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New Institutional Economics and the Philippines Essay

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New Institutional Economics and the Philippines

New Institutional Economics offers a way to examine the dynamics of growth -particularly with an eye toward explaining the problems of slow growth in developing economies, where market systems may be presumed to be weak or incomplete. I will review these concepts within the framework of the Philippines, a sizable country with a rich and diverse set of resources, which however is not achieving significant growth.

At present the Philippines is in a depressed albeit not grim state. It remains firmly enmeshed in the World Banks lower middle income category of nations with a GDP per capita of $1,050 (U.S. 1998 Atlas method). 38% of the Philippines population is below the national poverty …show more content…

Ironically the Philippines responding to its proceeding debt crises with willing and successful participation in structural adjustment programs it has had less trouble with the regions recent financial crises.

New Institutional Economics2 takes as its point of departure the form of Neoclassical market economics characterized by the “Arrow - Debrau”3 model of the market. New Institutional Economics originally a theory of historical analysis does not see Markets as encompassing the allocation of all goods and services within a society - perfectly and without cost. For Bates this is a market where individuals maximize utility (through individual choice), firms maximize profit and Pareto Optimality holds. That is the notion that there is a point of a societies production and indifference curves where an individuals subjective feeling of well-being cannot be increased without decreasing another's. Bates sees this as both collectivist “built up from the choices of individuals“, but also individualistic “...respects the inviability of the individuals judgment of his or her own welfare” (Bates, Harriss et al, 28). Toye agrees with this and also that the firm is a critical element. Households on the demand side can reasonably reduce to individual utility choice, but firms on the supply side never can, they are not just agents but administrative organizations. Their structure and being,

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