The book represents an attempt to test the applicability of this hypothesis, through a comparative study of the fiscal policy and decision-making process of six countries that, taken together, represent a broad range of political and bureaucratic systems.

In the late 1950s, the Filipino economy could reasonably have been described as more advanced than those of its South Asian neighbours. Ever since then, however, it has consistently lagged behind and only really started to grow strongly in the mid-1990s and even then it failed to achieve the growth rates of the rest of Southeast Asia ten years earlier. This book critically analyses the Filipino economy and attempts to explain the problems that it has faced, as well as the solutions that need to be put into practice. This accessible and comprehensive book will be of great use to students, academics and business professionals with an interest in the economies of Asia.

This book analyzes the Philippine economy from the 1960s to the 1980s. During this period, the benefits of economic growth conspicuously failed to "trickle down". Despite rising per capita income, broad sectors of the Filipino population experienced deepening poverty. Professor Boyce traces this outcome to the country's economic and political structure and focuses on three elements of the government's development strategy: the "green revolution" in rice agriculture, the primacy accorded to export agriculture and forestry, and massive external borrowing. James Boyce is the author of "Agrarian Impasse in Bengal" and co-author of "A Quiet Violence: View from a Bangladesh Village".

An examination of all major facets of the Philippine economy and development policy, this title looks to the past and to the future using approaches that are descriptive, analytical, interpretive and comparative. It assesses trends since the 1980s, identifies major policy issues, and provides a balance sheet of achievements and deficiencies.

This clear and nuanced introduction explores the Philippines’ ongoing and deeply charged dilemma of state-society relations through a historical treatment of state formation and the corresponding conflicts and collaboration between government leaders and social forces. Patricio N. Abinales and Donna J. Amoroso examine the long history of institutional weakness in the Philippines and the varied strategies the state has employed to overcome its structural fragility and strengthen its bond with society. The authors argue that this process reflects the country’s recurring dilemma: on the one hand is the state’s persistent inability to provide essential services, guarantee peace and order, and foster economic development; on the other is the Filipinos’ equally enduring suspicions of a strong state. To many citizens, this powerfully evokes the repression of the 1970s and the 1980s that polarized society and cost thousands of lives in repression and resistance and billions of dollars in corruption, setting the nation back years in economic development and profoundly undermining trust in government. The book’s historical sweep starts with the polities of the pre-colonial era and continues through the first year of Rodrigo Duterte’s controversial presidency.