The study shows why the alternative policy – improving an industry’s productivity performance which may or may not include rice production, might be more relevant to the Philippine’s development problems. The paper hypothesizes that the collapse of the private incorporated sector of the economy in the 1983-1985 crises was the result of a lack of technological competence within the majority of the Philippine industries. This resulted in industries being unable to respond successfully to changing levels of national activity resulting in the accelerating decline of productivity in the second half of the 70s and early 80s.
