Built on Dreams, Grounded in Reality: Economic Policy Reform in the Philippines

This volume of case studies on Philippine economic policy reform contributes to the discourse on institutional change a better understanding of how human actors engender change. The cases trace the political battles involved in five successful and two unsuccessful reform efforts in telecommunications, sea transport, civil aviation, water privatization, property rights legislation, tax administration and the grain sector.

The cases highlight that: (1) the reform is an iterative, non-linear and highly context specific process; (2) technical analysis is insufficient to achieve reform; (3) political economy analysis and political action are equally important; (4) committed local leadership is the principal reform drive; (5) development agencies can play critical supportive roles but need to move towards less rigid and more locally-owned projects.

The volume concludes with an operational approach for achieving institutional change referred to as development entrepreneurship. The approach consists of: (1) recognition of the iterative process of change that calls for a combination of technical analysis, political economy analysis and political action; (2) local leaders, referred to as development entrepreneurs, who take personal responsibility for achieving development outcomes; and (3) a project structure that allows development agencies to support local partners through grants and not contracts.