De La Salle University - Manila

Dr. Michael M. Alba's Online Publications

Scope Note: Accessible on the net, this webliography consists of selected papers and articles written by Dr. Michael M. Alba. Some of the publications were written with other authors.

With specializations in microeconometrics, econometrics, economics, human resources and microeconomics, Dr. Michael M. Alba is a senior research fellow and a full-time associate professor at the College of Business and Economics of De La Salle University-Manila. He has a Ph. D degree in applied economics from Stanford University. He earned his master's degree in economics from the University of the Philippines; and his bachelor's degree also in Economics from Ateneo de Manila University. His publications deal with issues concerning wage structures, wage differentials, and health. At present, he is the president of the Philippine Economic Society, a non stock, nonprofit professional organization of economists.

Sources:
http://www.dlsu.edu.ph/faculty/fis/alpha_list.asp?letter=A
http://www.dlsu.edu.ph/research/centers/aki/research-fellows.asp
http://www.phileconsociety.org

Internet Sources

Analysis of Hospital Production and Cost: Economies of Scale and Scope
http://dirp4.pids.gov.ph/ris/dps/pidsdps9521.pdf
[Retrieved September 13, 2007]

From the Philippine Institute for Development Studies (PIDS) Discussion Paper Series, this study is an attempt to estimate a structural cost function for Philippine hospitals. It represents an initial step at redressing both a research and a policy gap in the health sector of a developing country.

Estimating Literacy Rate: A Study Relating Literacy Rate with Combined Gross Elementary and Secondary Schools Enrollment Rate
http://dirp4.pids.gov.ph/ris/pjd/pidsjpd81-literacy.pdf
[Retrieved October 15, 2007]

Literacy rate is one of the core indicators used to measure social development. This paper aimed at addressing the problem of generating annual literacy rate estimates to fill the gap between planning considerations and the scantiness of statistics on literacy. The study serves as an initial attempt to construct a simple model which would estimate the level of output from input or intermediate variables that are tractable to manipulation by policymakers.

Exploring Household Saving and Consumption-Smoothing in the Philippines
http://www.pes.org.ph/events/annual_meeting/2005/42pesam_alba-see_hh_saving.pdf
[Retrieved July 11, 2007]

In this study, the authors, Michael M. Alba and Edward C. See, constructed pseudo-panels from the public use data files of the Family Income and Expenditure Survey (FIES) of 1988, 1991, 1994, 1997, and 2000 to explore whether or not the saving behavior of Filipino households fits the lifecycle hypothesis. The paper showed that "cross-section age profiles of income and consumption is an inappropriate organization of the data, which leads to the misleading inference that consumption and saving behavior is inconsistent with the lifestyle hypothesis in that (a) there is little evidence of hump saving, (b) there is no evidence of dissaving among household with elderly heads, and (c) consumption is apparently not detached from income throughout the life cycle."

Macroeconomic Policy Change and Household Health Outcomes: A Simulation of the Impact of the 1990-2000 Tariff Reform Program on the Demand for Outpatient Care in the Philippines.
http://dirp4.pids.gov.ph/ris/dps/pidsdps9803.pdf
[Retrieved June 13, 2007:]

Written by Aniceto C. Orbeta, Jr. and Michael M. Alba, this paper from the Philippine Institute for Development Studies (PIDS), reviewed the maturing literature of the demand for health care. It specifically dealt with the household choice of health care facility to contribute a set of carefully estimated price and income elasticities of health facility choice. The ultimate aim of this study is to use the estimated model to simulate the impact of macroeconomic policy changes on health status of household which is measured by the probability of using health facility when one is sick.

Revisiting the World Distribution of Living Standards and their Growth Rates and Locating the Philippines’ Position
http://www.pes.org.ph/events/annual_meeting/2005/42pesam_alba-vicente_living_standard.pdf
[Retrieved July 11, 2007]

Written by Michael M. Alba and Sandy C. Vicente, this paper revisited some issues concerning the "world" distributions of living standards and their growth rates, and in the process locates where the Philippines' comparative position or experience was. It attempts to address the following questions: How has the average person in the world fared in the last forty years of the twentieth century? What trends and observations can be gleaned about the levels and growth rates of the living standards of nations during the period? Why have some countries become so rich while others continue to be so poor? Why are the correlates of rapid (or slow, if not negative) economic growth? Do the same matter all the time or do different factors matter in different time periods? On the local scene, how was the average Filipino fared between 1960 and 2000? How has the Philippines fared in terms of living standards and economic growth relative to other countries? What lessons can be drawn for the country from an exploration of cross-country data?

Simulating the Impact of Macroeconomic Policy Changes on Macronutrient Availability in Household
http://dirp4.pids.gov.ph/ris/pjd/pidsjpd98-1nutrient.pdf
[Retrieved October 15, 2006]

Jointly written by Aniceto C. Orbeta and Michael M. Alba, this study made an estimate of a system of food demand equations using nationally representative survey data. Same estimates were used to set up a model that can use price and income changes from simulating a general equilibrium model to determine the impact of macroeconomic policy changes on the nutritional status of households. Using the Tariff Reform program implemented between 1988 and 1992, the study showed that there is more progressive impact on nutrition compared to the impact on income. The study also demonstrated the feasibility and usefulness of looking at the impact on household decisions of macroeconomic policy changes.

Welfare, Inequality, and Poverty: How Country Fared During Erap's Term as President
http://www.aer.ph/images/stories/projects/yp2/poverty.pdf
[Retrieved October 15, 2007]

This paper was written as part of the initiative of some 30 economists and other social scientists in the academe and in the private sector during the last few months of the Estrada Administration to take stock of the state of the economy, of governance, and of society. "Using data drawn from the Annual Poverty Indicators Survey (APIS) of 1998 and 1999, this paper generated estimates of measures of welfare, inequality, and poverty measures in an effort to assess how the country fared during President Joseph (Ejercito) Estrada's term. The results indicated that while the national average living standard improved, no measurable gains were achieved in inequality and poverty." This paper was co-authored by Sandy C. Vicente.