Asia's Underachiever: Deep Constraints in Philippine Economic Growth

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Numerous studies have tried to explain the poor growth performance of the Philippines. This paper critically reviews related literature on constraints to long-run growth, as it applies to the Philippines. We evaluate several factors, namely: culture, corruption, and institutions. The last offers the most convincing explanation for mediocre growth. Hence, to raise the country’s growth trajectory, I recommend: sustained policy reform; less hand-wringing over Filipino culture and corruption; and above all, focused and sustained development of functional capitalistic institutions.