To better guide the policymakers on agricultural investments, an agriculture-based model seldom used in rice economic studies is proposed by a returning scholar based at Philippine Rice Research Institute (PhilRice) in Science City of Muñoz, Nueva Ecija. Dr. Marc Jim Mariano, who recently graduated from Monash University in Australia, said that results derived from Computable General Equilibrium (CGE) model are useful for the policymakers in knowing the economy-wide effects of a policy. Holding a PhD in Economics, Mariano intends to construct an agriculture-based CGE model for the Philippines with household microsimulation and updated database – the first CGE model yet developed for PhilRice. “There are many methods used in analyzing the socioeconomic impacts of rice policies and market interventions in the Philippines. However, most of them are partial equilibrium analyses, only taking a part of the market so results are usually focused on one sector at a time. With its
Online edition of The Ilocos Times, a community newspaper based in Laoag City, Ilocos Norte.