18 research outputs found
Remittances and Poverty Linkages in Pakistan: Evidence and Some Suggestions for Further Analysis
No full textGlobal remittances experienced a dramatic increase over the years, particularly since 1990 wherein the developing world emerged to be the major beneficiary accounting for 60 percent of the total amount. Because of the sheer volume, and magnitude of the remittances, and pre-eminence of these flows compared to the FDIs, development assistance and in some cases the trade related transactions, the development practitioners tended to focus and investigate the importance of remittances which are generally regarded as a dependable source for growth, improved welfare and poverty alleviation in the developing world. Given the fact that remittances flows entail wide ranging ramifications both for sending as well as receiving countries, difficult to be generalised, hence empirical evidence has been mounted though lack of consensus is visible.
Impact of Remittances on Economic Growth and Poverty: Evidence from Pakistan
No full textThe study focused on the importance of remittances inflow and its implication for economic growth and poverty reduction in Pakistan. By using ARDL approach we analyze the impact of remittances inflow on economic growth and poverty in Pakistan for the period 1973-2007. The district wise analysis of poverty suggest that overseas migration contributes to poverty alleviation in the districts of Punjab, Sindh and Balochistan however NWFP is not portraying a clear picture. The empirical evidence shows that remittances effect economic growth positively and significantly. Furthermore the study also finds that remittances have a strong and statistically significant impact on poverty reduction thus suggesting that there are substantial potential benefits associated with international migration for poor people in developing countries like Pakistan. So the importance of remittance inflows can not be denied in terms of growth enhancement and poverty reduction that consequently improves the social and economic conditions of the recipient country.Remittances; Growth; Poverty; Pakistan
Testing the Fiscal Theory of Price Level in Case of Pakistan
No full textThe study tests the fiscal theory of price determination for Pakistan’s economy for the period 1970 to 2007. The evidence is less clear cut to infer that authorities are following a certain type of regime fiscal dominant or monetary dominant during the sample period. The liabilities responses negatively to the innovation in surpluses, that is in the subsequent period the liabilities decreases in face of increase in surplus. This characterises monetary dominant regime, the events that give rise to surplus innovation are likely to persist causing the rise in the future surpluses and surpluses pay-off some of the debt causing the fall in the liabilities. By analysing the behaviour of nominal GDP, an innovation in surplus reduces nominal income and decreases the level of debt in the subsequent periods, this analysis also confirms the Ricardian analysis. On the other hand, the study finds that, as predicted by the fiscal theory of price determination, the occurrence of wealth effects of changes in nominal public debt may pass through to prices by increasing inflation variability in case of Pakistan. The implication that comes out of this study is that nominal public liabilities, as reflected either in money growth or in nominal public debt, matter for price stability in case of Pakistan. The authorities may be following different regimes for different time periods during the 1970-2007.Fiscal Theory of Price Level, VAR, Fiscal Policy, Monetary Policy
Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner. Superfreakonomics: Global Cooling, Patriotic Prostitutes, and Why Suicide Bombers Should Buy Life Insurance. London: Penguin Books Ltd. 2009. 270 pages. Paperback. £ 14.99.
No full textBehavioural economics is an emerging field and
superfreakonomics provides useful insights into human behaviour observed
with respect to issues that have economic implications. The underlying
theme of the book is that human beings respond to incentives. The
authors have set up a number of interesting examples to convey how
different incentives work. The case studies discussed in the book are
based on the authors’ recent academic research; motivated by fellow
economists as well as engineers and astrophysicists, psychotic killers
and emergency room doctors, amateur historians and transgender
neuroscientists. Most of the stories fall into one of the two
categories: things you always thought you knew but in fact did not; and
things you never knew you wanted to know, but do know. The authors, with
the help of data, show that drunk walking is eight times more dangerous
than drunk driving. The message is that the misaligned incentives
(penalties) are responsible for this—only drunk driving is penalised. To
show the influence of positive incentives the authors demonstrate how
cable TV might have improved the status of women in India. A baby Indian
girl, who does grow into adulthood, faces discrimination in provision of
education, health care and remuneration in job market. In a national
health survey, 51 per cent of Indian men said that wife-beating is
defensible under certain situations and more surprisingly, 54 per cent
of the women agreed. But things are changing, albeit at a slow pace. The
authors find that cable TV has empowered Indian rural women—families
with cable TV are more likely to have a lower birth rate and more
schooling
Institutional Approach to the Budget Deficit: An Empirical Analysis
No full textThe objective of this study is to examine the factors affecting the budget deficit by using a panel dataset of 66 countries from 1996 to 2020. In the first stage regressions, the current study employs fixed and random effect models to estimate the impact of institutional quality and other economic variables on the budget deficit. In the second stage regression, pooled mean group (PMG) and mean group (MG) estimation method is employed for estimating the long-run and short-run coefficients for the effect of institutional quality and other economic variables on the budget deficit in a heterogeneous panel dataset. The empirical estimates confirm that GDP per capita is positively and significantly associated with the budget deficit in the long run. Further, inflation rates and trade openness also have positive and significant impacts on the budget deficit in the long run. Moreover, the results show that, in the long run, the population growth rate is negatively associated with budget deficit. As far as institutional variables are concerned, the empirical findings show that an increase in corruption in government institutions leads to a significant increase in the budget deficit. However, political stability, improved bureaucratic quality, democratic accountability and the rule of law lead to a reduction in the budget deficit. The current study will help policymakers and practitioners to better understand the determinants of the budget deficit and to design the policies for the improvement of institutional quality which, in turn, may control the level of a budget deficit. Jel Codes: H5, H6, H3, H
A FRAMEWORK FOR ANALYZING THE IMPACT OF FISCAL DECENTRALIZATION ON MACROECONOMIC PERFORMANCE, GOVERNANCE AND ECONOMIC GROWTH
No full text This study analyzes the direct impact of fiscal decentralization on economic growth and broadens the scope of assessment by examining the indirect impact of fiscal decentralization on economic growth via its impact on macroeconomic performance and quality of governance institutions. The study uses a panel data set of 53 developed and developing countries over the period of 1996–2014. The empirical findings show that the indirect impact, rather than the direct impact of fiscal decentralization on growth, that is, the effect of decentralization on economic growth through its effect on macroeconomic performance and quality of governance institutions significantly matters for growth. Further, the results show that fiscal decentralization is growth enhancing when supported by stable macroeconomic performance in terms of stability in prices, budget deficit and exchange rate. The effect of fiscal decentralization on per capita gross domestic product (GDP) growth rate is positive when it is complemented by sound institutional structure in terms of rule of law, low corruption in government institutions, high-bureaucratic quality and democratic accountability. All these conclusions hold for developed as well as for developing countries. </jats:p
Dynamic Effects of Changes in Government Spending in Pakistan’s Economy.
No full textThis study analyses the effects of changes in government
spending on aggregate economic activity and the way these effects are
transmitted in case of Pakistan for the period 1971-2008. To analyse the
transmission mechanism of government spending innovations, the Vector
Autoregressive Model is estimated for following five variables:
government spending per capita, GDP per capita, consumption per capita,
debt to GDP ratio, long term interest rate and real exchange rate. The
consumption and output respond negatively to the innovation in
government spending which is consistent with the standard neoclassical
model. The interest rates increase in the face of expansionary fiscal
spending. As government debt builds up with fiscal expansion, the rising
risk of default or increasing inflation risk reinforce crowding out
through interest rates. The real exchange rate tends to appreciate in
response to rise in government spending. This finding is according to
the open economy literature and also with the conventional literature.
JEL classification: E21, E62, E63 Keywords: Government Spending, Vector
Autoregressive Model, Impulse Response Function, Neoclassical
Mode
Analysis of Revenue Potential and Revenue Effort in Developing Asian Countries
No full textCountries around the world are increasingly recognising that
the effective revenue system is the most important factor for economic
development. Factors effecting revenue potential measured as the revenue
to GDP has been one of the most important issues that concerns to
policy-makers from last three decades. Many developing countries face
difficulties in generating sufficient revenues for public expenditure.
In some countries budget deficits and the unproductive use of public
expenditures have narrow the vital investments in both human resources
and basic infrastructure that are necessary for providing base for
sustainable economic growth and development. Too much dependence on
foreign financing may cause problems of debt sustainability; therefore
developing countries will need to depend substantially on domestic
revenue generation. There is a large body of literature on tax revenue
potential in developing countries [Bahl (1971); Tanzi (1987); Leuthold
(1991); and Stotsky and Mariam (1997); Gupta (2007)]. However, there is
few studies that examine institutional and governance quality as a
factor influencing tax collection and tax revenue potential. According
to Tanzi and Davoodi (1997) and Gupta (2007) these factors are
responsible for low tax collection in developing countries by allowing
citizens inappropriate tax exemptions and enabling tax evasion due to
bad tax administration. Therefore, a precondition for ensuring adequate
revenue collection is a legitimate and responsive institutions following
the rule of law with control on corruption and having high quality
bureaucracy to administer. Studies also confirm that a strong political
will to reform is required for successful reform process [Bird (2004)].
Alm, et al. (2003) suggest that tax records of countries are reflection
of their political or societal institutions
Integrating Diverse Data Sources in Tableau to Elevate Performance
No full textThis paper will focus on the technical perspective of bringing diverse data and Building compelling Tableau dashboards on them with a view towards efficiency, fix mistakes and deliver fast, flexible, and compelling dashboards with an intend to keep the user experience impactful. As the dashboard author, you need to understand the bigger picture of your project and where the user fits. This paper will give you the best way to implement dashboard requirements and focus on what modifications you can make while integrating data sources in tableau to smooth out the path to production
Fiscal Policy and Current Account Dynamics in Case of Pakistan
No full textThe study empirically investigates the effects of fiscal policy or government budget deficit shocks on the current account and the other macroeconomic variable: real output, real interest rate and exchange rate for Pakistan over the period 1960-2009. The structural Vector Autoregressive model is employed; the exogenous fiscal policy shocks are identified after controlling the business cycle effects on fiscal balances. The results suggest that an expansionary fiscal policy shock improves the current account and depreciates the exchange rate. The rise in private saving and the fall in investment contribute to the current account improvement while the exchange rate depreciation. The twin divergence of fiscal deficit and current account deficit is also explained by the output shock which seems to drive the current account movements and its comovements with the fiscal balance
