Review of Economics and Development Studies (READS) (E-Journal)
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Is Pakistan Really a Pollution Haven Country?
Get PDFIn this study, the Pollution Haven Hypothesis (PHH) validity has been tested for Pakistan and its impact on exports of Pakistan has been investigated as well. The PHH predicts that environmental regulations’ variability among countries affects polluting industries location and trade flows. Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) or bound test of cointegration is used to investigate the short and long-run relationships. We found positive and statistically significant short-run and long-run relationships between CO2 (proxy for lax environmental policy) and FDI inflows. Finally, Trade Balance Index (TBI) of metal and mining, primary iron & steel, chemicals and rubber products does not support the PHH. While the pulp & paper and the textile industry validated the existence of pollution haven effect. We can conclude that PHH does exist for Pakistan and therefore such policies are needed that encourage FDI inflows that do not adversely affect the environment
Impact of Socioeconomic and Demographic Factors Affecting Child Health in Selected South Asian Countries
Get PDFDevelopment of any nation is estimated through child health condition.In particular, the fourth millennium development goal out of eight is toreduce the mortality rate. The target set under this goal was to reduce bytwo-third, between 1990 and 2015, the proportion of child mortality.Maternal BMI is closely associated with child nutritional status. Weakmother having low BMI has low nutrition status which effect childweight. Healthy and balance food of mothers have positive effect on theirchild. Underweight mother can have impaired and poor growing kids.This study presents impact of some socio-economic demographic andmaternal health related factors on health status of children in selectedSouth Asian countries i.e. Pakistan, Bangladesh and Nepal. The studyused micro data from demographic and health survey (DHS) of Pakistan,Bangladesh and Nepal. Multinomial logistic regression results revealedthat mother education, mother working status, mother health, availabilityof safe drinking water, family size and vaccination have significant effecton child health. Mother’s education is positively associated with healthychild. Working mothers are more likely to have healthy child. Weak andobese children are positively associated with malnourished andoverweight mothers respectively. Small family size has positive impacton weak child health. Vaccination and availability of improved and safewater are positively associated with child health
Measuring Inter-Industry Competitive Advantage and Performance of Lesotho’s Export Sector
Get PDFThe author investigated inter-industry competitive advantage andperformance of Lesotho’s export sector. The results show competitivenessin Lesotho varies from one industry to the other. Textiles industry is themost competitive in Lesotho with 165 product lines which has revealedcomparative advantage of equal or greater than 1. It is followed bymiscellaneous industry with a demonstrated competitiveness in 35 productlines. The least competitive industries in Lesotho were found to be footwear/head gear and wood and wood products both with only 4 product lines.The following industries in Lesotho performed badly and have nocomparative advantage at all: animal and animal products; raw hides, skinsleather and furs; plastic and rubber; chemical and allied industries; foodstuffs; and mineral products. Although Lesotho has competitive advantagein textiles industry, it is also very vulnerable due to over-reliance on a singleindustry. There is a need to diversify through attracting foreign directinvestment that will also usher in improvement in competitiveness acrossindustries
Gender Inequality in Education and Household Poverty in Pakistan: A Case of Multan District
Get PDFPresent study is intended to explore the impact of gender inequality in education on poverty by employing logistic regression on primary source of data collected through a field survey of Multan district. The study concluded that gender inequality in education has adverse impact on household poverty. The probability of household poverty falls with the increase in female-male primary, secondary and tertiary enrolment. The improvement in female-male literacy ratio also rejects probability of a household being poor. Household size and number of children less than five years age have positive association with probability of poverty while the variables, qualification of household head, age of household, professional or technical skills of household head and ownership of house are negatively associated with household poverty. The study suggested that eliminating gender inequality in education in all level may be helpful in empowering women, creating productive employment opportunities in both formal and informal sectors and alleviating poverty
Contributing Factors of Capital Structure: A Case of Non-Financial Companies Listed at KSE 100
Get PDFThe current study has taken the firms listed on KSE (Karachi Stock Exchange) now called Pakistan stock exchange. The data for the said purpose is collected for five years of time period from 2005 to 2010. The results obtained demonstrate that all the selected variables under study shows a highly significant impact on the determinants of capital structure except the tangibility of the asset. The insignificant relationship of tangibility with the capital structure supports the financing hierarchy theory. While the Growth, Size and profitability shows a significant and negative relationship with leverage. The negative relationship of growth shows that higher the growth of the firms lower will be the leverage maintained by the firm. Similarly, firms with smaller size show that such firms prefer high leverage as compared to firms of larger size. The results reveal that higher the profitability of the firm lower will be the leverage ratio. While the positive relationship of the volatility of the earnings states that firms with higher risks has high leverage ratio. Overall a detailed description and impact of the different variables on leverage is provided in the current study
Effect of Service Quality on Customers Satisfaction: An Application of HEdPERF Model
Get PDFThe aim of this study was to measures the effect of service quality on customer satisfaction. There are 384 respondents were selected from 19 universities of Khyber Pakhtunkwa (Pakistan). The proportionate stratified sampling method was used for the collection of data. The collected data was analysed using SPSS and AMOS packages. Exploratory Factor, Confirmatory Analysis and Parallel Analysis were also performed. Structural Equation Modelling technique was used to investigate the relationship among variables under investigation. Findings of the research reveals that majority of the respondents were satisfied with the dimensions of HEdPERF model in universities of Khyber Pakhunkhwa (Pakistan). The dimension academic was ranked the most important dimension of service quality. Thus, this unique finding implies that universities should nurture the academic quality rigorously in order to enhance students’ satisfaction without ignoring the remaining dimension of service quality.
 
Determinants of Marital Flourishing among Married Individuals: An Asian Perspective
Get PDFMarital flourishing is a concept used to assess optimal quality of a marital relationship. Despite abundance of research to understand the factors underlying a happy and satisfying relationship, the determinant of a flourishing marital bonding remains limited. The present study focuses communal and emotional processes as possible causes underlying beneath a flourishing marital relationship. A data from 569 wives and 433 husbands from Pakistan was collected and analyzed through regression analysis. Findings demonstrated that expression of emotions negatively predicts relationship and individual dimension of marital flourishing. Moreover, positive communal orientation positively predicts individual dimension of flourishing. While, negative communal orientation negatively predicts relationship dimension of marital flourishing but positively predicts individual dimension of relationship flourishing. Gender wise analysis of the study variables exhibits that Asian wives are high in marital flourishing as compared to Asian husbands. Asian husbands show high level of negative emotional expressivity and negative communal orientation as compared to the Asian wives. The study signifies the determinants of marital flourishing thereby, highlighting the role of emotional and communal processes within Asian marriages. Findings of study are being discussed examining possible universal and culture-specific aspects of marital flourishing from indigenous Asian perspective.
 
What Determines Bilateral Trade Flows? Evidence from ECO Region
Get PDFThis study provides an analysis of Pakistan’s bilateral trade in Economic Corporation Organization (ECO) region. The main purpose of this study is to assess the determinants of bilateral trade flows using the gravity trade model. Panel least square regression has been applied over the period of 1995 to 2015. Two types of gravity models have been estimated: traditional gravity trade model and modified gravity trade model. The study has identified income, population, distance, adjacency, area, landlockedness, continent and terrorism as the main drivers of Pakistan’s bilateral trade flows with ECO countries. It is suggested that policies in Pakistan should focus on improving economic growth; offer incentives to Pakistani people to engage more in trade flows; improve transportation to trade with ECO countries; and take measures to eradicate terrorism
An Investigation into Effectiveness of Technical and Vocational Education in Pakistan
Get PDFAn investigation and validation of effectiveness of technical and vocational education at secondary level for poverty alleviation is need of the day. Four sub-components such as locale, age, education and socio economic status have been considered important in determining the effectiveness of technical & vocational education at secondary level for poverty alleviation. Out of 815 pass outs in Matric technology and vocational education during 2013, 2014 and 2015, the parents of 494 were selected through proportionate stratified random sampling technique for study. The study established that there is a significant positive strong relationship between parents’ perception towards effectiveness of technical &vocational education and poverty alleviation. The curriculum, assessment & evaluation and social aspects significantly and positively predicted the outcome variable poverty alleviation. The study is useful for policy makers, professionals, researchers and practitioners
Fragility of Nascent Democracies: A Case Study of Pakistan
Get PDFDemocracy has always been targeted by the forces that are against this particular type of system yet it has emerged as an efficient and more delivering system around the world. In this research article, those forces have been identified and an exclusive analysis has been given with regards to the threats faced by the democratic system of Pakistan. A comprehensive study of the root-causes, which contributes to the destabilization process, has been given. Suggestions and recommendations have also been given to treat the malady of destabilization. Finally, it has been deduced that the states like Pakistan that are under threat of destabilization need socialization and awareness to reduce such threats by rationally coping with the situation