Economics

This paper examines the impact of trade liberalization and effective exchange rate on export growth for Pakistan, using Vector Error Correction Model (VECM). The study is based on annual time series data for the period 1981-2010.The results suggest that, openness has a significant and positive impact on export growth in the long run. Real effective exchange rate and world GDP also have positive and significant impact on export but only if trade is more liberalized. .Two interaction terms (OP*WY,OP*RR) are used in the study, which postulate an important concept in literature.

Financial Inclusion is considered an important means to realize the goal of inclusive economic growth. Present study examines the state of financial inclusion and its significance for inclusive growth in Pakistan. Empirical analysis suggests that Pakistan lags behind other countries vis-à-vis financial inclusion. The study utilizes probit estimation technique to find out the determinants of financial inclusion in Pakistan. It also investigates the relationship between perceived barriers to financial inclusion and individual characteristics. Determinants of various sources of borrowing are also investigated. Education level, income and gender discrimination are found to be important determining factors of financial inclusion. The results suggest that lack of money and requisite formalities are significant barriers to access financial services. It emphasizes comprehensive & easy financial access to all segments of society to promote and enhance sustainable inclusive economic growth to benefit all.

Financial Inclusion is considered an important means to realize the goal of inclusive economic growth. Present study examines the state of financial inclusion and its significance for inclusive growth in Pakistan. Empirical analysis suggests that Pakistan lags behind other countries vis-à-vis financial inclusion. The study utilizes probit estimation technique to find out the determinants of financial inclusion in Pakistan. It also investigates the relationship between perceived barriers to financial inclusion and individual characteristics. Determinants of various sources of borrowing are also investigated. Education level, income and gender discrimination are found to be important determining factors of financial inclusion. The results suggest that lack of money and requisite formalities are significant barriers to access financial services. It emphasizes comprehensive & easy financial access to all segments of society to promote and enhance sustainable inclusive economic growth to benefit all.

Convergence debate has been an important topic of economic growth literature. This article aims to investigate convergence at assorted level of disaggregation among a sample of almost 60 countries. It has tested absolute and conditional convergence hypotheses for a set of developed and developing countries by applying pooled least square methodology. The results suggest absolute convergence for countries having similar characteristics and conditional convergence for countries having heterogeneous structures. Disparity level for each country is also calculated with reference to average steady state income. The study has also scrutinized the role of investment, openness and population growth in accelerating the convergence process.

Social cohesion is not only desired for societal and political constancy but a prerequisite for sustainable economic growth and development as well. There are several factors which can mark social solidity. Current study employs the Least Squares Dummy Variables (LSDV) technique to discover the effect of globalization, diversity and income inequality on social cohesion. The analysis is conducted for several developed and developing economies, using panel data from 1990 to 2010. The results demonstrate that globalization has a substantial negative impact on social cohesion. Both diversity and Inclusiveness boost social cohesion however diversity is relatively more important in developed countries. Income inequality is also found to be detrimental for social cohesion particularly in developing countries where certain segment of population is already living below subsistence level.

Mostly economists believe that due to nonexistence of agglomeration economies, there are less chances of employment spatial distribution in an economy. Following the strands of previous literature about agglomeration special impacts, this study has uplifted the curtain from some interesting realities. This study has examined the association unemployment between natural resources agglomeration in Pakistan from 1980 to 2016. For measuring natural resources agglomeration, an index has been constructed based on coal production, oil production, forest area and agricultural land as percentage of total land area. The study has utilized autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) method of co-integration. The results show that natural resources agglomeration, secondary school enrollment, foreign direct investment and inflation has negative and significant impact on unemployment in Pakistan. The results reveal that population is putting positive impact on unemployment in Pakistan. The study finds ...

Fiscal policy plays a significant role in achieving inclusive economic growth as it can reduce inequalities, mitigate poverty and generate productive employment opportunities by regulating public expenditures and taxes. Current research examines the role of fiscal policy in plummeting poverty, reducing inequality, generating productive employment and last but not the least in attaining broad based inclusive economic growth for Pakistan. Various components of government expenditure and taxes are evaluated by estimating multiple vector autoregressive (VAR) models and by computing elasticities on the basis of cumulative impulse response functions (IRFs). The analysis suggests that fiscal policy is not playing an effective role in promoting broad-based inclusive economic growth. The frail linkage between fiscal policy and inclusive economic growth is countermand to very essence and spirit of the former in a developing country like Pakistan.

Social cohesion is not only desired for societal and political constancy but a prerequisite for sustainable economic growth and development as well. There are several factors which can mark social solidity. Current study employs the Least Squares Dummy Variables (LSDV) technique to discover the effect of globalization, diversity and income inequality on social cohesion. The analysis is conducted for several developed and developing economies, using panel data from 1990 to 2010. The results demonstrate that globalization has a substantial negative impact on social cohesion. Both diversity and Inclusiveness boost social cohesion however diversity is relatively more important in developed countries. Income inequality is also found to be detrimental for social cohesion particularly in developing countries where certain segment of population is already living below subsistence level.

This study investigates the long-run relationship between youth unemployment and net immigration in Ontario, Canada where youth is defined as ages between 15-24. Two different models are estimated based on different definitions of youth. An Auto regressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) framework is used to establish the direction of causation between the variables. The study concludes a long-run relationship between youth unemployment and immigration. The estimation of the long-term coefficients shows that there exists a long-run relationship between youth unemployment and immigration, irrespective of the age cohort, showing that a 1% increase in immigration will lead to a 0.4% and 0.3% increase in youth unemployment for Model I and Model II respectively. Youth unemployment is likely to be affected by other factors as well such as government austerity measures, adult unemployment rates and overall economic situation. Therefore this study can be further extended to include various other rel...

The development process in Asia over past few decades has given rise to widespread income disparities. Present study is conducted to examine the income convergence process for a set of 40 Asian countries for the time period 1980 to 2016.The study has utilized pooled least square methodology with time dummies and cross section weights standard errors (PCSE). Empirical results support the presence of conditional convergence in Asian region which is further established by including population growth, inflation rate, unemployment rate, exports growth and openness as control variables. Disparity level (distance from average steady state) for each Asian country is also assessed by using demeaned values to understand the relative position of each country. Furthermore, the study provides estimates of average speed of convergence (how many years to reach steady state) for each country as well.

Convergence debate has been an important topic of economic growth literature. This article aims to investigate convergence at assorted level of disaggregation among a sample of almost 60 countries. It has tested absolute and conditional convergence hypotheses for a set of developed and developing countries by applying pooled least square methodology. The results suggest absolute convergence for countries having similar characteristics and conditional convergence for countries having heterogeneous structures. Disparity level for each country is also calculated with reference to average steady state income. The study has also scrutinized the role of investment, openness and population growth in accelerating the convergence process.

Financial Inclusion is considered an important means to realize the goal of inclusive economic growth. Present study examines the state of financial inclusion and its significance for inclusive growth in Pakistan. Empirical analysis suggests that Pakistan lags behind other countries vis-à-vis financial inclusion. The study utilizes probit estimation technique to find out the determinants of financial inclusion in Pakistan. It also investigates the relationship between perceived barriers to financial inclusion and individual characteristics. Determinants of various sources of borrowing are also investigated. Education level, income and gender discrimination are found to be important determining factors of financial inclusion. The results suggest that lack of money and requisite formalities are significant barriers to access financial services. It emphasizes comprehensive & easy financial access to all segments of society to promote and enhance sustainable inclusive economic growth to...

The present study examines the determinants of male labour force participation in district Lahore, Pakistan. The authors have collected data from age cohort 18-64 years by primary source. The results are tested by using logit model. The results show that age, increasing educational levels, parents' level of education, presence of assets and marital status contribute significantly to higher male participation rate in the workforce.

Cotton sector, one of the most important sectors of agriculture, plays a pivot role in the socio-economic uplift of Pakistan as its contribution to agriculture value addition is 5.5 % and to GDP is 1 %. It along with low wage cost also ensures the massive availability of raw material for textile industry which enables Pakistan to attain competitiveness in the world market. The aim of present study is ,therefore, to measure the export competitiveness in cotton sector of Pakistan by utilizing a set of Revealed competitive advantage and Revealed comparative advantage (RCA) indices such as RCA, RCA#, Symmetric Comparative index (RSCA),  Revealed Import Advantage index (RMA), Net export index (NEI)and  Revealed Trade Advantage index (RTA)  vis-a-vis world trade. The data was taken from International Trade Center (ITC) UN-COMTRADE Statistics for Pakistani cotton from 2003-17. The results of the study explored that Pakistan had a comparative and competitive advantage in cotton exports, whi...

The international capital flows and the factors influencing them are imperative in this era of globalization and financial liberalization. This paper empirically examines the role of institutional quality in enticing foreign capital flows in emerging market economies (EMEs). A panel data set for the period 1995-2018 is used for the 24 major EMEs including Argentina, Bangladesh, Brazil, Chile, China, Czech Republic, Greece, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Mexico, Pakistan, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Qatar, Romania, Russia, South Africa, Thailand, Turkey, Ukraine, and Venezuela.  The system GMM estimation technique of dynamic panel data handling developed by Arellano-Bover (1995) and Blundell-Bond (1998) is employed for the estimation. The empirical results reveal that the FDI inflows are positively and significantly affected by the institutional quality, but the portfolio equity capital inflows are not influenced by any indicator of institutional performance. In other words, the...

The present study has measured the cereal export competitiveness of Pakistan in global economy by utilizing different indices of Revealed comparative advantage (RCA): Balassa index (RCA), Vollrath index (RCA#), Revealed symmetric comparative advantage index (RSCA), Revealed import advantage index (RMA), Revealed trade advantage index (RTA) and Net export index (NEI). The data have been obtained from the International Trade Center UN-COMTRADE Statistics for cereal exports of Pakistan from 2003-2018. The findings of the analysis illustrate that Pakistan had a comparative and competitive advantage in the cereal sector. Further, the findings of the RTA index show that Pakistan’s cereal exports had also a net comparative advantage. Based on current findings, Pakistan needs to concentrate on production and exports of cereals. The brand name marketing of Pakistani rice with a special focus on better quality and improved market access can enhance the country’s share of the cereal sector in ...

This study aims at measuring the comparative advantage and competitiveness of the ASEAN-5 (Malaysia, Indonesia, Philippines, Singapore and Thailand) economies in the world market. The current study employed four indices of Revealed Comparative Advantage namely Revealed Comparative Advantage index (RCA), LnRCA, Vollrath index (RCA#) and Revealed Symmetric Comparative Advantage index (RSCA). The data for the analysis has been taken from International trade center UN-COMTRADE statistics for the exports of electrical machinery for these selected economies from 2003-2020. The findings of the analysis portray that Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore and Thailand had a comparative and competitive advantage, while Indonesia had a comparative and competitive disadvantage in the electrical machinery in the global economy. This study will be helpful for the policy makers to boost human capital formation and to increase technology transfer and innovation to enhance the competitiveness and comparat...