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Economics Literacy

What does it mean to be economically literate?

The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) defines economic literacy as “literacy knowledge or competence in individual and group decisions on how to use scarce resources to satisfy their wants and needs”. However, Ekonsepto adopts broader attributes to describe an economics literate individual. They:

Understand economic concepts discussed in the media and in politics;
Appreciate economic concepts as they are applied; and
Are confident in discussing economics issues using economic concepts.

Are there Philippine government agencies working on this issue?

Yes. One of them is the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) who leads the annual celebration of the Economics and Financial Literacy Week (EFLW) every second week of November as mandated by Republic Act No. 10922, also known as the Economic and Financial Literacy Act. This Act is aimed towards developing a national consciousness on economic and financial literacy. The Philippine Economic Society is mandated by the same law to coordinate with NEDA to lead and encourage the participation of the private sector and civil society during the said event.

WATCH: Ekonsepto joins NEDA's 2021 panel session during the 59th Philippine Economics Society Conference.

How is economics literacy measured?

Unfortunately, there is no available evidence-based measurement on what stage Filipinos might have achieved economics literacy. Current public sector efforts are more geared towards financial literacy. Ekonsepto is on an ongoing quest to work on this issue. We start by launching pre- and post-event diagnostics tests in our webinars.

If you are interested in joining our Monitoring and Evaluation team to answer this big question, click here.

In the meantime, we leave you with existing research on how scholars around the world tried to measure competencies in economics:

Varum C., Santos, E. and Afriexo, V. (2014). Recent Trends and New Evidence in Economics Literacy Among Adults. Journal of Economic and Economic Education Research. Vol 15 No. 2, 2014 pp. 187-205.
Bristol, K., Fehr, D., & Tripp, G. (2003). Using an academic training room to enhance economics literacy training. Southern New Hampshire University. Retrieved from https://academicarchive.snhu.edu/handle/10474/1654
Yeop, N., & ., N. (2010). Economic Literacy amongst the Secondary School Teachers in Perak Malaysia. Information Management And Business Review, 1(2), 69-78. doi: 10.22610/imbr.v1i2.873 Retrieved from: https://ojs.amhinternational.com/index.php/imbr/article/view/873
Hashim, C. and Kayode, B. (2013). Economics Literacy among University Students: A Case Study of International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM). World Applied Sciences Journal 28 (6): 871-875, 2013. DOI: 10.5829/idosi.wasj.2013.28.06.1071