Established in 1996 amidst a policy environment of sweeping reforms in the Philippines, the Asian Institute of Management-Rizalino S. Navarro Policy Center for Competitiveness (AIM-RSN PCC) is the Institute's public policy think tank and research arm.
Formerly known as the AIM Policy Center, the AIM-RSN PCC is tasked with responding to emerging international economic trends and the demands of an increasingly integrated and competitive global trade and finance environment. Since its inception, it has carried out its mandate by producing cutting-edge policy and academic research, providing technical assistance to multilateral organizations and actors from the public and private sectors, and hosting evidence-based policy discussions in support of the long-term growth and development of the Philippines and the Asian region.
Although the Center remains engaged in other forms of development, policy, and economic research, its renaming in 2015 prompted a shift in focus towards building national competitiveness and promoting shared prosperity.
Our Benefactor - Rizalino S. Navarro
Rizalino S. Navarro is a Filipino businessman, business executive, and politician. He served in the Cabinet of former Philippine President Fidel Ramos as the Secretary of Trade and Industry from 1992 to 1996.
Navarro earned a bachelor's degree in business administration, cum laude, from the University of the East and later a Master of Business Administration from Harvard Business School.
Our benefactor also served as the chief executive officer of both SGV & Co., the largest accounting firm in the Philippines, and the Rizal Commercial Banking Corporation (RCBC).
He became Secretary of Trade through the invitation of then-Finance Secretary Ramon del Rosario, who was one of Navarro's classmates at Harvard.
Programs
Research
Guided by its competitiveness framework, the Center carries out a dynamic research agenda. Competitiveness covers a wide array of topics and affects all industries and people from all walks of life. Thus, although it is the Center’s main research thrust, AIM-RSN PCC works under the premise that competitiveness, by itself, is not an end but a means to achieve increased productivity and shared productivity. In turn, competitiveness stands on three pillars: policies, institutions, and conditions of factors of production.
Beginning 2017, the Center’s focus is on two main research tracks:
- building competitiveness and promoting shared prosperity; and
- competition and competition policy.
The Center gives special attention to small and medium enterprises (SMEs), which are important sources of growth and employment. AIM-RSN PCC spotlights the following: the SME’s competitiveness; linkages among themselves and with large enterprises; their participation in local, regional, and global value chains; and how competition and competition policy affects them.
In addition to its core research agenda, AIM-RSN PCC frequently responds to current events and participates in relevant policy debates that affect national competitiveness through evidence-based opinion/editorial articles, events, and research papers. The Center has engaged in timely research on crime, corruption, political inclusiveness, taxation, access to finance, crisis resilience, and youth affairs.
Complementing the resources and effort put by the Center on its research are partners from the academe, government, multilateral organizations, and civil society. The Center has a longstanding partnership with the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung, the International Institute for Management Development in producing the World Competitiveness Yearbook, and the Social Weather Stations. Among its recent partners are the Asian Development Bank (ADB), the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), and the International Development Research Center (IDRC).
Publications and Output
Full working papers are the primary publication output of the AIM-RSN PCC. Recognizing the many audiences and stakeholders involved in matters of national competitiveness, however, the Center aims to convert its working papers into various forms, each targeting a specific audience.
The Center also organizes conferences and public fora, and uses these to disseminate research while encouraging public discourse.
From 2011 to 2016, AIM-RSN PCC produced a total of 56 working papers, 24 peer-reviewed journal articles, several book chapters, and four books. Its research output has also produced 76 conferences, fora, workshops, round-table discussions, and other events. As evidence of its reach to the general public, the Center’s studies spawned 56 opinion-editorial pieces and 271 quotations/citations in print, broadcast, and online media.
The Center has also been recognized internationally, having been included in the University of Pennsylvania’s Go To Think Tank Index Report of top think tanks worldwide.