Shirley Tiong-Palisoc
School of Economics, University of the Philippines Diliman
doi.org/10.57043/transnastphl.1998.5829
Abstract
The paper uses a newly constructed data set on poverty and inequality to reexamine the usual story on economic growth, poverty, and income inequality in the Philippines. It finds that, contrary to popular perceptions, growth in recent years and across sectors or areas of the country has not had an adverse impact on the position of the poor. Poverty responds quite well to growth, although the economy’s ability to translate growth to poverty reduction appears weaker than for an “average” developing country. Similarly, the absence of growth hurts the poor, both absolutely and relatively.