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Mapping of multidisciplinary course in innovation designs
Get PDFAbstract. The paper outlines the possible contents for a multidisciplinary course in Innovation Designs that covers topics like intelligent architectural design and its influence on local culture towards modernism while understanding social, economic and corporate reasoning with a nonlinear approach within Pakistani society. The paper aims to influence the creative mind within the participants who can be guided to think out of box ideas to carry out scientific and abstract reasoning needed for complexity solutions for myriad of social, economic, cultural and material innovation.Keywords. Multidisciplinary, Innovation, Innovation designs.JEL. O32, O33
Equity in diversity: One size is not meant to fit all
Get PDFAbstract. The paper explains that complexity to explain natural ecosystem is deterministic in relativism though its simplification towards human quantum takes its motivation from human rights and freedom of individual choice that gives stimuli for understanding the importance of provision of rights at individual level with some discussion on Gay Rights and political and economic empowerment of the individual without discrimination based on gender, ethnicity or religion.Keywords. Choice theory, Human quantum, Gay rights.JEL. E24, J24, O15
Equality, equity, and the distribution of income
Get PDFAbstract. The three topics braided together in the title of this paper can be likened, in no particular order, to the elements in Winston Churchill’s classic definition of Russia: a riddle, wrapped in a mystery, insidean enigma. Make no mistake; this is complicated terrain. The purpose of this paper is to add a slight wrinkle to what is already a byzantine subject area. The ultimate goal is to introduce a new way of measuring the distribution of income, an approach that can provide the rationale to actually move the needle of public policy with respect to the issue of income redistribution. The paper begins with an extensive review of ‘equality and the distribution of income’ as the topic has evolved over the past one-hundred plus years, focusing on the Lorenz-curve/ Gini-ratio analysis, the principle measures of income distribution economists use to assess the state of society in terms of equality and inequality. Next follows a discussion, “Equity and the Distribution of Income,” which is a counterpoint to the previous discussion of equality and a prelude to the topic “A Sense of Fairness and the Distribution of Income,” the subject matter of third section of the paper, in which a new approach for assessing the fairness of income distribution is elaborated. The paper concludes with a set of policy implications with respect to income redistribution as implied in the measurement of the distribution of income discussed in the previous section of the paper.Keywords. Equality, Equity, Distribution of income, Lorenz Curve.JEL. D30, D63, E21
Analysis of the relationship between expenditure on oil imports and public spending on selected social services in Kenya
Get PDFAbctract. Since independence, oil imports in Kenya have been rising mainly to sustain the nascent transport, manufacturing, energy, agriculture and maritime sectors among other uses in the country. The growth in the country’s oil import bill has however been closely related to public spending in the health and education sectors which experienced shocks owing to the growth in expenditures apportioned to the rising volume of oil imports. Given the significance of the social pillar of the Kenya Vision 2030 and the inconsistency in the progress towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals, which is inherent in the Kenya Vision 2030, understanding the linkages between the aforementioned trends in expenditures can help in explaining the progress towards attaining the education and health facets of the social pillar. The purpose of this study was to analyze the relationship between aggregate expenditure on oil imports and public spending on health and education. The data used was time series data sourced from Kenya National Bureau of Statistics, Central Bank of Kenya and World Bank. The study employed granger causality and correlation analysis. Based on standard Chi-square tests and F-tests, the findings of the study revealed that there exists bi-directional causality between government expenditure on health and aggregate expenditure on oil imports on one hand; and a unidirectional causality running from government spending on education to aggregate expenditure on oil imports on the other hand, both in the long-run and short-run. It is therefore recommended that the government should define what is deemed economically sustainable in regard to government expenditure on health as a proportion of the exchequer budget. It should also put in place policies that will institute reasonable margins for government expenditures on health and education to adjust as a measure to keep the rising oil import bill in check.Keywords. Public spending, Causality, Oil price shock.JEL. D61, H12, H51, H52, Q48
The challenges of researching corporate power: The case of Shell Petroleum Development Company in Nigeria (SPDC)
Get PDFAbstract. The research on Transnational Corporations (TNCs) in Nigeria is encumbered or fraught with methodological challenges. Thus, this paper which relies on desk research, unveils the conceptualization of TNCs, Corporate Powers and the Doctrine of Domicile thereby interrogating the methodological encumbrances – (security, secrecy and access challenges) experienced in conducting researches on the modus operandi of TNCs in Nigeria with focus on Shell Petroleum Development Company in Nigeria (SPDC). The consideration of Transnational Corporations’ exploration of the lacuna created by weak or moribund state institutions, escalating corruption, lack of adequate knowledge of rights and double standards become sacrosanct in bringing about ease in the challenges of researching corporate power. The paper argues that in weak African states, the doctrine of domicile manifests through threat of divestment, undue influence on government, casualization of workers, corrupt practices and tax evasion where corporate power employ hegemonic tendencies in pursuit of its profit maximization drive..Keywords. Transnational corporations, Liquefied natural gas, Multinational energy corporations, OPEC, SPDC.JEL. H11, H50, C13, C22
Jean Tirole, Economics for the Common Good
Get PDFAbstract. The economics discipline is a dynamic, foundational field in the social sciences. With a host of scholars eager to share the knowledge they create with the general public, the discipline addresses how scarce resources are allocated to meet human needs and objectives. Since resources are scarce and societies have to make tradeoffs between competing ends, economics offers a unique set of tools to address many of society’s most pressing concerns. Furthermore, it is common that once a scholar wins a Nobel Prize in economics that they produce a book for a broader public audience to explain their ideas.Keywords. Role of economics, History of economic thought, Economic methodology.JEL. A10, B00, B40
Evaluation of PTI’s Naya Pakistan and success factors in the mist of economic gloom
Get PDFAbstract. The paper utilizes unique perception based data calculated by World Economic Survey for the first year of Imran Khan’s government. The data shows that Pakistani economy is in troubled waters since August 2018. Consumer confidence is low and private investors are reluctant to invest capital in new business activity. The detailed analysis on Pakistan’s business competitiveness also presents a bleak picture. The Central Bank of Pakistan is not viewed as independent. However, Imran Khan can be considered a successful politician as his first year has seen increased political stability that was elusive during PMLN government. PTI has also marked a significant victory in its fight against corruption. Furthermore, PTI government has been able to turn around Pakistan’s external sector and there is significant increase in exports and subsequently terms of trade have improved that is telling something positive about PTI’s foreign policy.Keywords. PTI, Economic gloom, Naya Pakistan.JEL. F35, F50, B50
Anthropology of a Martian Colony: Why would NASA need a Mahatma Gandhi in Neil Armstrong?
Get PDFAbstract. The paper presents a need for the scientific community that venture on large scale plausible models of a human colony on Mars to consider the historic friction among human societies to accept cultural diversity especially when economic and social circumstances change in favor of one group or one household. Addressing social conflict is a complex exercise similar to human creativity that has in the first place created a scientific society that is culturally diverse to make Space travel a reality and itis unlike providing a blue print for a simple machine.Keywords. Anthropology, Martian Colony, NASA, Mahatma Gandhi, Neil Armstrong.JEL. A12, A13, B00