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Start date: 2010 × Subject: COVID-19 ×

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Now showing 1 - 10 of 22
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    Food insecurity and coping mechanism in the Philippines during the COVID-19 pandemic
    (2024-01-15) Natividad, Maritess Sophia C.; Pamintuan, Zyrille Jade O.; Pernia, Ernesto M.
    Food insecurity is a problem faced by countries all over the world. In the Philippines, more than half of the population is categorized as food insecure and the lockdowns which financially and physically constrained households from accessing food has severely affected the levels of food insecurity within the country during the COVID-19 pandemic. The lockdowns have made households exhaust all means possible so that they could obtain food. Different households would have different coping mechanisms in the face of food shortage. Such coping mechanisms can be to modify food consumption or to protect food consumption. Using the probit and multinomial regression models show the pivotal role of job retention, online selling ventures, government assistance, responsible credit use, and promotion of insurance coverage in alleviating food insecurity of households.
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    In search of COVID-19: analysis of the impact of negative investor sentiment on ASEAN-6 stock markets using Google trends data
    (2023-05-12) Alcedo, Maxine C; Go, Hannah Nicole B.; Mendoza, Adrian R.
    This study analyzes the effects of negative retail investor sentiment regarding COVID- 19 on the stock market indices of six countries in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), namely Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam. We argue that investors demand more information in times of uncertainty (e.g., pandemics) to lessen their exposure to risk, which in turn influences their behavior in the stock market. Using weekly data from January 2020 to July 2022 to capture the beginning, peak, and decline of the pandemic, we analyze the abnormal increase in Google search volume relating to COVID-19 to measure uncertainty and panic in investor behavior. In particular, we used the “Coronavirus disease 2019” topic in Google Trends as a proxy for negative investor sentiment relating to the pandemic. Using pooled ordinary least squares, we found that negative investor sentiment has a significant adverse effect on ASEAN stock market returns. Our fixed effects regression showed that negative investor sentiment has a significant positive effect on ASEAN stock market volatility. Our findings also suggest that negative investor sentiment has a greater effect on ASEAN stock markets than changes in new COVID-19 cases. These results are robust after controlling for relevant factors such as government stringency measures, financial market size, oil prices, real exchange rates, and global interest rates. The growth of new COVID-19 cases has a significant negative effect on stock market returns. Faster growth in new vaccinations positively impacts returns as well.
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    Evaluating the effect of digital payments on the Philippines’ economic growth in the pandemic era
    (2023-01) Reyes, John Glenn B.; Wong, Hans Nicholas U.; Alburo, Florian A.
    This paper examines the effect of digital payments on economic growth in the Philippines during the COVID-19 pandemic era. We apply ordinary least squares regression to explore how the volume of digital payments transactions affects economic growth proxied by the Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI). The regression also involves other indices which act as explanatory variables, such as the Philippine Stock Exchange Index (PSEi) and the Industrial Production Index (IPI). We also analyzed nonlinear effects that digital payments may have on economic growth, as well as how the potential influence that digital payments on growth may be affected by the introduction of COVID-19 lockdown restrictions imposed on society. This study covers the period January 2019 to June of 2022. The results show that the volume of digital payments has a significantly positive, diminishing effect on economic growth in the short run. The PSEi also maintains a significant positive relationship with growth, while the IPI’s effect can vary. The results also show that in the period of 2020-2022 marked by the height of the health crisis in the country, digital payments had a higher effect on economic growth, more stringent policies negatively affected economic growth, and the stringency of lockdown policies exerted an independent, positive effect on digital payments as well.
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    Social capital, trust in government, and the effectiveness of fiscal policy responses to COVID- 19
    (2023-03) Panganiban, Eryka Kolyn M.; Singson, Giulian Raphael B.; Mendoza, Adrian R.
    This study analyzes the effectiveness of demand-side fiscal policy responses in reducing COVID-19 cases, and whether social capital and trust in government have an intervening effect on this relationship. Using random effects panel data regression, we analyze the respective impacts of income support and fiscal stimulus on daily COVID- 19 cases, as well as their interaction with social capital and trust in government in a sample of 31 countries. This study covers the first year of the pandemic, from May 13, 2020 to December 31, 2020. We find that both income support and fiscal stimulus have significant negative effects on the spread of COVID-19, with income support having a much larger impact. Contrary to our hypothesis, social capital weakened the negative effect of income support on COVID-19 cases, which we attribute to a possible substitution effect. The results also showed that higher levels of trust in government strengthen the negative effect of large amounts of income support.
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    The impact of COVID-19 on the decomposition of teleworkability-based wage differentials among Philippine occupations
    (2023-07) Panganiban, Hustine Angelo B.; Celestino, Queenie Angel C.; Jandoc, Karl Robert L.
    With reduced mobility and restrictions on physical activities brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic, teleworking, defined as work performed away from the employer through information and communication technology, emerged as an alternative setup for many industries. Using Philippine Labor Force Survey data from 2019 and 2020, this study aims to measure the pandemic-induced wage inequality between teleworkable and non-teleworkable occupations. Furthermore, we employ the Kitagawa-Oaxaca-Blinder Decomposition, a three-component method that decomposes wage differentials between the two groups and across time. Our findings show that teleworkability-based wage differentials increased during the second and third quarters of 2020, at the height of the lockdown measures imposed by the Philippine government. Wage differentials in 2020 were primarily influenced by the differences in the effects of explanatory variables or group characteristics of teleworkers and non-teleworkers, implying that wage discrimination against non- teleworkers worsened during the pandemic.
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    Inflationary impact of COVID-19: an analysis on different commodity groups in the Philippines
    (2022-06) Cendaña, Mary Anne Clarisse R.; Vasquez, Geremee Cayle Z; Alburo, Florian A.
    The COVID-19 pandemic induced disruptions in global value chains and domestic supply chains, decreased business profits, and slowed economic growth that brought changes in demand and supply. Given supply bottlenecks and consumption shifts that differ across the different Philippine regions due to the varying severity of local cases, this paper studies the movements and differences in prices across commodity groups during the COVID-19 pandemic. Two regression models were developed using the average monthly cases of COVID-19 and inflation rates from March 2020 to December 2021 to determine the effects, namely: (1) Baseline and (2) Regional Factor Model. The results show that only 6 out of 13 commodity groups have their prices exert a significant relationship with the number of COVID-19 cases. Among the essential commodities, only food reveals a highly significant negative relationship, while among the non-essential items, only alcoholic beverages exhibit a strong negative correlation with the number of cases. Further, price movements for all items and transport are found to be negatively associated with the number of cases, while clothing and furnishings exhibit a positive relationship. Lastly, only 8.1% of the coefficients prove to have significant inflation disparities with the National Capital Region (NCR). This study recommends using one single estimator for more significant results, using other measures of inflation and exploring other pandemic indicators such as vaccination, mortality, and recovery rates.
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    Banking on the blue economy: blue bonds as an economic recovery response to the COVID-19 shock
    (2022-05-31) Cayaba, Crisel Joy M.; Tadeo, Kathleen Mae E.
    The Covid-19 pandemic has produced unprecedented challenges for both the health and economy of each country. This has been seen in reduced sectoral output attributed to the imposed lockdowns to contain the spreading of the disease. The Philippines sits in the same boat as its debt-to-GDP ratio increases due to the reduced output and increased debts; rising from 54.6% in 2020 to 60.5% in the last quarter of 2021. Some Filipino economists cite this as a “dangerous level” since the international threshold for the debt-to-GDP ratio is 60%. As an archipelagic country, there is a potential to reap the benefits of the vast blue economy of the Philippines. This paper shows the underlying outcome of issuing blue bonds in the country as one of the facilitators of economic recovery from the Covid-19 shock. Blue bonds are a subset of green bonds under the larger term of sustainable bonds which aim to support the sustainability projects related to the ocean economy. Given this, the purpose of the study is to show the viability of blue bond issuance as a contributive solution to lowering the debt-to-GDP ratio of the country. This paper exhibits the forecasted debt- to-GDP ratios in contrast to the forecasted ones after blue bond issuances. In doing so, the GDP share of the Philippine blue economy was forecasted using the type II GVA multiplier, which serves as the induced effect of blue bond issuances. Using the projected blue economy growth, results show that blue bond issuance has a significant impact on facilitating economic recovery through the immense contraction of the debt-to-GDP ratio by more than 50%. Possible channels that can be targeted are the fishing and tourism industry of the country which has shown the most potential in the Philippine blue economy.
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    A random walk down Wuhan Street : event analysis of the impact of COVID-19 on the stock returns of vaccine firms
    (2022-02) Berdin, Dylan Benjamine Alyssandra S.; Laureta, Alfonso Gabriel A.; Mendoza, Adrian R.
    Those who can spot a crisis coming are bound to prepare for it, while those who could promise to end it are bound to profit. The unprecedented COVID-19 pandemic saw unprecedented movements in stock prices. From when mysterious pneumonia cases of unknown cause were first reported in Wuhan on December 31, 2019, to when the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine was given full FDA approval, COVID-19 vaccine firms like Moderna, Novavax, and BioNTech have gained 5428.63%, 3065.95%, and 2583.29% respectively. Our study sought to investigate changes in stock prices preceding principal events related to the emergence and progression of COVID-19, as well as the vaccination efforts against it. We calculate for cumulative abnormal returns by using the Event Study Methodology (ESM) to quantify how stock returns of COVID-19 vaccine firms are impacted by (1) the first official public report of mysterious pneumonia cases in Wuhan, (2) the WHO’s declaration of COVID-19 as a pandemic, and (3) the issuance of emergency use authorization for COVID-19 vaccines. Results show cumulative abnormal returns across specific COVID-19 vaccine firms on all event dates. We observe premature buying and premature selling activity prior to actual public announcements, and link this to asymmetric information, causing limits to market efficiency. However, as per the strong-form efficient market hypothesis, we maintain this as a reflection of insider information and regard it as an efficient market response.
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    COVID-19 and gender inequality in the labor market: the Philippine experience
    (2022-05) Bautista, Keisha Aeris C.; Retardo, Janell R.; Mendoza, Adrian R.
    This study examines whether COVID-19 exacerbated the existing gender gaps in the Philippine labor market. Using the Labor Force Surveys for October 2019 and October 2020, we perform probit regressions and post-estimation tests to compare the labor market experience of men and women before and during the pandemic. Three key indicators of labor market activities are analyzed: labor force participation, employment, and decision not to work due to household responsibilities. These outcomes are then assessed against a set of household-related characteristics such as marital status, having young children, and being a household head. The results confirm that significant gender gaps persist in terms of the contribution of the household-related determinants in men and women’s probability of labor force participation and employment during the pandemic. For instance, having young children has contrasting effects on men's and women’s labor market activities: positive for men but negative for women. Further the results confirm the gender bias in terms of the decision not to work or look for work due to family duties. Being married and having young children significantly increase women’s probability of performing unpaid household work, while there is no similar evidence for men. On a positive note, our results do not provide evidence that COVID-19 exacerbated the gender gaps in terms of the contribution of household-related variables to labor force participation, employment, and performance of unpaid household work.
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    Basic childhood immunization and its effect on long term labor market outcomes
    (2022-01) Lim, Angelica Eunice S.; Yao, Alia Dominique Y.; Jandoc, Karl Robert L.
    As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, there has been more discourse on vaccination and its implications on one’s health and economic outlook. This study explores whether vaccination for Tuberculosis (TB), Diphtheria, Pertussis and Tetanus (DPT), polio, and measles in the first 2 years of life affect long-term labor market outcomes using data from Metropolitan Cebu in the Philippines. The Cebu Longitudinal Health and Nutrition Survey provided data on children and their household’s characteristics. Propensity score matching was used to analyze the difference between the labor market outcomes of unvaccinated and vaccinated individuals. The results showed a significant difference in total earnings and job formality, but no significant difference was seen in the hours worked on their main job. Although the results show that total earnings and job formality are negatively significant between the vaccinated and unvaccinated, it is a point of emphasis that the use of at least one immunization may not be enough to exhibit the actual effects of vaccination. Thus, this relationship is not strongly established and should be examined more closely.