The Pakistan Development Review
Not a member yet
2465 research outputs found
Sort by
Total Factor Productivity Growth and Agricultural Research and Extension: An Analysis of Pakistan’s Agriculture, 1960-1996
Get PDFPakistan’s agriculture has grown rapidly since the 1960s, with
an average annual growth of about 4 percent over the four decades till
the end of the century. Agricultural growth at this rate was sustained
by the technological progress embodied in the high-yielding varieties of
grains and cotton, with supporting public investment in irrigation,
agricultural research and extension (R&E), and physical
infrastructure. This rate of agricultural growth has significantly
contributed to the overall economic growth of about 6 percent per year
during this period. Sustaining this performance presents a considerable
challenge for the public policy framework for agriculture, not the least
for the agricultural research and extension system in Pakistan. The
central role of technological change in increasing agricultural
productivity is well established in the wake of the Green Revolution
experience across much of Asia. In the context of Pakistan, it has been
estimated that almost 58 percent of the total output growth from 1960 to
1996 was due to technological change [Ali (2000)]. While improvements in
the physical and market infrastructure, farmer education, price
policies, and weather, all have their place in enhancing agricultural
production, R&E investments has been regarded by far the most
important contributor to agricultural productivity growth [Evenson and
Rosegrant (1993); Byerlee (1994)]
A Review of the Relationship between Poverty, Population Growth, and Environment
Get PDFDeterioration of natural resources during the past few decades
has come to prominence as one of the most important current global
issues [Desta (1999)]. Increase in population density in ecologically
fragile areas and consumption of nonrenewable natural resources at high
rates is seen as one of the leading causes of this deterioration [Grigg
(1991)]. At present, in some of the developing countries, the pollution
of air, water and soil has reached life-threatening levels [Gilbert
(1991)]. In many of these countries population pressures,
socio-political conditions and economic arrangements have resulted in
massive natural resource depletion [Ahmed and Mallick (1999)]. In a
developing country, poverty is the major factor that distorts the
population transition in response to food supply [Aziz (2001)]. Pethe
(1982) suggested that the best way to reduce poverty is to bring
fundamental changes in society. The magnitude of this task can be seen
readily, if we look at some of the basic dimensions of poverty [World
Bank (1998)]
Productivity and Economic Growth in South Asia and China (Distinguished Lecture)
No full textThis paper, begins with a discussion of the well-known issues
involved in defining and measuring total factor productivity (TFP) and
its contribution to growth (as well as the possible contribution of
growth to productivity), the economic theory underpinning productivity,
and policies that impact on and influence changes in productivity. It is
followed by, first, a selective discussion of the studies on
cross-country variation in productivity levels and growth, and then the
experience of South Asia and China in a comparative perspective across
the region and across the developing world. The share of South Asia in
global GDP and its growth has remained stagnant since the early
nineties. Disturbingly, except India, the rest of South Asia experienced
a decline in TFP growth between 1989-95 and 1995-2003. The paper
concludes that for achieving sustained productivity growth,
well-functioning social and economic institutions are important, since
through their incentive structure they influence, labour force
participation, savings and accumulation of human and physical capital,
risk-taking and innovation as well as efficiency of resource allocation.
Public policies, particularly macro-economic, foreign trade and
investment policies, matter a great deal
Incidence of Child Labour, Free Education Policy, and Economic Liberalisation in a Developing Economy
Get PDFThe paper analyses the implications of a subsidy policy on
education and of different liberalised trade and investment policies on
the incidence of child labour in a developing economy in terms of a
three-sector general equilibrium model with informal sector and child
labour. The supply function of child labour is endogenously determined.
The paper shows that different policies, if undertaken concurrently, may
produce mutually contradictory effects, thereby producing little or no
impact on the incidence of child labour. The paper provides a
theoretical answer as to why the incidence of child labour has not
significantly declined in the developing economies in spite of economic
development and globalisation
Exchange Rate Misalignment in Pakistan: Evidence from Purchasing Power Parity Theory
Get PDFExchange rate provides a key link between the domestic and
world markets for goods and assets. Therefore, a proper and detailed
analysis of the behaviour of exchange rate is required. There is also
growing agreement that prolonged and substantial exchange rate
misalignment can create severe macroeconomic disequilibria and the
correction of external balance will require both exchange rate
devaluation and demand management policies. Thus the policy-makers have
used PPP theory as a guide to represent the external competitiveness of
a country, and as a benchmark against which floating exchange rates are
judged to be misaligned. Developments in 1990s and 2000s show that cost
associated with exchange rate misalignment is very high. Hence, the
analysis of exchange rate determination in the presence of exchange rate
misalignment is crucial for the policy purpose because of its role as a
component of an early warning system [Berg, et al. (2000)]
Inaugural Address
Get PDFI would like to extend a very warm welcome to all of you
assembled here this morning. It is a great honour for me to address this
opening session of the Twentieth Annual General Meeting and Conference
of the Pakistan Society of Development Economists. Recent decades have
witnessed a proliferation of regional integration schemes around the
world involving both developed and developing countries alike. In the
context of developing economies, the promotion of regional economic
cooperation and integration is increasingly being viewed as an important
instrument for expediting the process of economic development. It is
widely believed that regional economic cooperation yields gains in
production specialisation, efficiency and improved quality of exports,
all of which benefit the countries participating in the regional
cooperation effort
Macroeconomic Factors and Pakistani Equity Market”
No full textThis paper analyzes long-term equilibrium relationships
between a group of macroeconomic variables and the Karachi Stock
Exchange Index. The macroeconomic variables are represented by the
industrial production index, the consumer price index, M1, and the value
of an investment earning the money market rate. We employ a vector error
correction model to explore such relationships during 1973:1 to 2004:4.
We found that these five variables are cointegrated and two long-term
equilibrium relationships exist among these variables. Our results
indicated a "causal" relationship between the stock market and the
economy. Analysis of our results indicates that industrial production is
the largest positive determinant of Pakistani stock prices, while
inflation is the largest negative determinant of stock prices in
Pakistan. We found that while macroeconomic variables Granger-caused
stock price movements, the reverse causality was observed in case of
industrial production and stock prices. Furthermore, we found that
statistically significant lag lengths between fluctuations in the stock
market and changes in the real economy are relatively short
Impact of Changing Profile of Rural Land Market in Pakistan on Resource Allocation and Equity
Get PDFAn attempt is made to determine the nature of land market as
to how far it approximates the ideal of competitive market. It also
reviews the farm size, efficiency and productivity relationship. The
paper is organised in four sections. After the introductory section, the
literature on past research on land markets in Pakistan and other
countries is brought together in Section II. Description of land market
institutions and changes in the structure of land markets including the
pattern of ownership and the operational distribution of land and trends
in different facets of land markets are the subject matter of Section
III. Summary and conclusions are presented in the concluding
section
The State of Pakistan’s Dairy Sector: An Assessment
Get PDFWhile there is a plethora of research documenting a multitude
of dimensions of the crop sector of Pakistan, the virtual absence of
meaningful economic analysis of the dairy economy is surprising. No
serious attempt has been made in the past to clarify the microlevel
potential of this sector to impact rural economy. This paper is a
pioneering attempt to provide an objective assessment of the state of
Pakistan’s dairy and to point out areas of further research. The paper
analyses some core issues, highlights the potential of this sector, and
recommends the measures to be adopted towards such a goal
Inayatullah, Rubina Saigol, and Pervez Tahir (eds). Social Sciences in Pakistan: A Profile. Islamabad: Council of Social Sciences, 2005. 512 pages. Hardbound. Rs 500.00.
Get PDFCommissioned by the Council of Social Sciences (COSS), this
volume evaluates the seventeen social sciences departments in the public
universities in Pakistan for a given set of parameters. The social
sciences departments or the topics covered in this volume and their
respective authors include: Teaching of International Relations in
Pakistani Universities (Rasul Bakhsh Rais); Development of the
Discipline of Political Science in Pakistan (Inayatullah); The
Development of Strategic Studies in Pakistan (Ayesha Siddiqa); The State
of Educational Discourse in Pakistan (Rubina Saigol); Development of
Philosophy as a Discipline (Mohammad Ashraf Adeel); The State of the
Discipline of Psychology in Public Universities in Pakistan: A Review
(Muhammad Pervez and Kamran Ahmad); Development of Economics as a
Discipline in Pakistan (Karamat Ali); Sociology in Pakistan: A Review of
Progress (Muhammad Hafeez); Anthropology in Pakistan: The State of [sic]
Discipline (Nadeem Omar Tarar); Development of the Discipline of History
in Pakistan (Mubarak Ali); The Discipline of Public Administration in
Pakistan (Zafar Iqbal Jadoon and Nasira Jabeen); Journalism and Mass
Communication (Mehdi Hasan); Area Studies in Pakistan: An Assessment
(Muhammad Islam); Pakistan Studies: A Subject of the State, and the
State of the Subject (Syed Jaffar Ahmed); The State of the Discipline of
Women’s Studies in Pakistan (Rubina Saigol); Peace and Conflict
Resolution Studies (Moonis Ahmar and Farhan H. Siddiqi); and Linguistics
in Pakistan: A Survey of the Contemporary Situation (Tariq
Rahman)