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Item Restricted The effect of openness to trade on the Gini index in the Philippine economy(2016-01) Abad, Francis Andrew Ong ; Pajaron, Marjorie C.According to Heckscher-Ohlin (HO) theor}', openness to trade decreases income inequality in developing countries like the Philippines. This paper aims to contribute to the existing literature that explores this relationship by testing four hypotheses based on HO theory using time series data (1950-2010) in the Philippines through ordinary least squares (OLS) and error correction models (ECM) in both the short and long run and by also incorporating consumption, government and investment share of GDP as controls across all the regression runs. The four hypotheses state that: (1) openness alone; (2) openness and national income; (3) openness and factor endowments; and (4) openness, foreign direct investment (FDI) and remittances determine income inequality in an economy. Four models are constructed to measure the effect of openness to trade on income inequality, which are measured using Gini and Market Gini, while controlling for GDP per capita, GDP per worker, land per worker, FDI net inflows and remittances. OLS and ECM reveal that the effect of openness on income inequality is ambiguous, which is consistent to previous studies of White and Anderson (2001), Lundberg and Squire (2003), Dollar and Kray (2002). Regional data within the Philippines needs to be obtained in order to increase the number of observations and the robustness of the results of this paper.Item Restricted Challenging the great equalizer: a study on the impact of naturl disasters on income inequality across the regions in the Philippines(2018-12) Ceniza, Samantha Yzavelle H. ; Sanchez, Ivana Jeremy F. ; Daway-Ducanes, Sarah Lynne S.The Philippines is often at high risk from natural disasters. Indeed, the data show that there is an increasing trend in the number and magnitude of disasters in the country in the last century. While, it is often argued that natural disasters are the “great equalizers” of mankind as they affect everyone equally, there is evidence that disasters may disproportionately adversely affect the poor, and may even result in a worsening of income inequality. As such, this paper focuses on investigating the relationship between natural disasters and income inequality in the Philippines. Using panel data analyses on a dataset of 17 regions spanning ten three-year intervals from 1985 to 2015, our results show that the presence of a natural disaster is positively associated with income inequality, measured by the gini coefficient. However, when we decompose by type, we find evidence that Geophysical, Meteorological, and Hydrological disasters increase income inequality but Climatological disasters tend to reduce income inequality. There is also evidence that disasters have short-term (3 years) and long-term (6 years) effects on income inequality. Furthermore, we decompose the gini coefficient of the mean per capita income by income source to verify how inequality by specific income source associates with natural disasters and estimation results reveal that disasters decrease Remittance inequality – providing additional evidence for the “buffering effect” of remittances – but increase other income sources’ inequality (i.e. Agricultural, Non- Agricultural, Entrepreneurial, Other Income).Item Restricted The effects of human development and income inequality on suicide rates in 67 Countries(2019-05) dela Cruz, Russel Matthew M.; Maguiguilid, Shaira Jane F. ; Epetia, Maria Christina F.Suicide remains to be a problem in both the developing and developed world. However intuitive though, previous studies have shown inconsistent results about the effects of income inequality on suicide. To see the differences in the effects of the variables across income levels and gender, this study pooled data from 67 countries from 2000-2015 and grouped them according to World Bank income classifications. This allowed the study to broaden perspectives on suicides in lower middle-income countries. Moreover, we posit a shift of focus to outcome-related factors to explain the varying relationship of inequality and suicide. Using fixed-effects cross country panel data regressions, this study supports the notion that outcomes, represented by the human development index, affect suicide more than income alone. On average, income inequality and suicide appear to have an insignificant relationship although a weak negative relationship is found in upper middle-income countries. Similar with previous studies, unemployment has a positive and significant relationship with suicide. But when comparing its effect within each income level, it only shows significance in low middle income countries. Contrary to previous research, this study also finds suicide to have no significant relationship with urbanization and industrialization. Lastly, the results of this study consistently find a significant and negative relationship between fertility and suicide.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 The effect of income inequality on the incidence of index crime: a study on the Philippine setting(2019) Chu, Lawrence Niccolo G.; Valdez, Vincente Mari Hilario V.; Pajaron, Marjorie C.The goal of this paper is to revisit the impact of income inequality on the index crime rate at the provincial level of the Philippines by utilizing panel data. Given the change in method of nationwide crime reports in 2009, our analyses exploit data specifically from the Human Development Report (HDR) and the Family Income and Expenditure Survey (FIES), containing the Gini Coefficient and crime statistics for the 81 local provinces over the period of 2006 and 2009. We mainly used and compared three econometric methods to determine the relationship of the Gini Coefficient and index crime rate – ordinary least squares (OLS), Fixed Effects (FE), and Random Effects (RE). By utilizing the Hausman Specification Test, the Random Effects model proved to be more accurate than the Fixed Effects model. After controlling for the variables of education, population density, poverty, unemployment, and real income, the results suggest that a 1-point increment in the Gini Coefficient may lead to an increase of 4 instance of index crime per 100,000 population. Other variables that were found to be significant are the mean years of schooling and the population density.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 Philippine crime and economics: new evidences using new crime reporting system(2015-12) Borromeo, Elizabeth Y.; Lizaso, Shaun Erycka T.; Mendoza, Maria Nimfa F.Crime and economics, undoubtedly, have significant relationship, as proved by several empirical research conducted decades ago and in the recent years. Since 2009, the Philippine National Police has implemented a new crime reporting system, which is said to be more efficient, thus, largely increasing reported crime rates throughout the years. Generating a conceptual framework to study the relationship of crimes and economics in the Philippine context, this paper aimed to determine to what extent the following economic and deterrence variables are related with the incidence of crimes: income inequality, gross domestic product, unemployment, education, police-to-population ratio, crime clearance efficiency, and police expenditure. Further, the results are utilized for policy-making or assessment purposes which are aimed to reduce crimes in the country. The researchers gathered 2009-2013 panel data with 17 regions and used the Fixed Effects model, the Least Square Dummy Variables model, and Distributed Lag model for each type of crime – against persons and against property. In the fixed effects model, unemployment, gross domestic product, police-to-population ratio, and police expenditure are significantly related with crimes, both against persons and property. Meanwhile, in the LSDV model, regression results show that all regional dummies are statistically significant except for CALABARZON. Importantly, for the distributed lag model, the results showed that increases in crime clearance efficiency significantly decreases both crimes against persons and property.Item Restricted Income inequality and voter participation in the Philippines(2013-10) Borromeo, Emmy Lou Y.; Guda, Carmela Benilde R.; Alonzo, Ruperto P.There exists a wide-rcmging hori~on of issues when it comes to politrcal economy, one of which is the relationship between income inequality and voter turnout. These two variables have been on the c.enter of scholarly attention for when linkect, the correlation can be used in clarifying the citizens' view of how the government works for them. Existing literatures· offer three perspectives: one stating that such inequality depresses turnout, the other, the contrary and the iast lies on the middle ground. In this paper, the authors attempt to find the connection between these variables under the Philippine context using the hypothesis that economic segregation has a positive impact on electoral participation. Generating three models on two time periods (2004 and 201 0) through logistic regression, they have found ambiguous results. For both periods, the P60/P50 andP50/P20 ratios are consistent in being a significant factor in the regional-level voting preferences. However, the· positive correlation of both ratios with voter participation proliferated oniy in 2004; in 2010, the P50iP20 ratio became negatively linked with the said dependent variable. Furthermore, the P80/P20 ratio was deemed to be only significant and positively associated with voter participation in the 2004 Elections, while it remained positive in the 2010 Elections, the statistic became insignificant. Impacts of socioeconomic attributes were also included in the analysis. The dataset used was obtained from the 2004 and 2010 Comparative Study of Electoral Systems Modules and 2003 and 2009 Family Income and Expenditure Surveys.