Return Migration and Occupational Change: The Case of Pakistani Migrants Returned from the Middle East

This paper examines the factors affecting occupational composition of Pakistani workers upon their return from Middle East employment by using the 1986 ILO/ARTEP Survey of Return Migrant Households. In view of the concentration of workers in lowstatus occupations prior to migration, there was a great incentive for them to change these occupations after return. The study shows that the economic resources gained from overseas employment gave migrants the strength to seek independent employment, and there was a clear move out of the production-service occupations into business and agriculture occupations. This movement was strongly related to migrants’ length of stay in the Middle East. Since the occupational structure of the general population remained almost unchanged in the 1970s and 1980s, the employment trends exhibited by return migrants could largely be attributed to overseas migration. However, the study shows that businesses and farms established by migrant workers were small-scale.

Demographic Transition and Youth Employment in Pakistan

There is convincing evidence that Pakistan has entered the demographic bonus phase; child dependency is declining and youth share in the total population is rising. This paper has examined youth employment in the context of demographic transition evidenced since the early 1990s. Changes in the level of educational attainment have also been analysed. The study has used the data from Pakistan Demographic Surveys and Labour Force Surveys carried out between 1990 and 2005. Findings of the study show that the benefits of demographic transition in terms of rising share of youth in the total population has partially been translated through development of their human capital and productive absorption in the local labour market. While the pace of human capital formation seems to be satisfactory in urban Pakistan, it is dismal in rural areas, particularly for females. High levels of both female inactivity across the education categories and unemployment for males as well as females urge a strong youth employment policy in Pakistan to reap the benefits of the ongoing demographic transition. Youth are a source of development, and a high priority may be placed on preparing them with the skills needed for their adjustment in the labour market.Demographic Transition, Youth, Employment, Pakistan

Acceptance sampling plan for multiple manufacturing lines using EWMA process capability index

The problem of developing a product acceptance determination procedure for multiple characteristics has attracted the quality assurance practitioners. Due to sufficient demands of consumers, it may not be possible to deliver the quantity ordered on time using the process based on one manufacturing line. So, in factories, product is manufactured using multiple manufacturing lines and combine it. In this manuscript, we present the designing of an acceptance sampling plan for products from multiple independent manufacturing lines using exponentially weighted moving average (EWMA) statistic of the process capability index. The plan parameters such as the sample size and the acceptance number will be determined by satisfying both the producer's and the consumer's risks. The efficiency of the proposed plan will be discussed over the existing sampling plan. The tables are given for industrial use and explained with the help of industrial examples. We conclude that the use of the proposed plan in these industries minimizes the cost and time of inspection. Smaller the sample size means low inspection cost. The proposed plan for some non-normal distributions can be extended as a future research. The determination of sampling plan using cost model is also interested area for the future research. ? 2017 The Japan Society of Mechanical Engineers.11Ysciescopu

Static Cylindrically Symmetric Interior Solutions in f(R) Gravity

We investigate some exact static cylindrically symmetric solutions for a perfect fluid in the metric $f(R)$ theory of gravity. For this purpose, three different families of solutions are explored. We evaluate energy density, pressure, Ricci scalar and functional form of $f(R)$. It is interesting to mention here that two new exact solutions are found from the last approach, one is in particular form and the other is in the general form. The general form gives a complete description of a cylindrical star in $f(R)$ gravity.Comment: 10 pages, no figur

Suggestion systems: a usability-based evaluation model

Usability has been used to design and assess products and websites. This paper takes the concept of usability one step further and proposes a framework to assess suggestion systems. Thus taking the concept of usability one step further and applying it in the area of ideas management through suggestion system. The fundamental premise of the article is that a suggestion system designed, with usability in mind, will improve innovation among employees, and hence increase participation. This framework was then used to assess four suggestion systems in an oil and gas company in the middle-east. These systems were further assessed for employee perception of their usability and participation. After collecting data on these three different aspects conclusions are drawn. Out of the four systems analyzed, the most usable suggestion system had the highest participation rate and the least usable system attracted the fewest suggestions

Child Health and Poverty in Pakistan

This study examines the health status of Pakistani children using two important indicators, morbidity and malnutrition measured by weight-for-age and height-for-age. The demand for medical services has also been determined. The main data source used in this study is the 2000-01 Pakistan Social-Economic Survey (PSES), which provides sufficient information on child health and poverty. Findings of the study show that both exclusive breastfeeding during the first 4-5 months of life and immunisation can help control the occurrence of illness significantly among the young children (0-5 months). These also reinforce the role of mother’s education in the production of child health (nutritional status). This role of mother’s education is found to be more pronounced in the poor families than in the non-poor families. The rise in poverty since the mid-1990s has adversely influenced the nutritional status of children. The basic issue is about how to reduce the household food insecurity. The benefits of recent high GDP growth may be transferred to the poor through employment generation, which has been slow in the past decade. Real incomes of the poor and the vulnerable segments of the population may also be protected against the rise in prices of essential food items. At present, the health and nutrition sector is getting only 0.7 percent of the GDP. Health care facilities in the country are curative in nature, and are heavily skewed in favour of the diagnostic and treatment side, not preventive healthcare aspects. More resources should be made available for preventive healthcare aspects. Coverage of child immunisation should be enhanced, and the provision of safe drinkingwater may be given high priority in the social sector policies.Medical, Child Health

Labour Market Dynamics in Pakistan: Evidence from the Longitudinal Data

The bulk of research on labour market conditions in Pakistan has concentrated on the economic activity rate, the number of employed persons, or the unemployment rate at a particular point in time. These stock measures of labour market situation are useful from a policy viewpoint as they give a broad indication of the dimension of the problem. For example, the recent labour force surveys show an increase in the level of open unemployment from 5.9 percent in 1997-98 to 7.8 percent in 1999-2000 [Pakistan (2001)]. There is also an emerging consensus that during the 1990s poverty has increased at the national as well as for rural and urban areas of the country [Qureshi and Arif (2001)]. Labour market is considered as the main route for establishing the link between macro policies, the resulting GDP growth and poverty alleviation [Rahman (2002)]. Interim Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (IPRSP) and other development plans have suggested various targets of employment creation for poverty reduction. The stock measures of labour market conditions, such as unemployment rate, are considered to be inadequate from the viewpoint of developing appropriate policy responses. There is a need to gain further insights by examining the structure of labour market in terms of its dynamic components: these being the turnover of persons into and out of the labour force and turnover into and out of employment and unemployment pools