The Pakistan Development Review
Not a member yet
2465 research outputs found
Sort by
Education System in Pakistan: Lessons Learned and the Way Forward.
No full textAfter six decades of its existence, Pakistan finds itself in
an educational quagmire. There is not much to show in terms of national,
provincial and local indicators of a standard variety. At the
international level, the country has earned the notoriety of being
regularly lower down on all known indices and league tables on human
development, competitiveness and governance. Neglect of education lies
at the heart of the problem. This is surprising because the thinking on
the nature of the educational system required for the newly emerging
country had started quite early. An All Pakistan Educational Conference
was held on November 27, 1947 in Karachi. Education thus was the subject
of the very first professional conference held in the country, bringing
together all the stakeholders. The Father of the Nation set the
guidelines in his detailed message: “Under foreign rule for over a
century, in the very nature of things, I regret, sufficient attention
has not been paid to the education of our people, and if we are to make
any real, speedy and substantial progress, we must earnestly tackle this
question and bring our educational policy and programme on the lines
suited to the genius of our people, consonant with our history and
culture and having regard to the modern conditions and vast developments
that have taken place all over the world” [Tahir (1980), p.39].
Throughout his political career, Jinnah championed the cause of
education. A number of critical issues which continue to bedevil the
educational planners of Pakistan to this day, were identified by him
long before the freedom struggle for Pakistan came to fruition. These
include compulsory elementary education, nonelitist education, technical
and vocational education for school leavers, merit-based higher
education, equal opportunities for women, and adequate resourcing [Tahir
(2002)]. The order of national priorities for him was education,
economic development and then defence. The record of performance since
independence shows a reversal of these priorities [Tahir (2008)]. Far
from the welfare state envisaged by him, Pakistan has become an
incorrigible security state. There are thus many lessons that have not
been learned. This paper has space to focus only a few
Trade Liberalisation Could Improve Producers Profitability in Agriculture: A Case of Basmati Rice.
Get PDFThis peace of research has been conducted, as part of PhD
research of the first author, with the objectives to (i) identify
various protection policies and interventions exercised in Basmati rice
economy in Pakistan (ii) estimate welfare effects associated with
existing protection policies and (iii) to estimate implications of WTO’s
trade liberalisation in domestic economy and foreign markets. The
quantitative analysis of data reveals that Basmati rice crop hanged
about ‘price tax-cum-export tax’ regime during the study period. Welfare
analysis of such policy interventions estimated higher losses to
producers (Pak Rs 657.95 million per year) than gains to consumers (Rs
448.76 million per year) during pre-WTO period. The same trend continued
during post-WTO period but producers’ losses were comparatively smaller
i.e., 649.48 million per year. In case of free trade, simulation results
demonstrate greater gains to producers than losses to consumers. If
world market was liberalised, supplementary gains in the range of Rs
276.65 million to Rs 451.60 million per year during earlier and Rs
333.45 million to Rs 637.40 million per year during the later period
would have occurred at domestic level. In light of analytical results,
the following recommendations are made. (i) Government needs to curtail
interventions in Basmati rice economy. (ii) Besides, improving the pace
of trade liberalisation at domestic level, Pakistan should pursue with
other members in WTO’s negotiations for early implementation of WTO’s
trade liberalisation on international level. (iii) Government of
Pakistan should gear up its efforts as facilitator of trade in
accordance with WTO agreements and increase investment in areas of
research, development, and out-reach. JEL classification: Q17, Q18, Q28
Keywords: Basmati Rice, Government Intervention, Welfare Effect, Trade
Liberalisation, WTO
Economic Evaluation of Health Cost of Pesticide Use: Willingness to Pay Method
Get PDFThis study highlights the results of contingent valuation
method to measure health cost of pesticide use from farmer’s point of
view. Analysis shows that farmers have a positive willingness to pay for
avoiding pesticide related health risks. Theoretical validity tests show
that relevant indicators such as risk perception, previous experience of
pesticide related poisoning, education and income are significant
predictors for the positive WTP. From the results it is evident that
health effects of pesticide use provided motivation for farmers to pay
more for practices like IPM that reduce dependence on pesticide use
which in turn a strong motivation for policy-makers to continue research
on IPM and its implementation. Keywords: Health Cost, WTP, Pesticide
Use, IPM
The Impact of Foreign Direct Investment on Employment Opportunities: Panel Data Analysis (Empirical Evidence from Pakistan, India and China).
Get PDFOver the past two decades, the continent of Asia received a
large amount of FDI from developed regions. Additionally, in the Asia,
India and China received a major chunk of foreign direct investment and
FDI flows to Pakistan also increased significantly. Many studies show
that the inflow of FDI plays a significant role in generating employment
in host countries. The objective of this study is to undertake an
empirical study on creation of employment opportunities by FDI during
1985-2008 in the Asian region. In this regard, we have taken the sample
of three countries i.e. Pakistan, India and China from the same region.
The Im-Pesaran-Shin (IPS) test of unit root is applied to find out the
order of integration. The long run relationship is investigated through
the Pedroni (1999) test of panel cointegration. At last, the Seemingly
Unrelated Regression (SUR) method is used for estimation of the impact
of FDI inflows on employment levels in three countries. Implications for
FDI policy are spelt out in the light of these empirical results. JEL
classification: F23, E24, C23 Keywords: FDI, Employment, Panel
Dat
Reforming Institutions: Where to Begin?
Get PDFInstitutions promote growth—this view now holds firm ground.
The task then is to ‘engineer’ growth promoting institutions.
Endogeneity characterises institutions, for example, groups enjoying
political power influence economic institutions but political power
itself is a function of wealth. The question then is: what to reform
first? History stands witness that generally the societies with extreme
inequality and a heterogeneous population tend to evolve institutions
that restrict access to economic opportunities for the poor which in
turn constrains economic development. On the other hand societies with
greater equality and homogeneous population typically enjoy
growth-promoting institutions. Institutional reforms should therefore
begin with institutions that serve to create or perpetuate inequality
and heterogeneity in the society. We argue that the four different kinds
of educational systems in operation in Pakistan are a major source of
creating and perpetuating inequality and heterogeneity in the
population. Access to a single and common educational system will
open-up similar opportunities of higher education and job attainment for
all the citizens, thereby reducing inequality. Diverse educational
systems promote different sets of beliefs while a uniform system forges
beliefconvergence in the society that in turn facilitates agreement on a
common set of institutional reforms. Therefore it is the educational
system that should be the first to reform. We also argue that in
Pakistan, unlike some European countries in the 17th century, neither
commercial interest nor fiscal constraints can force the de jure power
to reform institutions. Typically, large commercial interests in
Pakistan have thrived on favours from the de jure power and therefore
have no interest in changing the system. Foreign aid eases the fiscal
constraints from time to time relieving government of the need to reform
institutions. The thought of a revolution of some kind is still a far
cry, the society having no such inclination. The alternative then is the
gradual approach preferred by North, Acemoglu and Rodrik. This gradual
approach suggests the area of educational reforms. JEL classification:
D02, D03, P16 Keywords: Institutional Evolution, Institutional Change,
Human Behaviou
Sustainable Incubator Management—A Case Study for Pakistan.
Get PDFInformation technology (IT) is impacting all spheres of human
activity at an unprecedented rate. Parallel to this development, there
is also an intense debate on the contribution of this technology towards
productivity and growth on the one hand, and human welfare on the other,
in developed and developing countries. The “Technology Based Industrial
Vision and Strategy for Pakistan’s Socio Economic Development”
commissioned by the Higher Education Commission (HEC) and the Pakistan
Institute of Development Economics (PIDE) lays out guidelines on how to
make Pakistan an economically stable and technologically advanced
‘knowledge economy’. Based on recommendations from this document, the
Government of Pakistan (GoP) has made investments in infrastructure and
human resource development. Sites have been allocated for IT campuses
and human resources sent abroad for training. With these trained IT and
engineering personnel now returning to the country, plans are underway
to develop what USAID1 calls “centres of excellence, commercial research
centres…or to be more concise, incubator centres.” In order to fully
utilise the potential of these centres and to establish stronger
networking with the universities from where these trained personnel are
returning, the concept of “incubator programmes” has been floated to
facilitate technology commercialisation. Although the incubator
phenomenon was conceived in the 1950s, it only mushroomed rapidly in
North America in the 1980s. Today, even though America has the largest
number of incubator facilities in the world, most have failed to produce
desired results, primarily due to poor management and lack of clear
vision. This paper focuses on the development of a sustainable blue
print for incubator programmes in Pakistan through proactive management
and enterprise development. This model would integrate faculty,
students, laboratory resources, research facilities and strategically
align the objectives of these entities with the industry. Such
programmes have the potential to make Pakistani students globally
competitive and also diversify the income resources of incubators, hence
making them less dependent upon subsidies and acting as true platforms
of technological entrepreneurship, small and medium enterprises, which
are considered the drivers of knowledge based economies. JEL
classification: O32, H42, L15, I23 Keywords: Innovation, Technology,
Public Economic
The Dynamics of Moonlighting in Pakistan
Get PDFThe study explores the dynamics of moonlighting, demographics,
human capital and association of occupations between primary and
secondary job. The paper is based on cross-section data Labour Force
Survey 2006-07 and limited to male wage workers residing in urban areas.
Among two motives according to theoretical framework of moonlighting;
first, constraint on hours worked in first job and second is wage rate
is lower than the reservation wage in the primary occupation; within
limited information available on different variables our results are
skewed toward first motive and earnings from the primary occupation are
insignificant in moonlighting decision. The model specification also
attempts to correct the endogenous regressor in probit estimation. Among
moonlighters ‘Professionals’ and ‘Technicians’ are holding their
secondary job in same occupational category; apart from these two
occupational categories managers and elementary occupations also seems
popular for moonlighting. JEL classification: J22, J24 Keywords:
Moonlighting, Labour Mobility, Occupational Associatio
Skills, Competitiveness and Productivity
Get PDFThis study reviews selected indicators on skills and
productivity for the period 2000-2008 using labour force survey data.
The review of the labour market demonstrates the need of enhancement of
skills as well as improved access to skills and education which are
necessary to enter a virtuous circle of higher productivity, employment,
incomes growth, and development. Without a workforce that is
continuously acquiring new and improved skills, it will be difficult for
Pakistan to be competitive in the globalising world. The analysis
clearly emphasises the need for reforms in the technical and vocational
education and training system. Keywords: Skills, Productivity, Labour
Market, Competitivenes
Demand for Public Health Care in Pakistan
Get PDFA health care demand model is estimated for each province in
Pakistan to explain the outpatient visits to government hospitals over
the period 1989-2006. The explanatory variables include the number of
government hospitals per capita, doctors’ fee per visit at a private
clinic, income per capita, the average price of medicine and the number
of outpatient visits per capita in the previous period. All variables
are significant determinants of the demand for health care in at least
one province but their signs, magnitudes and the levels of significance
vary. These variations may be attributed to cultural, social and
religious factors that vary across provinces. Variations in health care
quality offered at public hospitals may also be a factor. These factors
and improved accessibility of health care facilities should be the focus
of public policy aimed at increasing the usage of public sector health
care facilities in Pakistan. JEL classification: I110, I180, O150
Keywords: Health Care, Hospitals, Human Resources, Policy, Public
Healt
Effectiveness of Foreign Aid and Human Development.
Get PDFForeign aid has been contributory towards fostering
broad-based development and complementing national development
initiatives in the recipient countries. This paper analyses the question
of aid effectiveness towards the achievement of goals in the special
context of a set of social outcomes in Pakistan. More specifically, the
paper focuses the core question that ‘how’ and ‘how far’ foreign aid has
affected the ‘health’, ‘education’, and overall ‘human development
index’ in Pakistan. Our result shows that there is feedback Granger
causality between GI and ODA. That is, Economic growth induces ODA and
ODA Granger cause economic growth. As far as Education index, Human
development index and life expectancy index concerned, there are only
unidirectional Granger causality from ODA to Education index, Human
development index and life expectancy index. This is consistent with
other literature that ODA contribute to human development. JEL
classification: O15, P45 Keywords: Effectiveness, Human Development,
Foreign Aids, Granger Causalit