Department of Education(DepEd)

Good day! I am writing to request data on the annual total government spending on education in the Philippines for the period 1970-2020. This data will be used for my bachelor’s thesis entitled “Life Expectancy and Economic Growth in the Philippines: 1970 to 2020” this first semester of the school year 2021-2022. That said, the intended output of my project is a paper. Hoping for an immediate positive response, as I am really hoping to finish my thesis this semester. Thank you and God bless! Regards, Jeremy Cohel Antonio College Student, UP

To whom it may concern, This is Jeremy Cohel M. Antonio, a fourth year undergraduate student from the University of the Philippines Baguio. I am writing to formally request data on the annual total government spending on education in the Philippines for the period 1980 to 2020. This data will be used for my bachelor’s thesis entitled: “Health and Economic Growth: An Aggregate Production Function Analysis.” That said, the intended output of my project is a thesis paper, which is a requirement for graduation this school year 2021-2022. Purpose and Short Abstract of the Study Human capital accumulation plays a vital role in the development of an economy, as it is significantly influenced by public programs for education and health (Barro, 1999). However, most empirical studies narrowly associate human capital with education. Consequently, this practice disregards compelling evidence that health, specifically life expectancy at birth, is also a fundamental component of human capital and thus a defining factor of economic growth (Bloom, Canning, & Sevilla, 2004). To begin with, an individual’s health determines how much time they can devote to market and to nonmarket activities. Good health, in particular, reduces the amount of time that may be lost due to sick days (Grossman, 1972). Moreover, healthy employees are physically and mentally more active and robust, which encourages them to become more productive (Bloom et al., 2004, p. 1). Hence, the aim of this study is to contribute to the body of scholarly literature by determining how health, specifically life expectancy, affects the economic growth of the Philippines when integrated in a well-specified aggregate production function. Moreover, this study also aims to determine which of the other production inputs (physical capital, labor force, government spending on education) affect growth the most. To reiterate, human capital is one determinant of economic growth, and one determinant of human capital is education. In line with this, I plan on using the data on total government spending as one proxy for human capital and test it on the economic growth of the Philippines. Hoping for a positive response. Thank you for attending to my request. Respectfully, Jeremy Cohel M. Antonio College Student, UP Baguio