The Pakistan Development Review
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Health-seeking Behaviour of Women Reporting Symptoms of Reproductive Tract Infections
Get PDFA woman’s access to health care, in physical, social, and
psychological contexts, depends on her health beliefs and her
socio-economic and demographic background. As in most developing
countries, the health system in Pakistan is a combination of modern and
traditional medicine, and the nature of care sought again depends on the
individual’s health beliefs and background characteristics. This paper
thus not only focuses on whether women seek help or not when sick, but
also on the differentials that exist in the health-seeking behaviour
among women with different backgrounds. It finds that less than half the
women reporting any symptom related to reproductive tract infections
seek help, while for some symptoms the proportion seeking help goes down
to a mere one-fifth. The decision to seek help depends on a woman’s
educational and economic status, the extent to which she is worried
about the symptom, duration of experiencing the symptom, and
inter-spousal communication about the symptom. Lack of finances to
access any health service and considering the symptom as something
common not needing attention are the two main reasons for not seeking
help. The choice of the healthprovider consulted for a symptom is linked
to the perceived cause of the symptom, but allopathic doctors are
preferred by the majority of women seeking health care
Real Exchange Rate, Exports, and Imports Movements: A Trivariate Analysis
Get PDFThe exchange rate exerts a strong influence on a country’s
trade. It is depicted from the high correlation between the real
exchange rate and exports (0.90) and that between the real exchange rate
and imports (0.88). In the present-day scenario of falling levels of
tariff and a reduced number of non-tariff barriers, the exchange rate
has assumed a crucial role in influencing the trade deficit. Imports
have a very significant association with exports as shown by the
correlation between exports and imports (0.97). The increase in exports
in the absence of surplus stocks requires an increase in production,
which in turn requires capital and raw material. We analysed the
long-run relationship and the short-run dynamics among the three
variables. It is concluded that there exists a long-run relationship
between real exchange rate, exports, and imports; and real exchange rate
is negatively associated with the exports and positively associated with
the imports. In the short-run, imports and exports adjust towards their
equilibrium when there is disequilibrium. But the adjustment in the
imports is greater than the adjustment in the exports. Moreover, exports
do not respond to the shock caused by the real exchange rate, but
imports respond to the sudden shock in the real exchange rate. The study
ends up with the note that the sudden movements in the real exchange
rate do not affect exports. Therefore, Pakistan should not worry about
exchange rate shocks
Modelling Gender Dimensions of the Impact of Economic Reforms on Time Allocation among Market, Household, and Leisure Activities in Pakistan
Get PDFWomen and men are different from each other not only
biologically but also in terms of constraints and discriminatory
behaviour they face. Women are less fed, less educated, less mobile,
less empowered, and overburdened by household work such as cooking,
cleaning, taking care of children and the aged, fetching water, looking
after farm animals, and gathering wood [Cagatay (1995); Sathar and Kazi
(1997); Siddiqui, et al. (2001)]. These activities not only restrain
them from education and training but also severely constrain their
ability to respond to economic incentives as men do and fail to achieve
equal level of men. Men as a breadwinner receive both nutritional and
educational priority [White and Masset (2002)], while women remain
relatively illiterate and malnourished. Consequently, different quality
and quantity of female-labour and male-labour emerges which play a very
important role in determining the impact of any policy
change
Managing Foreign Exchange Inflows: An Analysis of Sterilisation in Pakistan
Get PDFA number of developing countries from Asia, Latin America and
Eastern Europe have experienced surge in capital inflows during recent
years.1 These inflows have potential effects on macroeconomic stability;
export competitiveness, and inflation. If not properly managed, these
inflows can induce appreciation of local currency leading to serious
repercussions for the rest of the economy. Under these conditions, the
proactive role of monetary authorities in the management of capital
inflows was highly desirable, wherein they intervened in the domestic
exchange market in order to contain volatility in exchange rate besides
accumulation of foreign exchange reserves. The main instruments
available to deal with the possible effects of large capital inflows
include sterilised intervention, fiscal tightening, trade and exchange
liberalisation including easing controls on capital outflows. The
foreign exchange interventions are typically accompanied by active
sterilisation policy to keep inflation under control
Skill Formation Strategies for Sustaining ‘The Drive to Maturity’ in Pakistan
Get PDFSkill formation is a multi-faceted process. Skills are
necessarily (by definition) instrumental—i.e. means for the achievement
of a metaphysically defined objective. In Modernity,1 this metaphysical
presupposed ‘rational’ purpose of existence (both individual and
societal) is freedom [Kant (2001)]. In the history of Modernity, the
primary source of the growth of freedom has been capital accumulation.2
A nation committed to Modernity (‘Enlightened Moderation’) is
necessarily committed to articulating a skill formation strategy which
can transform ‘human being’ into ‘human capital’. This transformation
requires three distinct types of skills: individual, communitarian and
political. This is because capitalism is not just a ‘lifeworld’ in the
Habermasian sense but a system [Foucault (1976)]. Capitalist
individuality requires a prioritisation of the preference for preference
itself (‘choice’) over all preferences. This is necessary for the
internalisation of capitalist norms (the commitment to profit/utility
maximisation and competition to achieve this end). Capitalist
individuality must also posses the skills which allow it to rationally
identify and pursue its interest in the market and in the firm. It must
also have the selfdiscipline to function as a diligent and co-operative
participant in the capitalist work process
Productivity and Skills in Industry and Services—A Britain-German Comparison (Distinguished Lecture)
No full textIt is widely accepted that the vocational and professional
training system has a major impact on national competitiveness. In this
paper a number of German-British studies in manufacturing and services
are examined in order to show how skill systems have affected the
comparative strengths and weaknesses of the two countries’ productivity
performances. The studies have been conducted since the end of the 1980s
to 2003 and have revealed specific links between vocational training,
products and competitiveness on the basis of matched plant comparisons.
The comparison between Britain and Germany has been chosen as these
countries have very different national VET systems. The findings suggest
that higher levels of apprenticeship training in German companies give
them an advantage over their British counterparts with respect to
flexibility to changes in markets, technology, quality and supply
chains. The paper closes with a short discussion
An Empirical Analysis of the Linder Theory of International Trade for South Asian Countries.
Get PDFThis paper presents empirical evidence in support of the
Linder theory of international trade for three of the South Asian
countries, Bangladesh, India, and Pakistan. This finding implies that
these countries trade more intensively with countries of other regions,
which may have similar per capita income levels, as predicted by Linder
in his hypothesis. The contribution of this research is threefold:
first, there is new information on the Linder hypothesis by focusing on
South Asian countries; second, this is one of very few analyses to
capture both time-series and cross-section elements of the trade
relationship by employing a panel data set; third, the empirical
methodology used in this analysis corrects a major shortcoming in the
existing literature by using a censored dependent variable in
estimation
Regulatory Changes and Productivity of the Banking Sector in the Indian Sub-continent
Get PDFEfficiency plays an important role in the operation of firms.
If firms are pursing a policy of shareholder wealth maximisation, this
implies that maximum efficiency is extracted from a firm’s resources
during the production process, or that the minimum quantity of inputs is
used to achieve a desired level of output. Studies on efficiency in
firms have been relatively forthcoming and include work on technical
efficiency in the Japanese manufacturing sector [Hitomi (2004)], the
UKCS Petroleum Industry [Kashani (2005)] and labour efficiency of the
Indian farming industry [Kumbhakar (1996)]. However, there is little in
the way of research conducted on efficiency within the banking sector,
and even less on the banking sectors of developing economies [Berger and
Humphry (1997)]. This is unfortunate, as banks and financial
institutions are the most important organisations in overall financial
intermediation and economic acceleration of a country. Banks play a
significant role in converting deposits into productive investment
[Podder and Mamun (2004)]. For this reason, the study of banking in
developing economies entails a greater significance
Does Education Abroad Help to Alleviate Poverty at Home? An Assessment (Distinguished Lecture)
No full textFlows of students abroad are increasing rapidly, encouraged by
globalisation pressures, by declining quality of university provision in
some of the poorest states and by the income needs of northern
universities. Students from developing countries are increasingly
self-financed, from middle-income countries and from richer families
across all countries. The paper argues that both the direct and indirect
impacts of these trends on poverty in sending states are likely to be
negative. Some increased influence on home policy-formation by the
overseas Indian and Chinese diaspora, and increased flows of return
migrants to high-growth states in response to targeted recruitment
incentives, provide evidence for countervailing tendencies. But for most
developing countries, where economic growth is less dynamic, net
benefits of international education for poverty alleviation remain
unrealised