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Summary In this paper, we propose a new method of poverty decomposition. Our method remedies the shortcomings of existing methods and has some desirable properties such as time-reversion consistency and subperiod additivity. Our decomposition integrates the existing methods of growth-redistribution decomposition and sector-based decomposition, because it allows us to decompose the change in poverty into growth and redistribution components for each group (e.g., regions or sectors) in the economy. Our decomposition works well in cases where only partial data are available for some periods. It is also flexible and can be extended to have the following six components: population shift, within-region redistribution, between-region redistribution, nominal growth, inflation, and methodological change components. The empirical application of the six-way decomposition to the Philippines for the period 1985–2009 shows that important policies for poverty reduction may differ across regions. For example, the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao would need growth-enhancing policies, whereas Eastern Visayas would need policies to improve the income distribution. Our decomposition method has a wide applicability and may complement the poverty profile approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary This paper illustrates the sharp contrast in welfare impacts between the rich and the poor caused by typhoon Milenyo in a Philippine village. We find that fish prices dropped sharply due to the damage caused to fish pens near the village, leading to positive net welfare gains among the wealthy. In contrast, the poor do not consume much fish and thus did not gain from the sharp decline in prices. Finally, consumption reallocation played an important role as an ex post risk-coping measure, albeit only among the wealthy, who are relatively well-protected against typhoons. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary Using administrative data on donations channeled through the Commission on Filipinos Overseas, this paper explores which host and home country factors are associated with donations made by permanent migrants to the Philippines. On the host country side, donations increase with the income level of Filipinos and with the number of hate crimes against minorities. On the home country side, donations are not well-targeted. As donations mainly flow to provinces with high emigration rates, they do not reach less developed Philippine provinces. However, the diaspora is responsive to natural disasters and channels donations to provinces when they are hit by a typhoon. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: The paper looks at the impact of migration and workers’ remittances on the competitiveness of the home economy. It extends existing research that concentrated on the exchange rate effects of remittances, the so-called Dutch disease effect, by adding labor market effects. The results show that the labor market effects of emigration and remittances have a significant impact on competitiveness that goes beyond the traditional exchange rate effect. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This paper analyzes the processes of growth and poverty reduction simultaneously under a neoclassical growth model framework, using provincial data from the Philippines. We obtain a high rate of provincial income convergence and a tradeoff between equity and growth. The lack of political competition inhibits growth. Land reform is positively associated with growth and poverty reduction while higher agricultural terms of trade facilitate poverty reduction. The “growth elasticity of poverty reduction” is low by international standards but is sensitive to sectoral income composition and initial conditions in poverty incidence, mortality rate and irrigation coverage. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]