Effects of Education on Climate Risk Vulnerability in the Philippines: Evidence from Regional Panel Data

Year: 2013       Vol.: 62       No.: 2      

Authors: Michael Daniel C. Lucagbo; Kristina Norma B. Cobrador; Nikki Ann M. de Mesa; Remy Faye M. Ferrera; Jennifer E. Marasigan

Abstract:

The effects of climate change are being felt disproportionately in the world’s poorest countries and among those groups of people least able to cope. The Philippines, being a storm-lashed nation, is one country having high climate change vulnerability and low climate change resilience. A number of researches have suggested investments on adaptation which place strong emphasis on reducing vulnerability to climate change. Focusing on climate change vulnerability in the Philippines, this study examines the effect of one particular type of government intervention: increasing the level of education. In this study, the effect of education on vulnerability to climate change is examined in a regional panel data analysis using official Philippine statistics from the Natural Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC), Labor Force Survey (LFS), National Statistical Coordination Board (NSCB). Using the fixed-effects Poisson (FEP) regression model, the study establishes that at the community level, the number of employed college graduates is a significant factor that reduces climate risk vulnerability (measured by a number of deaths from natural disasters), controlling for other factors such as number of disasters, gross regional domestic product (GRDP), and population size.

Keywords: Vulnerability, Resilience, Panel Data, Fixed-effects Poisson model

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