The Pakistan Development Review
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Targeting Performance of Community-based Development Interventions: An Econometric Analysis of a WomenFocused and Women-Managed Non-Governmental Organisation in Rural Pakistan
Get PDFThe approach of community-based development (CBD) is expected
to improve targeting and reduce programme costs of poverty reduction
policies, besides other positive contributions [Mansuri and Rao (2004)].
1 Furthermore, the use of local knowledge is expected to bear greater
relevance in a situation where credible monetary data for potential use
in targeting activities are not available. According to Alatas, et al.
(2012), in developing countries—where the majority of potential target
group is employed in the informal sector—the availability of verifiable
income records is always an issue. Therefore, it is difficult to
identify target groups by employing conventional targeting techniques
such as means tests. For these reasons, identification through the CBD
approach is expected to improve targeting
Harold Demsetz. From Economic Man to Economic System: Essays on Human Behaviour and Institutions of Capitalism. New York, USA. 2011. 198 pages. U.S. $ 39.99
Get PDFHarold Demsetz,Emeritus Professor of Business Economics at the
University of California, Los Angeles, has done an excellentjob of
putting together research in the area of human behaviour and the
influence of institutions thereon. Demsetz is one of the leading figures
of the New Institutional Economics School. In this book, his focus is on
the institution of capitalism, which is by far the most influential
systemprevalent now. It presents and reviews historical developments in
the area and cites influential works, which makes the book a very
interesting read. The book is nottechnical and is meant for a broad
readership
Job Mismatches in Pakistan: Is there Some Wage Penalty to Graduates?
Get PDFIn this study, an attempt has been made to estimate the
incidence of job mismatch and its impacts on graduate‘s earnings in
Pakistan. The study has divided the job mismatch into three categories;
qualification-job mismatch, skill mismatch and field of study and job
mismatch. The primary dataset has been used in which the formal sector
employed graduates have been studied. This study has measured the
qualification-job mismatch by three approaches and found that about
one-third of the graduates are facing qualification-job mismatch.
Similarly, more than one-fourth of the graduates are mismatched in
skill, about half of them are over-skilled and the half are
under-skilled. The analysis also shows that 11.3 percent of the
graduates have irrelevant and 13.8 percent have slightly relevant jobs
to their studied field of disciplines. Our analysis shows that
over-qualified graduates face wage penalty under different approaches.
After controlling skill heterogeneity, there is less penalty to
apparently over-qualified and more penalty to genuinely over-qualified.
The over-skilled graduates face wage penalties and the under-skilled get
wage premiums as compared to the matched workers. A good field of study
and job matches also improve the wages of graduates. JEL Classification:
I23, I24, J21, J24, J31 Keywords: Education and Inequality, Higher
Education, Human Capital, Labour Market, Wage
Trade Shocks and Labour Adjustment: Evidence from Pakistan’s Manufacturing Industries
Get PDFThe present study is an attempt to explore the impact of trade
liberalisation on employment and wages of production and non-production
workers in large scale manufacturing industries of Pakistan. We use a
sample of 18 industrial establishments with a time series data covering
a period 1970-71 to 2005-06. In order to account for endogeniety
problem, this study uses the Generalised Method of Moments (GMM). The
study comes up with the findings that trade liberalisation has
significantly negative impact on employment of both production and
non-production workers. On the other hand, trade liberalisation has a
significantly positive impact on wages of production workers, but it has
no significant impact on wages of non-production workers. The negative
impact of trade is attributed to the high protection given to most of
the inefficient industries in the post liberalisation period. On the
other hand, reduction in non-production worker employment is not
unexpected as in case of developing country like Pakistan, trade
liberalisation is supposed to displace capital intensive industries that
employ most of the non-production (skilled) workers. Keywords:
Production Worker, Non-production Workers, Trade, Employment,
Wage
Inequality and the Financial System— The Case of Germany
Get PDFIncome inequality is rising in Germany. This is true for both
functional as well as personal income distribution. After reunification
in 1990, a general increase in inequality can be observed. This trend
becomes particularly pronounced in the 2000s. In the literature on
financialisation a link between the developments in the financial
sector, the financing behaviour of firms, and income distribution is
established. Also, in the varieties of capitalism literature a
connection between the prevailing institutions, among them the financial
institutions, and the tendency of an economy towards higher or lower
inequality is made. This study attempts to investigate if changes in the
financial sphere may have caused the higher inequality in Germany. There
are different ways in which the financial sector could have contributed
to the increased inequality. Growth of the financial sector or large
increases in incomes paid in this sector could lead to higher inequality
directly. Alternatively, different behaviour of financial institutions
and new financial actors could affect distribution in the non-financial
sector so that the financial sector indirectly affects
inequality
Socio-economic Status of Transferred and Non-transferred Urban Slums: A Case Study from Faisalabad
Get PDFThe rapid urbanisation has become a burning challenge across
the developing countries of the world for the last four decades. The
population pressure on the cities has caused many problems like
environmental pollution, sanitation, education, health, traffic level
and housing etc. In this context, housing is one of the most important
issues related to urbanisation. Slums are reflected as the carbuncle in
cities and looked extemporaneously and arbitrarily [Shafqaat, et al.
(2013). The share of world urban population was 32 percent in 1950, it
rose up to 39 percent in 1980 and 48 percent in 2000, which reflects
that 3 out of 10 people were living in cities in 1950. In 2011, about
half of the world population was living in the big cities and at the end
of the third decade of this century; that make up the formation as 6 out
of 10 people [World Bank (1999)]. Pakistan‘s town populace is fixed to
become identical to its rural population in the year 2030. This needs
for an effective urban planning instrument to confirm universal
distribution of simple municipal amenities, regulator of the spread of
slums, reducing of effluence and the control of crime and political
might [Khan, et al. (2012)
Human Capital and Economic Growth: The Role of Governance
Get PDFEconomists agree that human capital is an important
determinant of economic growth [Arrow (1962); Aghion and Howitt (1992)].
Human capital-led growth generally concludes the positive impact of the
two with the help of existing developed theories and empirical
evidences. Nonetheless, the standard empirical result of a direct
relationship between human capital (however measured) and economic
growth, has been criticised on several fronts. First, the impact of
other growth-related factors like quality of education, health of the
labour force, inflation, corruption, unemployment, rule of law, etc.
should not be ignored. These endogenous characteristics of a country are
included in Becker‘s (1993) definition of human capital. In addition, as
noted by Abramovitz (1986), social capabilities are important in the
adoption and diffusion of technologies but countries differ in social
capabilities. Therefore, to the extent to which human capital
contributes to economic growth through innovation, its effect is
conditioned by the country‘s social capabilities which include factors
like quality of institutions and governance
Which Pairs of Stocks should we Trade? Selection of Pairs for Statistical Arbitrage and Pairs Trading in Karachi Stock Exchange
Get PDFPairs Trading refers to a statistical arbitrage approach
devised to take advantage from short term fluctuations simultaneously
depicted by two stocks from long run equilibrium position. In this study
a technique has been designed for the selection of pairs for pairs
trading strategy. Engle-Granger 2-step Cointegration approach has been
applied for identifying the trading pairs. The data employed in this
study comprised of daily stock prices of Commercial Banks and Financial
Services Sector. Restricted pairs have been formed out of highly liquid
log share price series of 22 Commercial Banks and 19 Financial Services
companies listed on Karachi Stock Exchange. Sample time period extended
from November 2, 2009 to June 28, 2013 having total 911 observations for
each share prices series incorporated in the study. Out of 231 pairs of
commercial banks 25 were found cointegrated whereas 40 cointegrated
pairs were identified among 156 pairs formed in Financial Services
Sector. Furthermore a Cointegration relationship was estimated by
regressing one stock price series on another, whereas the order of
regression is accessed through Granger Causality Test. The mean
reverting residual of Cointegration regression is modeled through the
Vector Error Correction Model in order to assess the speed of adjustment
coefficient for the statistical arbitrage opportunity. The findings of
the study depict that the cointegrated stocks can be combined linearly
in a long/short portfolio having stationary dynamics. Although for the
given strategy profitability has not been assessed in this study yet the
VECM results for residual series show significant deviations around the
mean which identify the statistical arbitrage opportunity and ensure
profitability of the pairs trading strategy. JEL classifications: C32,
C53, G17 Keywords: Pairs Trading, Statistical Arbitrage, Engle-Granger
2-step Cointegration Approach, VECM
Growth in Pakistan: Inclusive or Not?
Get PDFCross country evidences reveal that Asian countries have
experienced rapid growth over the last two decades. The increase in
growth is accompanied with reduction in poverty from 1990 to 2001 as the
number of individuals living below the poverty line has decreased over
the time period [ADB (2006)]. Growth is considered to be a necessary
condition for reduction in poverty but growth does not necessarily imply
that it will lead to improvement in living standards of every one.
Growth does benefit and improve standards of living but it may lead to
increase in inequality if it leads to increase in benefits for few
section of the society only. This has been witnessed in China as
economic growth benefited all segments of the society, it lead to
improvement in living standards for all, but the improvement benefited
the rich more as compared to the poor. The same situation persists in
India as well. In contrast, countries like Brazil, Mexico, and Thailand
have different scenario where there is increase in economic growth and
this increase is also accompanied with improvement in equity [Anand, et
al. (2013)]. Pakistan historically has seen episodes of high growth but
those unfortunately were not coupled with such macroeconomic conditions
as are required to achieve lower poverty levels. Therefore, Pakistan has
always been facing the challenge of achieving rather more inclusive
growth that could benefit all classes of society. The provision of basic
services such as education, health, sanitation, and housing for all the
segments of population, and social security schemes to ensure social
protection are critical for long run reductions in povert
Child Poverty and Economic Growth (The Allama Iqbal Lecture)
No full textI would like to thank the organisers and the PIDE for giving
me the honour to present this year’s Allama Iqbal Lecture on the subject
of Child Poverty and Economic Growth and the opportunity to talk to such
well-informed and distinguished audience. I believe that child poverty
and economic growth is a subject that is rarely discussed but I think it
is a crucial subject for the 21st century. I have only got a brief time
to talk to you, so I will only be able to skim over the surface of many
issues. If you want to go into a greater depth, there is a website for
the Townsend Centre for International Poverty Research, where you can
find more details about the issues to which I am going to
talk