GROWTH, REDISTRIBUTION AND POVERTY

Abstract

The usual claim in policy discussions is that the Philippines is an exception to the standard story about economic growth and poverty reduction in East Asia. This article uses decomposition analysis to examine the evidence and explore the proximate sources of poverty change in the 1980s and 1990s. Results show that, among other things, growth in recent years has been beneficial to the poor, both absolutely and relatively. The main reason for the relatively high poverty in the Philippines is primarily the short duration of growth. The importance of growth in poverty alleviation varies greatly, however, across administrative regions and sectors of the economy.

Keywords:

• Poverty
• growth
• inequality
• Philippines
• poverty decomposition analysis