Journal of Development Policy Research & Practice (JoDPRP)
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Nexus Between Democracy, Corruption, and Income Inequality in South Asia
Get PDFThis study explores the interplay between corruption, democracy, and income inequality in South Asia, analysing data from 2012 to 2022. It incorporates variables from the Transparency International Corruption Perception Index (TI-CPI), Democracy Index by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU), and measures of income inequality, in addition to other control variables relevant to political governance and economic performance. Utilising the Feasible Generalised Least Squares (FGLS) approach, the research reveals that democracy, regulatory quality, income inequality, and population growth are associated with increased corruption, while effective corruption control, rule of law, and economic growth contribute to its reduction in the region. These findings offer valuable insights for policymakers on enhancing democratic structures, governance efficiency, and the rule of law to combat corruption in South Asia.
JEL Classification Codes: O15, D73
Peacebuilding through Development Aid Projects: Critical Analysis of South Waziristan, Pakistan
Get PDFPost-conflict peacebuilding is not a direct path to achieving prosperity; however, it has become a highly significant issue in the merged districts of Pakistan, particularly in South Waziristan, following years of militancy, terrorism, and military operations by Pakistani forces. In this context, the role of development aid projects has gained broader acknowledgment in post-development peacebuilding, where organisations and implementing partners have filled the gap through development assistance projects. The objective of the study is to explore the effectiveness and weaknesses of development aid projects toward peace and prosperity in the merged districts of South Waziristan. A mixed-method approach was employed, involving interviews with 50 respondents, including 12 government and NGO officials. The findings reveal that development projects engaged local communities in the peace process by delivering essential social and economic services to the affected population, contributing to sustainable peace and development. However, limited professional capacity among both government and non-governmental officials hindered the effectiveness of peacebuilding initiatives. The influence of local elders also notably shaped project objectives. Institutional fragmentation and gaps in peacebuilding efforts remain critical challenges that require reassessment to foster lasting peace in the region.
JEL Classification Codes: I01, M02, L03, R04, R41, R42, R43, R44, R45, C
Tweaking Household Assets to Recover from Disasters: Insights from Attabad Landslide in Pakistan
Get PDFWe assessed change in the asset profile of households of Gulmit village while they were attempting their recovery from Attabad landslide disaster, which occurred during 2010 in Pakistan. Primary data came from 183 randomly selected households of the disaster affected village through field work conducted in 2013. The physical, social, financial, natural, and human capitals were evaluated using weighted average indexes and cumulative indexes developed for accounting pre- and post-disaster situations. The findings reveal that all these capitals are interlinked. Any change in physical capital caused redundancy of natural capital negatively affecting livelihood opportunities locally. Loss of income and savings was result of negative impacts on financial capitals. The study further found that social capital is crucial but perishable. Human capital appears to be the most crucial hedge against vulnerabilities as healthy, qualified and skilled humans can choose alternative livelihoods in the face of climate changes, explore options, and divert their occupations while attempting recovery from disasters. Furthermore, relief packages and food aid interventions are necessary but not sufficient condition for effective disaster recovery. The relief operations are important in short term and helpful during the period when communities are passing through the coping stage. The restoration of physical capital (crucial infrastructure) and human capital are the most important aspects to focus upon for building resilient communities and mitigation of the negative impacts of climate change induced disasters.
The scope of this article is related to the following SDG / SDGs
Planning and Economic Coordination Challenges after the 18th Constitutional Amendment
Get PDFThe 18th Amendment has significantly changed the Constitution of Pakistan. It has increased the number of subjects in the provincial sphere. This expanded autonomy was fiscally supported by the 7th National Finance Commission (NFC) Award, which reversed the federal-provincial resource distribution formula in favour of the provinces. In this paper, the authors find that the new structure of planning and economic coordination required to implement these fundamental changes is not in place. The Planning Commission (PC), i.e., Ministry of Planning Development & Special Initiatives, continues to be a think tank of the federal government rather than the federation. Its visioning for the long-term and planning documents for the medium-term on an annual basis are found to be against the spirit of the amended Constitution, which stipulates a participatory process. The authors’ analysis leads to the conclusion that the Commission should be an independent secretariat of the Council of Common Interests (CCI) to ensure effective coordination. Towards this end, members of the Commission should also represent the provinces. Devolution to the local level, however, will continue to be a challenge.
 
Student Experiences of ICTs in Online Learning during COVID-19 in Pakistan: Challenges and Prospects
Get PDFOutbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic altered the traditional model of face-to-face teaching and learning into remote learning through Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs). This paper investigates the experiences of students using these ICTs for online learning. Interviews were conducted with them to understand prospects and challenges of using ICTs when it comes to remote learning. The findings illustrated that most students were satisfied with the online mode as living in a technology-oriented era adoption is relatively easy. However, electricity outages and connectivity problems were faced by some of the students belonging to underprivileged and remote areas. The study concluded that the COVID-19 pandemic accelerated the use of ICTs on the one hand, but on the other certain prospects are not abundantly realistic and pervasive for all. Policy dialogue is recommended to adopt and practice blended technology-based learning methodologies at all levels of education to meet the current challenges of the education system.
The scope of this article is related to the following SDG / SDGs
Critical Review and Comparative Analysis of the Government of Punjab’s ‘Policy on Controlling Smog, 2017’ with Counterpart Strategies in London, Beijing and Los Angeles
Get PDFLahore, the capital of Punjab, Pakistan, has experienced worsening episodes of smog since the early 2000s. Poor air quality reduces the life expectancy of its population by roughly seven years and results in 128,000 premature annual deaths. According to various emissions inventories, Nitrogen Oxides (NOx) and Particulate Matter (PM) frequently exceed World Health Organization (WHO) standards, more than other air pollutants in the city. In 2017, the Government of Punjab developed the ‘Policy on Controlling Smog’ to mitigate the effects of air pollution across Punjab, including Lahore. This paper critically examines the policy. First, it establishes a scientific baseline to describe smog to justify a comparison between Lahore, London, Beijing, and Los Angeles. Second, it establishes a positive correlation between poor air quality and negative public health outcomes. Next, it points out scientific, data and other concerns in Punjab’s smog policy, and then compares it and draws lessons from counterpart policies in the same cities. The paper argues and concludes that while the ‘Policy on Controlling Smog, 2017’ is a useful blueprint to organise efforts in Pakistan’s Punjab province, it is not leveraging lessons from other cities nor is it consistent with the latest scientific research on air quality in general and Lahore in particular. Hence, it is ill-equipped to maximise public health outcomes.
JEL Classification Codes: I1
Decentralisation and Quality of Fiscal Management: Empirical Evidence from Pakistan
Get PDFEffective use of public resources is crucial for developing countries facing persistent deficits. Fiscal decentralisation is believed to enhance government efficiency over resource use. Therefore, the paper intends to examine the association between Pakistan’s Fiscal Decentralisation (FD) and Fiscal Management from 1988 to 2020. The authors develop a Composite Decentralisation Index (CDI) that captures the effect of both Expenditure Decentralisation (ED) and Revenue Decentralisation (RD) processes. After confirmation of stationarity through augmented Dickey-Fuller (ADF) and Philip-Peran (PP) unit roots tests, the study employs the Johansen cointegration method to draw longrun estimates. The study’s findings reveal that composite decentralisation reduces public deficit significantly - lower corruption, weaker underground economy, and smaller government size help reduce the fiscal deficit. The Error Correction Term (ECM) is also negative and significant at 1%, which confirms the speed of convergence towards longrun equilibrium in case of any shock or dis equilibrium in the short run. These study findings may help policymakers and legislatures draft effective long-term fiscal management policies.
The scope of this article is related to the following SDG / SDGs
Socio-Cultural Capital and Community Resilience: Perception of University Students about Violent Extremism in Pakistan
Get PDFThe importance of Countering Violent Extremism (CVE) has been a topic of recent interest for the global community. Pakistan is no exception to this trend. In recent years, university students have often been targets of extremist violence propaganda. This study aimed to explore perception of university students about violent extremism and the role of socio-cultural capital and community resilience in CVE. Quantitative research design was used to survey students belonging to various public and private universities in three major cities of Pakistan: Rawalpindi, Islamabad, and Peshawar. Due to the COVID-19 lockdown and closure of universities, the online survey technique was used by posting the survey on social media; using personal contacts; and emails. The ‘Building Resilience Against Violent Extremism’ (BRAVE) scale was used to assess the students’ perceptions and behaviour towards violent extremism. 480 students participated in the study over a two-month period. The findings demonstrated a significant role of socio-cultural capital in propagating as well as resisting violent beliefs and behaviour. The study concluded that culture, ethnic background, support from family and community, contribute to strengthening resilience against violent extremism among university students. It is recommended that Higher Educational Institutions (HEIs) should promote tolerance and peace through a more human rights-centric curriculum and education about different cultures as well as unbiased teaching practices to promote peaceful ways for resolving conflicts when they arise.
The scope of this article is related to the following SDG / SDGs
Impact of Climate Change on Individual and Community Mental Health
Get PDFThis paper provides an overview of the current and prospective climate change-related risks and impacts on individual and community mental health, as outlined by studies from the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia, Mexico, and Pakistan, in addition to a few European countries from 2000 to January 2022. It argues three major points, first, certain vulnerabilities exist with regards to which populations are most atrisk of experiencing poor psychological well-being. The main vulnerabilities and risk factors highlighted in the paper are low socioeconomic background, young age, and communities having close cultural and working relationships with the environment. Second, climate change-induced natural disasters such as floods, hurricanes, wildfires, and heatwaves can have several impacts on mental health, mainly due to worsening physical health, disruption of community cohesion, and forced relocation. The concept of community resilience is also discussed. Finally, the relationship between heat waves and increased psychological fatigue and feelings of hostility is also explored, linked with rising crime rate which can further impact individual and community mental health. It was concluded that climate change impacts individual and community mental health in many ways and that certain gaps in knowledge, such as the factors influencing the severity of this impact and the reasons behind the existence of vulnerabilities among populations, need to be addressed and incorporated into future action. Moreover, adaptive action needs to be taken in preparing societies for the impact of climate change. This includes increasing accessibility to quality mental healthcare and creating protective legal frameworks for those who are disproportionately affected by interpersonal violence during and after climate-related natural disasters.
The scope of this article is related to the following SDG / SDGs.
Relationship between Health, Education and Labour Productivity in South Asia
Get PDFThis study aims to assess the relationship between health, education, and labour productivity for five South Asian countries over 1991-2019 by applying the Ordinary Least Square (OLS), Fixed Effects (FE) model, Random Effects (RE) model, and the Generalized Method of Moments (GMM). The study confirms that health and education are increasing factors of labour productivity. The empirical results showed that health, measured by prevalence of undernourishment, education, and physical capital, is helpful in enhancing productivity of labour, while increasing the number of workers is inversely related to labour productivity. The study recommends that South Asian countries should focus on the improvement of health facilities and educational institutes to boost the efficiency of their labour force which can lead to economic growth.
The scope of this article is related to the following SDG / SDGs.