(DP 1995-08) Aspects of Employment Location, Regional Redistribution, and Poverty and Inequality in the Philippines

Abstract

Recent discussions of public policy in developing countries have frequently called attention to the need for reducing high income disparities among regions and between urban and rural areas. This paper examines the relative influence of regional differences in household access to land, infrastructure, and education on aggregate poverty and inequality in the Philippines. It finds that improvement in access to infrastructure and education in less favored regions offers a big push to the poverty-reduction objective. Land redistribution increases rural household incomes, but these increases are not likely to substantially alter the picture of aggregate poverty and inequality.