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Inequality Between Whom? Patterns, Trends, and Implications of Horizontal Inequality in the Philippines

Author

Listed:
  • Omar Shahabudin McDoom

    (London School of Economics)

  • Celia Reyes

    (Philippine Institute for Development Studies)

  • Christian Mina

    (Philippine Institute for Development Studies)

  • Ronina Asis

    (Philippine Institute for Development Studies)

Abstract

An overall decline in inequality within a country, when assessed using national-level measures, can evidently obscure important variation in inequality at the subnational level. However, social planners face a choice, whose importance we argue is often underestimated, in deciding the appropriate spatial and social boundaries along which inequality should be measured at the local level. We illustrate the consequential nature of this choice by examining a historically unequal country that has experienced a recent overall decline in inequality at the national level. Drawing on census micro-data, we show the Philippines made impressive progress in reducing disparities in education and access to basic public services between 2000 and 2010. This change, however, appears less positive when inequality is measured at the subnational level using spatial and social boundaries selected for their socio-political significance in the Philippines context. Specifically, using measures of total, within-group and between-group inequality, we find important differences within and between three salient ethno-religious groupings—Muslims, indigenous persons, and everyone else—as well as within and between three major island groupings, Mindanao, Visayas, and Luzon. We consider the implication of one of these differences—variation in between-group inequality—by examining its correlation with social and political instability at the subnational level. Our findings underscore the importance of examining inequality at appropriate localized levels of analysis and, specifically, selecting carefully the spatial and social boundaries along which it should be measured.

Suggested Citation

  • Omar Shahabudin McDoom & Celia Reyes & Christian Mina & Ronina Asis, 2019. "Inequality Between Whom? Patterns, Trends, and Implications of Horizontal Inequality in the Philippines," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 145(3), pages 923-942, October.
  • Handle: RePEc:spr:soinre:v:145:y:2019:i:3:d:10.1007_s11205-018-1867-6
    DOI: 10.1007/s11205-018-1867-6
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    Cited by:

    1. Bequet, Ludovic, 2021. "Agricultural productivity and land inequality. Evidence from the Philippines," MPRA Paper 108131, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    2. Ludovic Bequet, 2022. "Agricultural productivity and land inequality. Evidence from the Philippines," DeFiPP Working Papers 2203, University of Namur, Development Finance and Public Policies.
    3. Selçuk Akçay, 2022. "Remittances and income inequality in the Philippines," Asian-Pacific Economic Literature, The Crawford School, The Australian National University, vol. 36(1), pages 30-47, May.
    4. Federico Attili, 2024. "Uncovering Complexities in Horizontal Inequality: A Novel Decomposition of the Gini Index," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 173(2), pages 351-376, June.
    5. Khan, Haider, 2024. "Women’s Socially Embedded Capabilities and Development: A Theory-based Empirical Investigation," MPRA Paper 119908, University Library of Munich, Germany.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Horizontal inequality; Ethnic group; Indigenous people; Violent conflict; Philippines; Mindanao;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J15 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of Minorities, Races, Indigenous Peoples, and Immigrants; Non-labor Discrimination
    • I24 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Education and Inequality
    • D63 - Microeconomics - - Welfare Economics - - - Equity, Justice, Inequality, and Other Normative Criteria and Measurement
    • Z13 - Other Special Topics - - Cultural Economics - - - Economic Sociology; Economic Anthropology; Language; Social and Economic Stratification

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