The Growth and Distributive Impacts of Public Infrastructure Investments in the Philippines

Abstract

The government of the Philippines continues to implement reforms that aim to promote economic development and lift the country’s standard of living. This is critical as it has been lagging behind neighbouring East Asian countries with respect to economic size and per capita income. The bottlenecks the country faces include poor physical infrastructure (transport and utility infrastructures), low quality of education, volatile economic growth, high poverty rates and large income disparities.