Introduction Some products and services are closely associated with the countries that produce them. Japan is synonymous with car manufacturing, Brazil with soybeans, South Africa with gold, Fiji with mineral water, Switzerland with banking, and the Philippines with business process outsourcing. Exporting goods and services opens markets beyond domestic consumers, enabling firms to scale up, support more workers, and contribute to shared economic growth. It allows countries to specialize and gain from international trade. However, producing export-quality goods and services often requires complex processes, including exchanging raw materials, semi-processed inputs, and technical expertise within a country. For geographically large emerging economies, high transportation costs make understanding the geography of domestic production crucial. Policy makers need this knowledge to fuel industries, strategically locate industrial parks, and create supportive policies. Entrepreneurs need it to identify regions offering cost-effective access to resources. In an archipelago like the Philippines, where marine transport is a significant cost, coordinated spatial and industrial planning is critical. Yet, this coordination remains overlooked. Infrastructure delivery and business policies are often fragmented across local jurisdictions. For example, Metro Manila’s 17 cities have varying business permit processes, increasing costs for businesses. This lack of coordination stems from weak institutional mechanisms to integrate plans, compounded by limited appreciation of geographic and market linkages. An Industry Employment Network Database can address these challenges by guiding geography-specific infrastructure investments and policy reforms. It maps the city-level distribution and technological relationships of Philippine industries, offering a valuable tool for better planning and coordination. Adapted from an Asian Development Bank (ADB) brief, this article demonstrates how the said database can enhance local planning in the Philippines, focusing on the provinces of Mindoro, Marinduque, Romblon, and Palawan. Analysis Data and construction of the Industry Employment Network The Industry Employment Network Database was constructed using two data sources. First, the Philippine Statistics Authority’s Updated List of Establishments provides the number of formal sector firms for each industry by city or municipality and their employment size range. Second, the 2018 Philippine input-output table technical coefficients quantify upstream and downstream flows between 240 industries. Figure 1 illustrates these relationships in a simplified network chart. For example, “Animal Feeds” in southern areas serve as a crucial input for “Prawn and Fish Farms,” as shown by the thick line connecting these industry nodes. The larger node size of “Animal Feeds” signifies its high betweenness centrality, highlighting its role as a critical bridge between industries in the network. Figure 1: Inter-Industry Technical Coefficients, 2018 Philippine Input-Output Table Findings on industry dynamics and spatial trends The Industry Employment Network Database combines the two datasets by calculating the total upstream employment of an industry available to each location, weighted by the technical coefficients. Availability refers to industries present in a city and its neighboring areas, depending on proximity to the reference city. The database maps employment networks for 1,609 cities and municipalities across 217 industries for 2012, 2018, and 2021. Predictably, employment networks are densest in Metro Manila, Cebu, and Davao (Figure 2). Luzon hosts the largest contiguous dense network, centered in Metro Manila, stretching north into Pangasinan province and south to Batangas province. Figure 2: Maximum Industry Employment Network (IEN) by Municipality, 2021 Figure 3 shows that location-industry combinations with large Industry Employment Networks in 2012 experienced the most significant expansions by 2021, as indicated by points above the 45-degree line. Notably, industries with the greatest Industry Employment Network growth are concentrated in the non-tradable services sector, such as “Food and Beverage Services” and “Other Personal Services.” Figure 3: Comparison of Industry Employment Networks (IEN), 2012–2021 In MIMAROPA—a relatively poor region comprising Marinduque, Mindoro Occidental, Mindoro Oriental, Palawan, and Romblon—non-tradable services represent the largest expanding Industry Employment Networks, mirroring national trends. However, Industry Employment Network dynamics vary significantly by location. For example, industries in Calapan, Mindoro Oriental, and Boac, Marinduque, showed near-universal expansion. In contrast, Puerto Princesa, Palawan, and San Jose, Mindoro Occidental, experienced widespread contractions, particularly in “Agriculture, Fisheries, and Forestry.” The largest contraction in San Jose occurred in “Rice and Corn Milling,” which dropped from the third-largest Industry Employment Network in 2012 to 163rd by 2021. This decline affected related industries such as “Seafood Processing,” “Processed Coconut Products,” and “Veneer Sheets,” which rely on the said industry as a key input. Whether such contractions are positive or negative depends on context. In San Jose, contractions were not offset by meaningful growth in other industries, posing challenges for the local government. However, if these shifts reflect a broader spatial reallocation of production—such as to Calapan City—they may benefit provincial or national development. These trends highlight the need for a spatially coordinated strategy to support struggling industries and locations while fostering complementarities among thriving sectors. Implications This initial effort to map the Philippine economy offers a mix of familiar confirmations and new insights. Local and national development authorities can use these findings to assess how the Philippine Development Plan (2023–2028) aligns with evolving industry locations and relationships. To enhance the utility of this mapping, future work should incorporate updates from the Philippine Statistics Authority’s forthcoming List of Establishments. This will help capture how the COVID-19 pandemic and its aftermath have reshaped the country’s economic geography. Additionally, using industrial output instead of employment to measure inter-city linkages could provide a more comprehensive view of economic relationships. Recent shifts, such as the rise of remote work and the rapid growth of e-commerce, have transformed input exchanges between sectors and the sectors driving growth. Policy makers must account for these changes to make informed economic decisions. Resources Asian Development Bank (ADB). 2024. The Industry Employment Network Database: Measuring Local Access to Productive Inputs in the Philippines. ADB. The Industry Employment Network (IEN) Database – Philippines (accessed 9 December 2024). Ask the Experts Eugenia Co Go Former Senior Economics Officer, Economic Research and Development Impact Department, Asian Development Bank Eugenia served as an ADB staff member from 2010 to 2022. Before joining ADB, she was part of the Philippine government team for agricultural trade negotiations at the World Trade Organization. Currently, she consults as an economist with the Asian Development Bank and the World Bank. Her research interests and publications focus on agriculture, trade, and transport economics. She holds a PhD in Economics from the University of Sussex, United Kingdom. Milan Thomas Economist, Economic Research and Development Impact Department, Asian Development Bank Milan has more than a decade of experience in the design, implementation, and evaluation of development innovations, gained from previous roles at ADB, Results for Development Institute (Washington, D.C.), USAID, and the World Bank. He served as an economist at ADB’s Bhutan Resident Mission from 2022 to 2023. He holds a Ph.D. in Economics from Georgetown University and a B.A. in Economics from the University of Cambridge. Follow Milan Thomas on Asian Development Bank (ADB) The Asian Development Bank is committed to achieving a prosperous, inclusive, resilient, and sustainable Asia and the Pacific, while sustaining its efforts to eradicate extreme poverty. Established in 1966, it is owned by 69 members—49 from the region. Its main instruments for helping its developing member countries are policy dialogue, loans, equity investments, guarantees, grants, and technical assistance. Follow Asian Development Bank (ADB) on Leave your question or comment in the section below: View the discussion thread.