The Pakistan Development Review
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Jay R. Mandle. Globalisation and the Poor. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2003. x+157 pages. Paperback. £ 12.95.
Get PDFThe issue of globalisation of the world economy has taken
centre-stage in discussions relating to the process of economic
development and the distribution of income between the developed and
developing countries. Although these are many current concerns,
globalisation as such has occurred at different points in recorded human
history of the past several thousand years. The Roman Empire, for
instance, is quoted as one of the earlier examples of globalisation.
More recently, the period leading up to World War I saw an increasingly
integrated world economy under British Imperial rule. The most recent
attempt at globalisation started in the late 1970s and continues to the
present day
Adolescent Reproductive Health: The Role of Agency and Autonomy
Get PDFThe world is experiencing the largest cohort of adolescents in
its history, and there are about 1 billion youngsters in this age group,
most of whom belong to the developing countries. Worldwide, the
adolescent age group is gaining prominence for researchers,
policy-makers and donors. This issue is more important for Pakistan
where about one-third of 150 million Pakistanis are in the age range of
10-24 years [Pakistan Census Organisation (2001)]. In Pakistan, the
fertility transition has just begun [Sathar and Casterline (1998)], and
we will have the largest cohort of young people in next five years. With
a TFR of 4.1 which represents a significant decline in fertility in the
past two decades for about two children [Pakistan (2003)], still we have
a large population base. Nearly 33 percent of the population is aged
10-24, and ready to enter marriage and childbearing. Adolescents
represents as a “bulge” in the population pyramid of Pakistan that will
have serious implications at a variety of levels
Mapping the Spatial Deprivation of Pakistan
Get PDFGeographical targeting may be a viable way to allocate
resources for poverty alleviation in developing countries. Efficiency
can be increased, and leakages to the nonpoor reduced substantially, by
targeting needy areas. A national and regional database of substantial
poverty maps or deprivation indices are not readily available in
Pakistan. Further, existing activities of poverty alleviation are
carried out on ad hoc basis in the absence of identified pockets of
poverty. This paper presents indices of multiple deprivations based on
the 1998 Population and Housing Census data. Possible applications of
this exercise include identifying areas of need, making decisions on
regional and sectoral priorities, facilitating targeted public
interventions through special poverty alleviation programmes,
understanding the relationship between poverty and its causes, and
helping federal and provincial governments in determining financial
awards
Inaugural Address
Get PDFLadies and Gentlemen: It is my pleasure and honour to address
the distinguished gathering of economists, social scientists,
intellectuals and renowned personalities from within and outside the
country on the occasion of the 19th Annual General Meeting of the
Society. This has become an important event in Pakistan where economists
and social scientists sit together and deliberate on various issues
facing developing economies in general and Pakistan’s economy in
particular. The Pakistan Institute of Development Economics (PIDE)
deserves our appreciation for holding such a conference on a regular
basis. In fact, I have been using this platform for the last four years
to apprise the nation about the progress we have been making on the
economic front and about the policies we have been pursuing. I intend to
do the same today
Impact of Privatisation on Employment and Output in Pakistan
Get PDFThe paper aims to assess the impact of privatisation on
employment and output in Pakistan. It uses edible oil and cement sectors
as a case study in a pre- and post-privatisation comparative framework.
Assessing the impact of privatisation in Pakistan is important at this
juncture for two reasons. Firstly, the country is facing a severe
economic crisis and privatisation forms an integral part of an array of
reform measures recommended by multi-lateral donors as well as
policy-makers within and without the country. Burki [(2000), p. 152]
observes, “The economy and state of Pakistan are in crisis…. Pakistan
has not faced a crisis of this magnitude in its entire 50-year history”.
He refers to the five different crises that have combined to create this
situation. These are: the global financial crisis, Pakistan’s short-term
liquidity problem, economy’s structural weaknesses, severe social
backwardness, and, finally, the crisis of governance. Burki (2000)
suggests several solutions to the problems, and privatisation is one of
the ways to restructure the economy and improve the quality of
governance
Capital Flows and Money Supply: The Degree of Sterilisation in Pakistan
Get PDFUnder the current managed float exchange rate system; the
central bank may respond to an exchange market disequilibria by changing
either the international reserves or the exchange rates. Under such a
regime, a major policy difficulty is the interaction between exchange
rate policies and monetary policies. The monetary authorities intervene
in the exchange market in response to undesired fluctuations in exchange
rates,1 could adversely affect monetary control and move the economy
away from internal target such as price stability. Under such a policy
dilemma, fully sterilised intervention2 involves a pure swap of foreign
and domestic assets, which have not effect on the money supply, received
greater attention by the policy-makers in early 1980s, particularly,
through the experience of West Germany [Obstfeld (1983)]. Ideally, it
provides an independent policy tool to deal with the exchange rate
without affecting the internal policy targets
Poverty and Inequality during the Adjustment Decade: Empirical Findings from Household Surveys
Get PDFThis paper investigates the dynamics of poverty and inequality
in Pakistan over the period 1988-1999. The year 1988 was the year of the
first formal Structural Adjustment Lending (SAL) from the World Bank and
the IMF. Thus, this analysis facilitates the debate regarding the impact
of SAL on household welfare and poverty. This is done by analysing
changes in poverty and inequality from two comparable household income
and expenditure surveys conducted by the Federal Bureau of Statistics.
Our findings show an increase both in the Gini coefficient from 0.34 to
0.38 and poverty incidence from 24 to 30. The dynamic decomposition of
the poverty index indicates the relative importance of growth and
redistribution effects in explaining the changes in poverty. The
analysis reveals that increase in poverty can mainly be attributed to
low economic growth during the decade especially in the rural
areas
Gender Exploitation: from Structural Adjustment Policies to Poverty Reduction Strategies
Get PDFThe aim of this paper is to review the existing empirical
research concerning women’s exploitation as a result of policy measures
imposed by the World Bank and the IMF, particularly under Structural
Adjustment Policies (SAPs). The central argument here is that SAPs have
not been successful in achieving their basic objectives of ‘adjusting’
the economies instead, these policies have created severe social
problems for the human beings, particularly for the poor and
middle-income groups, in the countries where they (SAPs) have been
implemented [Beneria and Feldman (1992); Cornia, Jolly and Stewart
(1987); Floro (1995); Messkoub (1996) Moser (1989)]. Among these groups,
although all members have to mobilise their efforts to support
households so as to cope with the economic crisis, women have to bear an
unequal share of this burden [Agrawal (1992); Ali (2000); Beneria (1992,
1995); Cagatay (1995); Chant (1991); Elson (1991, 1992a); Feldman
(1992); Floro (1995); Reilly and Gorden (1995); McFarren (1992); Moser
(1992); Perez-Aleman (1992); Sahn and Haddad (1991); Safa and Antrobus
(1992); Stewart (1992); Trip (1992)]
Motivation and Involvement of Men in Family Planning in Pakistan
Get PDFThe study of men in involvement and use of family planning
methods is important because of their dominant role in family
decision-making in the socio-structural context of Pakistan. The
objective of present study is to examine the changes in knowledge and
attitude of men about family planning, and also to estimate the extent
to which it affects their contraceptive use behaviour. The findings show
that men’s knowledge and contraceptive use has increased three times
during the period from 1968-69 to 1990. The important factors that
determine men’s contraceptive use behaviour are the approval of family
planning, the communication with wife on family planning matters, and
the desire for children. The multivariate analysis shows that men living
in urban areas, with greater knowledge and a positive attitude towards
family planning, are more likely to use contraception. In addition,
wife’s autonomy is also important in explaining men’s involvement in the
use of family planning. The study reveals that most Pakistani men
approve of family planning and suggests that men should receive an equal
focus together with women in the population welfare programme
activities
The Determinants of Foreign Direct Investment in Pakistan: an Empirical Investigation
Get PDFThe changing modes of international transactions and the
cross-border mobilisation of factor resources, in pursuance of
transnational production, constitute new dimensions for sustained
economic growth. Foreign Direct Investment (an influential element of
this process) is defined as the source of acquisition of managerial
control by a business enterprise of a foreign country over a business
activity in a host country [Graham (1982)]. The changing perceptions and
more attractive policies of the host developing nations have changed the
destinations of FDI flows from industrially developed countries to high
growth developing centres. FDI stock held by developing countries has
risen from 1438.48 billion in 1999. Their
share in inward stock has reached to 30.14 percent in 1999 as against
26.2 percent in 1980. FDI inflows during this period were raised from 208.0 billion, at an annual growth rate of 22.5
percent while GDP growth rate for that period was 3.9
percent