2011 and 2004. Our regression is a log-level model regressing monthly electricity consumption against household characteristics, particularly income, energy conservation efficiency, temperature, appliance quantity and electricity price. Our findings suggest intuitive. However, increases in unidentified appliances and worse conservation efficiency lead to decreases in consumption. Most households that own unidentified appliances or have poorer conservation ratings tend to have lower incomes, hence the decrease in consumption. As a result, we conduct another set of regressions that consider relationships between income and appliance quantity, conservation rating and income, and temperature and electricity price. In the results, we see that income and appliance quantity are linked with increases in consumption, holding conservation rating and income constant respectively. The interaction of electricity price and temperature is associated with the trend that electricity consumption increases with increases in electricity price or temperature given the other variable. Meanwhile, counter intuitive increases in consumption associated with household conservation grade improvements lead us to conclude that there are deeper endogenous relationships present between conservation rating and other factors. Some policy options then to increase consumption pertain to incentives for urbanization and live births, and also conducting trade with countries that provide low cost appliances.Item Restricted Does quality of electricity matter? household-level evidence from the Philippines(2018-05) Pepino, Vanessa Mae O.; Ravago, Majah-Leah V.This study aims to examine the relationship of electricity quality and income levels among Filipino households. We use data from the 2004 and 2011 rounds of the Household Energy Consumption Survey to uncover whether electricity quality affects the welfare of households in terms of incidents of brownouts, fluctuations, and low voltages and income levels of different household groups. To account for endogeneity issues, we apply a two-stage probit-ordered probit model. We document a positive relationship between good electricity quality and higher income levels. In this light, households experiencing deteriorating electricity quality are less likely to be in higher income categories. A caveat, however, is that the relationship runs simultaneously where income level also explains the quality of electricity a household receives.Item Restricted Effect of household access to electricity on children's school participation(2017-12-20) Enriquez , Ma. Koleen F. ; Estampador, Camille Therese D. ; Ravago, Majah-Leah V.In this paper, we use the pooled cross-section data of Annual Poverty Indicators Survey from 2002 to 2016 in assessing the effect of household electricity access on school attendance. We find that due to electricity at home, the likelihood of a child attending school increases by 5 percentage points. On the other hand, there is a 4 percentage point increase in the odds of the child going to school if there is electricity present while also considering ownership of appliances (e.g. television, radio, air conditioner, and computer). In supporting future policies on the importance of household electricity, this study provides substantial evidence that household access to electricity has positive correlation on the school attendance of children in the Philippines.Item Restricted Effect of household energy use on the health of household members(2018-12) Potenciano, Ma. Arianna L. ; Ronsayro, Howard Lorenzo Z. ; Ravago, Majah-Leah V.Poverty incidence in the Philippines has led to the use of unsafe and hazardous fuel types for their everyday household activities. As such, household members are exposed to various pollutants being produced by these dirty fuels, affecting particularly children, who spend the most time inside the house. We explore the relationship between the incidence of Acute Respiratory Infection (ARI) among children under 5 years of age and their exposure to these pollutants as a result of the use of dirty fuels. We employ a logistic regression using data from the National Demographic Health Survey (NDHS). Our results indicate that households who use dirty fuels are more at risk, with a 1.7% chance that their children acquire ARI. The correlation established in our research can aid in the formulation of policies that can incentivize households to make use of cleaner alternatives to reduce the rates of morbidity and mortality.Item Restricted Exploring the effect of contraceptive use on women empowerment: evidence from the Philippines(2016) Olaivar, Jessica Regina B.; Santos, Alyssa Bianca L.; Ravago, Majah-Leah V.We analyze the effect of using family planning methods on women empowerment as measured by the women’s participation on four different household decisions namely visits to family/relatives, large household purchases, daily needs and health care. A pooled dataset was created from the results National Demographic and Health Surveys of 2003, 2008 and 2013. The sample consisted of women aged 15-49 who were married or are living with a partner at the time the survey was conducted. Apart from the use of contraception, other exogenous factors were also considered. Logistic regression was used to assess the relationship among variables. Only the model about visits to family and relatives passed the test for specification error. Results from this model show that contraception is not significant at the 5% level. However, other exogenous variables prove significant in this model. Given these results, further studies are encouraged to further explore this relationship.Item Restricted Factors nfluencing the credit utilization of smallholder farmers(2017-12-20) Obispo, Dorothy Jane M. ; Pine, Ma. Veronica S. ; Ravago, Majah-Leah V.We aim to identify the different characteristics that influence credit utilization (for production or consumption) of a farmer. We estimate the effect of different characteristics on loan allocation using the logistic model for 2015 Smallholder Farmers and Fisher folk Indebtedness Survey (SFFIS). We found that loan characteristics, specifically interest rate and amount, are the most significant characteristics that influence credit allocation and are negatively correlated with credit allocation--decreasing the likelihood of loan allocation to consumption by approximately seven percent in both cases. Consequently, we see that maturity is significant and positively correlated to credit allocation, with a one percent increase of likelihood for a farmer to allocate loan to consumption.Item Restricted Impact of usage of irrigation system on farm household income: case of the Philippines(2017-05-27) Alusen, Melissa B. ; Soriano, Mia Andrea O. ; Ravago, Majah-Leah V.Item Restricted Income inequality and mental health in the Philippines: the impact of income inequality on mental health in the Philippines(2016-12-14) Canoy, Wenny Laine Ann L. ; Paraguya, Maria Trinidad O. ; Ravago, Majah-Leah V.Despite the increasing cases of mental disorders and disability and the economic, health, and social costs these inflict to society, little is studied about its economic determinants in the Philippines. We investigate the relation between income inequality and mental health in the Philippines. We used pseudo-panel data from approximately 32 thousand households from 83 provinces in 2006 and 2009. Data includes vital statistics records of deaths by mental disorders, self-inflicted harm and event of undetermined intent as mental health outcomes. Using the fixed effect regression, our results displayed significance of income inequality measures at the 95% confidence interval. Our analysis finds support for this relation, and suggest that further increase in income inequality will lead to a greater adverse effects to population mental health in the country.Item Restricted Measurement and determinants of corporate tax evasion in the Philippines 1981 - 1994(1997-03) Ravago, Majah-Leah V.; Solano, Christinelle V.; Ferrer, Ricardo D.Item Restricted Measuring responses of labor migration to climatic changes through changes in fish production(2017-05-27) Alcazar, Sylina Mari L.; Espiritu, Nika Karen O.; Ravago, Majah-Leah V.The fisheries sector is the poorest sector in the country and therefore, the most vulnerable to climatic changes. People find different means to cope with the situation in order to uplift their well-being and one of the emerging strategies is by working overseas. The study showed that climate-induced migration is caused by declining agricultural productivity in the countryside. Using the Fixed Effect Two-Stage Least Squares (FE-TSLS) regression model on a 13-year panel data, results showed that fish productivity, as affected by weather variables, serves as an important intermediateItem Restricted Power prices and FDI attractiveness: A dynamic panel data analysis on 90 countries and the ASEAN-5(2017-05-27) Perez, Patricia Isabelle D. ; Tai, Maria Nikuo A. ; Ravago, Majah-Leah V.Concerns over increasing power prices have gained course in recent years in the context of international competitiveness in the ASEAN region. Unstable energy supply and high power prices can negatively impact energy-intensive industries and can therefore reduce the attractiveness of a country for foreign direct investment inflows (FDI). This paper bridges the literature gap on power prices as a potential locational determinant of FDI inflows using a dynamic panel analysis. First, we use two-step system generalized method of moments (SYS-GMM) for our cross-country regression (data on 90 countries over the period 2000-2014) as it allows for “small T, big N” type of data. Second, for our ASEAN-4 regression, we conducted instrument variable two-stage least squares (IV 2SLS) as it allows for few time periods and few groups. Both methods provide for dynamic estimations. The results of this paper confirm that power prices serve as a deterrent to FDI inflows.Item Restricted Powering tourism: wind energy and its impact on rural tourism in Ilocos Norte(2017-06) Barrera, Mishael Joy S.; Ravago, Majah-Leah V.This study provides a formal attempt to empirically quantify the impact of wind farm development projects to the local tourism industry. Specifically, it provides a framework that assumes the presence of wind mills in the community can decrease the value of the landscape. The Contingent Valuation Method (CVM) assessed the change in value of the landscape by examining the change in willingness-to-pay (WTP) of tourists assuming that individuals value the scenery and the introduction of ‘industrial infrastructure, be it wind turbines or other metal structures, may decrease its value. A survey conducted via the internet was designed to explore the scenic value lost to the public when a wind farm like the one in Bangui, Ilocos Norte is established. Contrary to the findings of studies abroad, results show that tourists are willing to pay an additional amount in order to upgrade to a room with the view of wind mills. The data sets demonstrate that under standard assumptions, the wind farm provides a positive value based on the point of view of potential tourists. The positive valuation of individuals to wind farm facilities can be potentially translated as increase in tourist arrivals in the area, which would mean additional revenues through employment generation, tourist expenditures, accommodation and transportation, among others. Hence, additional revenues increase the benefits over time that may further improve the local community welfare. This implies that wind farms are potential tourist destinations sites on which careful planning and monitoring of tourism activities must be undertaken in order to provide a sustainable tourism development plan that would trickle-down benefits to the local residents of the community.Item Restricted Residential electricity demand patterns in the Philippines(2016-06-06) Lim, Hazel Myka Q. ; Soriano, Anna Bettina F. ; Ravago, Majah-Leah V.We estimate the price and income elasticities and the significant factors affecting the residential electricity demand patterns in the years 2003, 2006, 2009, and 2012 using the Family Income and Expenditure Survey. We calculated the short run elasticity demand in the household level using the average price of electricity, annual household income, household head sex and household size. The paper also provides a comparison of the price and income elasticities per region and quintile. We found the estimated price elasticity to be -0.739 and income elasticity of 0.866. Determining the price and income elasticity per region helps in identifying regions that are in need of targeting and rural electrification programs.