Impact on OFWs, remittances and local employment seen in the … · 2018-05-02 · AKI Lecture Series on Poverty Research 7 Pilot test of OPHI modules begins in the Philippines 6

Impact on OFWs, remittances and localemployment seen in the Philippines*

ISSN: 1908-6989 Vol. VII, No. 1, December 2009www.pep-net.org

* The full version of this paper was presented during the Philippine Economic Society’s (PES) 47th Annual Meeting on 13 November 2009 in Manila.** Director, Research Associate and Research Assistant, respectively, of the CBMS Philippines Team

Celia Reyes, Alellie Sobreviñas and Jeremy de Jesus**

Inside D 5

CBMS pilot test in Nigeriaongoing

CBMS Network’s Multi-Country Study on Monitoring and Mitigating the Impact onPoverty of the Global Financial and Economic Crisis

Editor’s Note: The global financial and economiccrisis (GFC) which started in 2007 in the UnitedStates and expanded to other developed countrieshas, to some extent, affected developing countriesas well. In response, the CBMS Network started theimplementation of its initiative which aims tomonitor and mitigate the impact of the global crisison poverty in selected developing countries in Asia,Africa and South America. The project aims toprovide inputs to policymakers in prioritizingmitigating measures to address the impact of thecrisis. In particular, the results of this study wouldhelp in designing and prioritizing the necessarysocial protection programs as well as in refiningprogram targeting and in addressing the incidenceand stimulus of taxes and expenditures.

To date, eight (8) participating countries haveofficially started the implementation of the CBMSactivities with the GFC component. These includeCambodia, Kenya, Lao PDR, Nigeria, Peru, Tanzania,Zambia, and the Philippines. Selected communitiesin each of these countries will serve as povertyobservatories or sentinels of the impact of thecrisis. Monitoring is being done primarily throughthe conduct of CBMS surveys in these sites.Household- and community-level data are beingcollected to capture the different dimensions ofpoverty. Aside from the standard CBMS coreindicators, additional indicators are beingmonitored to specifically determine the potentialimpact of the crisis. These indicators, which were

eveloping countries could be affected by the global financialand economic crisis in two possible ways:

The Overseas Workers WelfareAdministration (OWWA) is the leadgovernment agency tasked to protectand promote the welfare and well-being of Overseas Filipino Workers(OFWs) and their dependents. Above,an OWWA Hotline banner in Agusandel Sur targeting OFWs who have beenaffected by the Global Financial Crisis.

PEP-CBMS Network announces Callfor Proposals for 2010 8

Kakwani, Samman headlineAKI Lecture Series on PovertyResearch 7

Pilot test of OPHI modules begins inthe Philippines 6

Expansion of CBMS inTanzania gets underway 5

identified based onthe relevant keytransmission channelsfor each of thep a r t i c i p a t i n gcountries, includeoutcome and impactindicators as well asindicators of copingmechanisms. Inparticular, the studywould determine thedifferent copingstrategies adopted byhouseholds inresponse to the crisis.The study would alsoidentify the differentprograms that arebeing implemented torespond to the crisisand determine who areable to access theseprograms.

In the case of the Philippines, preliminaryresults for some of the sites are alreadyavailable and are presented below.

impact of the global financial crisis wouldvary across different countries, it isexpected that, in general, there would befurther pressures on current accounts andbalance of payment. The crisis could alsoresult in weaker export revenues, lowerinvestment and GDP growth rates and lossof employment. In terms of social impact,the lower growth would translate intohigher poverty and even slower progresstoward the achievement of the MillenniumDevelopment Goals (MDGs) (Velde, 2008).

1) financial contagion and spillovers forstock and bond markets in emergingmarkets; and 2) economic downturn indeveloped countries. Economic downturn indeveloped countries may have significantimpact on developing countries through thefollowing channels: a) trade and tradeprices; b) remittances, c) foreign directinvestment and equity investment; d)commercial lending; e) aid; and f) otherofficial flows. Although the economic

2 CBMS Network UpdatesDecember 2009

Qatar 11.1%

Others29.6%

Saudi Arabia 25.9%

USA14.8%

UK 11.1%

Italy 7.4%

Research Results

The Philippines was not able to escape theadverse consequences of the crisis as seenin the following:

1. The country posted an annual rateof 3.8 percent in 2008 which isdown from 2007’s 31-year high of7.1 percent;

2. In terms of exports, the country’searnings for September 2009declined by at least 18.3 percent(from US$4.446 million inSeptember 2008 to US$3.634million) on a year-on-year basis,which is primarily due to lowerdemand from advancedeconomies;

3. In terms of employment, at least41,000 people in the Philippineshave lost their jobs as of 24 March2009 amid the global crisis. Thetotal number includes job lossesfrom the crisis since October 2008and includes overseas-basedcontract workers from recession-hit economies (about 5,700persons) and employees indomestic factories (35,300persons) which are also sufferingfrom the fall in global demand.Furthermore, employmentgrowth, measured in terms oflabor turnover rates started todecline significantly during thesecond quarter of 2008; and

4. Remittances coursed throughbanks grew by 2.8 percent inAugust 2009 year-on-yearnotwithstanding the globalfinancial crisis. Remittancesduring the period reached US$1.4billion. However, the Augustgrowth is lower compared to the10.4 percent growth a year ago.

Given the vulnerability of the Philippines, it isimportant to determine the potential impactof this global crisis on poverty. The studyconducted by the CBMS Network’s ResearchTeam in the country therefore aims todetermine which sectors of the economy areaffected by the crisis. It also attempts to lookat the different coping mechanisms adoptedby the households as well as the programsimplemented by the government in responseto the crisis. The result of this study wouldserve as inputs to policymakers inprioritizing mitigating measures that wouldaddress the impact of the crisis on poverty.

In this paper, results are presented for 9selected sites1 distributed all over thePhilippines. The sites would serve as povertyobservatories or sentinel sites for monitoringthe impact of the crisis (Table 1). To beconsistent with the CBMS methodology, allhouseholds in the selected sites were includedin the survey. The selected barangays underthis study consist of about 3,274 households.As mentioned earlier, identification of thesesites was based on the relevant transmissionchannels for the country. Note that for thisround of data collection, the reference periodused is 6 months (i.e., from November 2008to April 2009).

households interviewed. Although 38.0percent of respondents reported that theyhad an OFW who returned during the period,only about 16.2 percent pointed toretrenchment or lay-off as the reason for thehomecoming.

A large proportion of retrenched OFWs used towork in Saudi Arabia. Data for the nine (9)sentinel sites revealed that about 25.9percent of OFWs who were retrenched camefrom Saudi Arabia, followed by the United Stateswith 14.8 percent. Data disaggregation alsorevealed that most of the retrenched OFWs aremale (70.4%) as seen in Table 2 and Figure 1.

Most of the retrenched OFWs used to workin private households with employedpersons. These workers represent about22.2 percent of the retrenched OFWs (Table3 and Figure 2). A relatively largeproportion of retrenched OFWS came fromthe health and social work sector (18.6%)and manufacturing sector (14.8%). Basedon a more disaggregated data onretrenched OFWs, the affected workers inthe health and social work sector are mostlywomen (80.0%). On the other hand, all of

Figure 2. Distribution of retrenched OFWs, bycountry

Source: CBMS Survey, 2009

RESULTSOFWs & RemittancesReturning OFWs due to retrenchmentCBMS data reveal that there were someOverseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) who wereretrenched during the period November 2008to April 2009. In particular, about 440 of the3,274 surveyed households have at least onemember who was working abroad before. Thistranslates to about 13.4 percent of all

Barangay

Urban NCR192Urban Outside NCRGumamelaVilla AngelesPoblacion IIIMagbangonMasikapRuralAndoSan MiguelSalvacionTotal

Municipality/City

Pasay City

LaboOrionSto.TomasCabucgayanPuerto Princesa City

BoronganLlorentePuerto Princesa City

Province

NCR-4

Camarines NorteBataanBatangasBiliranPalawan

Eastern SamarEastern SamarPalawan

No.856856

1,738432354466259227680174269237

3,274

%26.126.153.113.210.814.27.96.920.85.38.27.2100

No.2,9412,9417,7292,0601,4012,0861,230952

3,348892

1,3721,084

14,018

%2121

55.114.710

14.98.86.823.96.49.87.7100

Households PopulationTable 1. Total number of households and total population per barangay


1 The CBMS Network initiative covers 13 sentinelsites for the GFC Impact study. Data encoding for theremaining sites is still ongoing.

Table 2. Distribution of retrenched OFWs, bycountry


CountrySaudi ArabiaUSAQatarUKItalyOthers*Total Male Female

No. of Retrenched OFWs74332827198

CBMS Network UpdatesDecember 2009

3

Research Results

the retrenched OFWs in the manufacturingsector as well as in the transport, storageand communication sector are male.

Wage reduction among OFWsRather than return to the Philippines, someOFWs agreed to wage cuts during thereference period. About 9.4 percent of thehouseholds with OFWs reported that theirOFWs experienced wage reduction duringthe period November 2008-April 2009. Thisrepresents 42 OFWs who experienced areduction in wage. Some of the majorreasons mentioned by the OFWs for thedecrease in wage are the following: 1)reduced working hours (33.3%); 2) cuttingcost measures by the firm where the OFWworks(26.2%); and 3) losses incurred by thefirm where the OFW works (11.9%).

About 71.4 percent of the OFWs whoexperienced wage reduction are workingin Asian counties. A significant proportionof OFWs are, in fact, working in the MiddleEast. In particular, about 38.1 percent ofthe affected OFWs are working in SaudiArabia, followed by the US (9.5%) andHongKong SAR (9.5%). Disaggregation bysex reveals that male workers dominatethe group of OFWs who experienced areduction in wage or salary.

Most of the OFWs who experienced wagereduction are service workers and shop andmarket sales worker. About 31.0 percent ofthe affected OFWs work in this type of job. Thisis followed by those who work in trade andtrade-related work (14.3%), technicians andassociates (14.3%), and laborers and skilledworkers (14.3%). The rest work as plant andmachine operators and assemblers (14.3%).Male workers likewise dominate this group ofaffected workers.

Decline in the amount and frequency ofremittances receivedMore than 9 percent of the households whoreceived remittances had experiencedreduction in the amount of remittancesreceived during the period. An estimated 7.3percent of all households experienced adecline in the frequency of receipt ofremittances.

The largest proportion of households whichexperienced a decline in the amount andfrequency of receipt of remittance isreported in urban NCR (National Capital

Region). About 18.3 percent of householdswith OFWs in urban NCR experienced adecline in the amount of remittancereceived during the period. This is highercompared to the reported figures forhouseholds in rural and urban areas outsideof NCR which amount to 10.4 percent and6.7 percent, respectively (Table 4).

A22.2%

B18.6%

C14.8%

D11.1%

E11.1%

F7.4%

G3.7%

H3.7%

I3.7% J

3.7%

Figure 2. Retrenched OFW, by sector


%22.218.614.811.111.17.43.7

3.7

3.73.710070.429.6

Industry

A. Private households with employed personsB. Health and social workC. ManufacturingD Transport, storage and communicationE. Financial intermediationF. Real estate, renting and business activityG. Hotel and restaurantsH. Wholesale & retail trade, repair of motorvehicles, motorcycles, and personalhousehold goodsI. Other community, social and personalservice activitiesJ. ConstructionTotal Male Female

No.6543321

1

1127198

TotalTable 3. Retrenched OFW, by sector


IndicatorHH with member who lost jobMembers who lost jobHH with members whoexperienced wage reductionHH with members whoexperienced a reduction inworking hoursHH with members whoexperienced reduction inemployment benefits

No.90107

74

65

8

%2.84.1

2.3

2.0

0.3

Table 5. Outcome indicators, Wage Earners andSalaried Workers


%

8.3

100

18.3

12.7

No.85671

71

13

9

Urban NCR%

17.3

99.3

6.7

6.4

%

13.4

99.1

9.2

7.3

Indicator

HouseholdsHH with OFWHH who received remittances duringthe past 6 monthsHH who experienced a decline in theamount of remittances receivedHH who experienced a decline in thefrequency of receipt of remittances

%

10.1

97.1

10.4

6

No.68069

67

7

4

RuralNo.

1,738300

298

20

19

Urban Outside NCRNo.

3,274440

436

40

32

TotalTable 4. Households affected by the crisis through remittances


Type of JobService workers and shop andmarket sales workersProfessionalsLaborers and skilled workersPlant and machine operators andassemblersTechnicians and associateprofessionalsOthersTotal

No.

262119

15

818107

%

24.319.617.8

14.0

7.516.8100.0


Table 6. Members who lost job, by occupationLocal EmploymentLoss of jobsDuring the period November 2008 to April2009, 90 households reported a job lossof at least one of their membersrepresenting 2.8 percent of a l lhouseholds surveyed (Table 5). Thistranslates to a total of 107 persons who

lost their job during the period. Most ofthe affected individuals used to work asservice workers and shop and marketsales workers, accounting for 24.3percent of all affected members (Table6). In addition, most of the affectedindividuals used to work in themanufacturing industry which account for

about 20.6 percent of the total number ofpersons who lost jobs (Table 7). Hence,this sector could potentially be affectedby the crisis through the employmentchannel.

Reduction in wage, number of workinghours and employment benefitsSome of the employed individuals alsoexperienced a reduction in wage, number


Research Results

of working hours and employment benefits (Table8). These employed persons would prefer workingin the same job despite these reductions ratherthan moving to another job or being unemployed.Based on the responses given during the survey,about 1.8 percent (or 83 persons) suffered adecline in wage. In addition, 73 personsexperienced a reduction in working hours while 8persons suffered a reduction in benefits.Although there are more employed men thanwomen, the reported proportion of employedwomen affected through reduced wage (2.1%)and working hours (2.1%) is slightly higher ascompared with that of the men.

Coping Mechanisms Adopted by the HouseholdsHouseholds usually cope with shocks (e.g., theglobal crisis) by increasing receipts, reducingconsumption or shifting to cheaper substitutes.During the period covered by the study, a majorityof the households (i.e., 85.5%) reported thatthey modified their consumption of food (Table9). In particular, most of the households tried toreduce consumption of relatively expensive fooditems. Another common strategy adopted by thehouseholds was to buy food in retail and insmaller portions/packages. Next to food, clothingis another major expense affected as householdstry to cope with the shocks.

It should also be noted that some of thecoping strategies adopted by households mayhave negative long-term consequences,especially on women and children. For instance,

about 57.0 percent of the surveyed householdsreported that they modified their expensesrelated to health while 23.8 percent said thatthey modified some of their expenses related toeducation. In terms of health, households usuallycope by shifting to generic drugs/cheapermedicines, as reported by 33.5 percent of therespondents. In addition, about 27.2 percent ofall the respondents mentioned that they shiftedto using medicinal plants or herbal medicines incase one of their household members got sick.The other most common coping strategy in termsof health expenses include the shifting togovernment health centers/hospitals andresorting to self-medication. It is also worthnoting that 165 (or 5.0%) of all the surveyedhouseholds reported that they did not buymedicines even if they were necessary.

In terms of education, about 0.4 percent ofstudents who were studying were withdrawnfrom school in the coming school year (i.e., SY2009-10). In addition, about 0.4 percent ofstudents who were studying in a private school

in the past school year would be moved to apublic school in the coming school year.Although these strategies are not damaging inthe short-run, they can be counter-productivein the medium- and long-run.

Another major coping strategy adopted byhouseholds is in terms of tapping various fundsources. In fact, about 39.4 percent of thehouseholds reported that they borrowed moneyfrom various fund sources while 13.4 percentused their existing savings. Another 6.8 percentof the households either pawned or sold theirassets. Furthermore, another major strategy ofhouseholds is to seek additional source ofincome. About 5.6 percent of households saidthat at least one member of their householdlooked for work in addition to their existing job.However, only 4.6 percent actually did additionalwork. A few households also reported that atleast one member of their household notpreviously working got a job in order to cope withthe crisis. Some also tried to look for a workabroad. However, if one considers the results ofthis study, it can be said that the impact of theglobal crisis is not as severe as that seen from theeffects of the food and fuel price shocks.

Conclusion and RecommendationsIn monitoring the economic and socialimpact of the global financial and economiccrisis in the Philippines, this study notesthat although the impact was not as largeas initially expected, a modest increase inpoverty is still expected. Moreover, coupledwith the impact of the price shock in 2008 andthe recent natural calamities, povertyincidence is expected to go up significantly.This becomes more worrisome given thereversal in poverty incidence observed in 2006when poverty incidence went up for the firsttime since 1985.

Results of this study show that the potentialimpact of the crisis on poverty varies acrossdifferent groups of households. Certain groupsof households or individuals were affectedmore as compared to other groups. For instance,because the crisis has affected households interms of OFW remittances and local

IndustryManufacturingPrivate households withemployed personEducationOther community, social andpersonal servicesWholesale & retail trade, repairof motor vehiclesHotel and restaurantsTransport, storage andcommunicationPublic administration anddefense; compulsory socialsecurityFinancial intermediationHealth and social workElectricity, gas and water supplyConstructionMining and quaryingReal estate, renting andbusiness activitiesExtra-territorial organizationsand bodiesTotal

No.22

1412

9

88

7

754332

2

1107

%20.6

13.111.2

8.4

7.57.5

6.5

6.54.73.72.82.81.9

1.9

0.9100

Table 7. Members who lost job, by industry


%0.170.170.17

Male Female Total

No. of EmployedPersons

2,8801,7504,630

%1.32.11.6

No.373673

With ReducedWorking Hours

No.538

With ReducedBenefits

%1.62.11.8

No.473683

With WageReduction


Table 8. Members who lost job, by occupation

Coping Strategies1) Modified the followingtypes of expensesFoodClothingElectricityFuelCommunicationHealthWaterRecreationTransportationEducation2) Tapped various fundsourcesBorrowed moneyUsed savingsPawned assetsSold assets3) Sought additionalsource of incomeLooked for additional workDid additional workEmployed members notpreviously workingLooked for work abroad

No.

2,7982,6612,5162,1862,0091,8651,6381,3901,165779

1,29044015764

183144

5953

%

85.581.376.966.861.457.050.042.535.623.8

39.413.44.82.0

5.64.4

1.81.6

Table 9. Coping strategies adopted byhouseholds


continuation page 6<


5

T

Expansion of CBMS inTanzania gets underway

News Updates

hereplication andi n s t i t u t i o -nalization of theC o m m u n i t y -Based Mo-nitoring System(CBMS) inTanzania gotunderway lastJuly when theCBMS Team inTanzania startedthe imple-mentation of thesecond phase oftheir project.

❋

Stakeholders in Lushoto districtlisten as the CBMS project isintroduced.

· Preparation of training modulesforlocal enumerators on CBMSdata collection, including therevised component formonitoring the impact of thefinancial crisis in Dodoma,Morogoro and Lushoto

· Conduct of training workshopfor local enumerators on theuse of the improved CBMS datacollection instruments

· Pre-testing of CBMS with theGlobal Financial Crisis (GFC)component instruments

he CBMS-Nigeria pilot test, began inearly 2009, is now in the middle of itsimplementation in the Edem community.

The CBMS-Nigeria Team designed datacollection instruments for household andcommunity welfare indicators as well as forthe monitoring of the Global Financial Crisis(GFC). Training workshops for enumeratorsand encoders were conducted in the latterpart of October to acquaint enumeratorswith the instruments as well as with theentire project.

CBMS pilottest inNigeriaongoingT

For this phase of the project, the main focusis the expansion of the CBMS coverage inthe country using the methodology,indicators and instruments that weredeveloped and pilottested in the earlierproject phase.

The project sites now cover not only theprevious CBMS pilot sites of Nala village andK/Ndege ward in the Municipality of Dodomabut also Lushoto urban ward in Lushotodistrict and Sultani ward in the Municipalityof Morogoro. In selecting the sites,consideration was made on the potential ofgetting information on the key transmissionchannels through which the global financialand economic crisis can affect thehouseholds in Tanzania.

Since July 2009, the project team has beenable to accomplish the following:

· Networking with local partners forthe implementation of the CBMSin the three councils identified asexpansion sites.

· Designing of the CBMS dataprocessing instrument thatincorporates modifications in thequestionnaires

· Designing and identification ofthe indicators for monitoring theimpact of the crisis at the locallevel through CBMS

To ensure the validity of the instrumentsand to serve as practice to the trainedenumerators, the CBMS-Nigeria Teamconducted a pre-test in Enugu Ezike, aneighboring community whosecharacteristics are similar to those of thepilot site Edem. Thirty households wererandomly selected and enumerated. Thecompleted survey forms were then encodedand analyzed. Observations during thevarious stages were used to improve theinstruments.

Data collection is projected to be completedby January 2010 while data encoding iscurrently ongoing. The Team also aims to

Anenumeratorgetting theheight andweight of achild duringthe CBMSdatacollectionphase inEdem,Nigeria.

<

· Consultation meetings inDodoma, Morogoro and Lushotoon the design of refined indicatorsfor monitoring the impact of theglobal financial crisis.

The project aims to enable localgovernments to monitor poverty conditionsin the selected sites and to determine theimpacts of the GFC to ultimately provideinputs on the kind of measures that areneeded to respond to the adverse effects ofthe crisis.

The CBMS work in Tanzania started in 2006and is being carried out by the DodomaMunicipal Council with the assistance of theMunicipal Government. continuation page 7


through an effective dissemination ofsaid research. Dr. Sabina Alkire, thedirector of the OPHI, is also a ResearchAssociate at the Harvard University andSecretary of the Human Development &Capability Association (HDCA).

The OPHI was launched in May 2007 byNobel Laureate Amartya Sen.

News Updates

T

Pilot test of OPHI modules begins in thePhilippines

❋

❋

he CBMS Network’s ground-breakinginitiative to collect information on subjectiveareas of well-being took off last October2009 with a household survey beingconducted in two project sites, namely:Barangay 80 in Pasay City and BarangayLumbangan in Rosario, Batangas.

The survey is part of the Network’s ongoingcollaboration with the Oxford Poverty andHuman Development Initiative (OPHI)dubbed as “Testing the Missing Dimensionsof Poverty”. The project aims to pilot testsurvey modules for the following themes:(1) safety from violence; (2) empowerment;(3) employment quality; (4) dignity and self-respect; and (5) meaning and value.

The modules were developed by the OPHIafter noting that the current data whichshape poverty analysis in developingcountries are derived from household surveyinstruments which do not collect data onthese themes. Yet these are central to poorpeople’s experience of deprivation,exclusion and poverty.

Prior to this, Dr. Emma Samman, ResearchOfficer of the OPHI, conducted a 3-dayworkshop for the research staff of the CBMSNetwork Coordinating Team. The workshopincluded a review of the translation of themodules, a pre-test of the survey instrumentand a post-activity evaluation.

The review of thesurvey moduleswas conducted inorder to ensurethat certainnuances andcomplexities in theEnglish languagewere not lost in theFilipino trans-lation. Afterwards,a pre-test of thedeveloped surveyinstrument wasconducted inB a r a n g a yLumbangan. Theresults of the pre-test were thenevaluated, withthe workshop laterculminating with afinal surveyinstrument.

The OPHI is a research center based atthe University of Oxford which developsconcrete survey and methodological toolsto reduce the interconnected kinds ofpoverty and deprivation. One of itsobjectives is to advance the humandevelopment approach to povertyreduction through fundamental, sustainedand multi-disciplinary research as well as

Enumerators atwork during theCBMS-OPHIField SurveyOperations inBgy. 80 inPasay City andBgy.Lumbangan,Rosario,Batangas in thePhilippines.

employment, households which are highlydependent on remittances as a source ofincome would be adversely affected throughreduced remittance receipts. In addition,households with members who are workingin the affected sectors (e.g.,manufacturing) would be negativelyaffected through reduced income. This maytherefore result in an increase in povertyincidence, albeit modestly.

In response to the crisis, householdsadopted various coping strategies, some of

Impact on OFWs, remittances and local employment seen in the Philippines..from page 4

which may be damaging and counter-productive in the medium- and long-run. Forinstance, one of the coping mechanismsadopted by the households is in terms ofwithdrawal of their children from schoolwhich may have negative long-termconsequences. The health status of theaffected households could also be adverselyaffected in the long-run if they do not seekmedical attention.

Although the government has identified andimplemented some programs that could

mitigate the impact of the crisis, moreefficient targeting is necessary. Therecurring problem of targeting in socialprotection programs highlights the need fora good targeting mechanism in order toensure that only the eligible beneficiariesactually benefit from the program.Household-level data such as those beinggenerated by the CBMS would be useful inidentifying eligible beneficiaries. Hence,evaluation of current programs is needed sothat those which are ineffective and need notbe implemented anymore are identified.


7

News Updates

D

Kakwani, Samman headline AKI LectureSeries on Poverty Research

❋

begin sensitization campaigns for theestablishment of a CBMS database indifferent locations within the localgovernment jurisdiction.

The economic recession which occurredrecently greatly affected the Nigerianeconomic performance leading to areduction in per capita GDP and increase inhead count poverty. This necessitated theadoption of different poverty alleviationplans. Unfortunately, though, Nigeria lacksa poverty monitoring and tracking systemneeded for an efficient implementation ofthese plans: hence the adoption of CBMS.

The CBMS work in Nigeria is being directedby Dr. Anthonia Achike of the Department ofAgricultural Economics of the University ofNigeria with the aid of the University ofNigeria in Nsukka, Nigeria.

istinguished researchers, Dr.Nanak Kakwani and Dr. Emma Samman,headlined the launching of the Angelo KingInstitute for Economic and Business Studies(AKIEBS) Lecture Series on PovertyResearch. Organized by the CBMS NetworkOffice headed by Dr. Celia M. Reyes, thelecture series was formally launched onOctober 6, 2009.

Dr. Kakwani, a member of the Community-Based Monitoring System (CBMS) SteeringCommittee and former Director and ChiefEconomist of the International PovertyCentre of the United Nations DevelopmentProgramme (UNDP), conducted his lectureon November 20, 2009 at the De La SalleUniversity-Manila (DLSU-M).

Dr. Kakwani’s lecture was set amidst abackground where many governments - as aresult of the international increase in pricesof fuel and food - are undertaking tax andsubsidy reforms from the view point ofmitigating their adverse impacts on thepoor. Entitled “Impact of Eliminating OilSubsidies in Jordan on the Poor and MiddleIncome Population”, the lecture aimed toprovide a methodology which can helpgovernments make reforms in their taxationand subsidy systems.

Using data from Jordan, Dr. Kakwani’sfindings include the following: (i) oilsubsidy on private transport benefit therich proportionally more than the poor;and (ii) oil subsidy on public transport andon fuel used for heating and cookingbenefit the poor proportionally more thanthe non-poor. He concluded that a goodpolicy for the Jordanian government willbe to eliminate subsidies on fuel used forprivate transport and keep subsidies,even increase them, on public transport.

He devised a methodology which he called“Pro-Poor Price Policy Reform Index”which gives an idea on what items shouldbe subsidized or taxed. He said that in thePhilippine context, a similar method can

be adopted by the government to identifywhich items should be exempted or notfrom the Value-Added Tax (VAT).

Meanwhile, Dr. Emma Samman is aResearch Officer of the Oxford Povertyand Human Development Initiative (OPHI)of the Department of InternationalDevelopment at Oxford University. Herlecture on October 6, 2009 discussed theresults from the dataset on ‘missingdimensions’ of poverty in Chile, the firstnationally representative dataset of itskind.

The dataset, which was collected usingthe five modules designed by the OPHI,contains indicators on employmentquality, empowerment, physical safety,dignity, and subjective/psychologicalwellbeing, in addition to standardhousehold survey data on income, health,education, housing quality, and standardemployment conditions. The OPHI ispromoting the regular inclusion of thesemodules in national household surveys toensure that poverty data can better reflectpoor people’s experiences of poverty.

Left to right: Dr. Nanak Kakwani and Dr. Emma Samman sharedinformation from their researches on poverty during the AKI LectureSeries.

Dr. Samman visited the country to work withthe CBMS Network on pre-testing these surveymodules. (See related article on page 6).

CBMS pilot-test in Nigeriaongoing..from page 5

❋


CBMS Network Updates is the quarterlynewsletter of the CBMS Network of the PEPProject. This work was carried out by theAngelo King Institute for Economic andBusiness Studies with financial support fromthe Government of Canada through theInternational Development Research Centre(IDRC) and the Canadian InternationalDevelopment Agency (CIDA).

The Updates may be downloaded freefrom the Project's website:http://www.pep-net.org.

For inquiries , please write or call:PEP-CBMS Network Coordinating Office

Angelo King Institute for Economic and Business Studies

De La Salle University - Manila 10th Flr. Angelo King International Center

Estrada cor. Arellano Sts., Malate,Manila 1004, Philippines

Tel No: (632) 523-8888 loc. 274DL/Telefax No: (632) 526-2067E-mail: [email protected]

[email protected]

Celia M. ReyesEditor-in-Chief

Jennifer P.T. LigutonManaging Editor

Marsmath A. Baris, Jr.Steffie Joi I. Calubayan

Jeremy L. De JesusMarvin John M. Inocencio

Novee Lor C. LeysoAnne Bernadette E. Mandap

Jasminda A. QuilitisErica Paula S. SiosonAlellie B. SobreviñasResearchers/Writers

Editorial Staff

CBMS NETWORK UPDATESPEP-CBMS Network OfficeAngelo King International Center for Economic & Business StudiesDe La Salle University - Manila10th Flr. Angelo King International CenterEstrada cor. Arellano Sts., Malate, Manila 1004, Philippines

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News Updates

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PEP-CBMS Networkannounces Call for Proposalsfor 2010 he Poverty and Economic Policy (PEP)- Community-Based Monitoring System (CBMS) Research Network is announcinga Call for Proposals for its 2010 competition forresearch grants with a total value of up to $US50,000 each.

PEP provides financial and scientific support toteams of developing country researchersstudying poverty issues to gain a betterunderstanding of the causes and consequencesof poverty; propose pro-poor policies andprograms; improve the measurement andmonitoring of poverty; strengthen local researchcapacity on poverty issues; and develop newconcepts and techniques for poverty analysis.

Considering the nature of the research project,the PEP-CBMS grants are given to institutions,and not to individuals. The institutions should bebased in developing countries, except thosewhere the CBMS is currently being implemented,i.e. Bangladesh, Benin, Burkina Faso, Cambodia,Ghana, India, Indonesia, Kenya, Lao PDR, Nepal,Pakistan, Philippines, Senegal, Sri Lanka andVietnam.

The Call for Proposals is done electronicallythrough direct e-mail correspondence to targetinstitutions and through announcement in thePEP website. Potential grantees may also beinvited to present their proposal on thedevelopment of a CBMS in their respectivecountry in a pre-scheduled interim meeting ortraining workshop of the CBMS network. It is

during said activity where potential grantees areable to learn from ongoing CBMS initiatives,interact with existing network members and itspool of resource persons, and obtain thenecessary basic tools for the development of amore detailed proposal on the CBMS. Proposalscan be submitted at [email protected].

Deadline for submission of proposals is onJanuary 6, 2010. For information on how theproposal should be written, please refer to theCBMS Grants Manual available online at http://www.pepnet.org/funding/guides. A proposaltemplate is also available in the PEP website.

The PEP Call for Proposals also extends to thethree other subnetworks. For the Modeling andPolicy Impact Analysis (MPIA), Policy ImpactEvaluation Research Initiative (PIERI) and PovertyMonitoring, Measurement and Analysis (PMMA)subnetworks, funding includes a core researchgrant of $CAN 20 thousand plus a separatefunding of up to $CAN 30 thousand to participatein training workshops, PEP meetings,international conferences, study visits and otheractivities. More detailed information on how tosubmit proposals for the three other subnetworksis available in the PEP website.

The 2010 PEP Call for Proposals is made possibleby the Australian Agency for InternationalDevelopment (AusAID), and the Government ofCanada through the International DevelopmentResearch Centre (IDRC) and the CanadianInternational Development Agency (CIDA). ❋

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