2013年-世界发展银行全球_Philippine_Development_Report___Creating_More_and_Better_Jobs_312页_8mb

Summary of the Philippine Development Report: Creating More and Better Jobs (September 2013)

Core Content

The Philippine Development Report (PDR) titled Creating More and Better Jobs is a collaborative effort by the World Bank with the Philippine government, development partners, and key stakeholders. The report aims to support the government's goal of achieving more inclusive growth as outlined in the Philippine Development Plan (PDP) 2011-2016, which envisions a Philippines with sustained high growth, massive job creation, and poverty reduction.

The report highlights the key policy challenge of accelerating inclusive growth that creates more and better jobs and reduces poverty. It identifies the current employment situation in the Philippines, where approximately 10 million Filipinos are either unemployed or underemployed as of 2012, and an additional 1.15 million will enter the labor force in the next four years. This means the country needs to create 14.6 million jobs over the next four years.

Main Points

• Job Creation Challenge:

  • Only 25% of new jobseekers get a good job annually.
  • 240,000 of the 500,000 annual college graduates are absorbed into the formal sector, while the remaining 260,000 seek employment abroad.
  • 650,000 job seekers without college degrees end up in the informal sector, often with low wages and low productivity.

• Economic Underperformance:

  • The Philippines has experienced lagging economic growth and slow structural transformation.
  • Instead of moving towards a labor-intensive manufacturing and high-skill services sector, the country has seen stagnant agricultural productivity and underdeveloped manufacturing.
  • A low-productivity, low-skill services sector has become dominant, contributing to poverty and informality.

• Reasons for Underperformance:

  • Policy distortions have historically hindered growth in key sectors.
  • Lack of competition, insecure property rights, complex regulations, and underinvestment by both government and private sector have contributed to this.
  • This growth pattern is unusual for the East Asia region, leading to brain drain and limited job opportunities for most Filipinos.

• Opportunity for Reform:

  • A unique window of opportunity exists to accelerate reforms that will help create more and better jobs.
  • The country benefits from strong macroeconomic fundamentals, political stability, and a popular government committed to improving people's lives.
  • This moment is seen as a critical juncture for inclusive growth.

• Need for a Broad Reform Coalition:

  • Government, business, labor, and civil society must work together to agree on a comprehensive reform agenda.
  • Reforms should focus on productivity, competitiveness, and job creation for all workers, not just formal wage and salaried workers or large conglomerates.
  • The reform coalition should ensure mutual cooperation, proper sequencing, and proportional sharing of responsibilities.

Key Recommendations

• Government Responsibilities:

  • Adopt policies to broaden the reform coalition and create reform beneficiaries with a vested interest in sustaining the reforms.
  • Prioritize programs to reduce food prices, such as liberalizing food imports and reforming the National Food Authority.
  • Increase rural infrastructure and support services to lower food prices without reducing farm profits.
  • Commit to universal social and health insurance of higher quality.
  • Co-finance training and apprenticeships for disadvantaged groups and young workers.
  • Simplify the tax code and business regulations to promote competition and entrepreneurship.

• Business Responsibilities:

  • Embrace the principle of a level playing field.
  • Extend corporate social responsibility to their own employees.
  • Support reforms that promote competition to ensure fair market practices.

• Labor Responsibilities:

  • Look after the welfare of all workers, especially those in the informal sector and agriculture.

• Civil Society Role:

  • Act as an agent of change and watchdog to ensure governance and adherence to coalition principles.

Conclusion

The report emphasizes that only through comprehensive and inclusive reforms can the Philippines achieve sustainable job creation and inclusive growth. It calls for a multi-stakeholder approach involving government, business, labor, and civil society to address structural issues and promote productivity and competitiveness. The goal is to create more and better jobs for all Filipinos, including those in the informal sector, and to reduce poverty. The reform coalition must be broad and committed to ensure the irreversible path of inclusive growth.

Key Information

• Report Title: Creating More and Better Jobs
• Producer: World Bank
• Date: September 2013
• Target: Support the government's goal of inclusive growth
• Key Stakeholders: Government, development partners, civil society, labor, and business
• Main Objective: To generate 14.6 million jobs over the next four years
• Recommendations:
  • Comprehensive reform agenda
  • Broad coalition of stakeholders
  • Focus on productivity, competitiveness, and inclusivity
  • Address informal sector issues and poverty reduction
  • Implement policy reforms across sectors to promote job creation and economic development