Efficiency Dynamics and Financial Reforms: Case Study of Pakistani Banks

Banking sector in Pakistan were facing problems of weak health and low profitability due to various factors i.e. low productivity, high intermediation cost (high cost deposits), huge expenditures on establishment, over staffing, large number of loss making branches and mismanagement of funds etc. Owing to this, banking sector in Pakistan was under great deal of pressure to maintain their profitability. To overcome these issues, Pakistan undertook financial sector reforms in early 1990s with financial support of World Bank and Japanese government under the banking sector adjustment loan (BSAL) program. The main goal of these reforms was to improve the Total Factor Productivity (TFP) of financial system through separating ownership, management and strengthening the accountability mechanism. Using the data sets of 20 domestic commercial banks of Pakistan, this study is intended to measure the banking efficiency through Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) Malmquist Index of Total Factor Productivity (TFP) from 1990 to 2005 to access the impact of reforms on banking sector. The analysis is useful not only for policy makers but it also assess the impact of reforms on domestic commercial banks of PakistanReforms, Banking, TFP analysis

Effect of Employee Engagement, Organization Culture and Reward on Employee Performance: Moderating Role of Toxic Leadership

This study explains the moderating role of toxic leadership on the relationship of employee engagement, organization culture and reward with the employee job performance. The objectives of the study were to observe the relationship among these determinant factors and the task overall performance of employees and to analyze the impact of these determinant elements on the individual overall performance and also check the moderation effect on these determinant factors. Information was gathered from the different universities of Bahawalpur, Punjab, Pakistan. The Cross-sectional survey technique is used in this research, as this study is quantitative research approach. Primary data were gathered with the help of 5-point Likert-Scale survey and 303 responses were correctly filled and returned. The closed ended survey is used to accumulate information and the SPSS software version 23 and smart PLS 3.0.0 is used to assess the empirical data. There are three independent variables; employee engagement, organization culture and the reward and incentives whereas there is only one dependent variable that is employees’ job performance and only one moderator that is toxic leadership. &nbsp

Slums, Sprawl and Contemporary Islamabad - A Doxiadis’ Mess

Islamabad is currently in the process of reviewing its Master Plan. Islamabad, planned in 1960 by C. A. Doxiadis on the principles of ‘Dynapolis’ – “the City of the Future” is a low-density administrative city, with single-family homes based on an American suburban model. There was no room for the poor, a central business district (CBD), or even a university. The city has 126 illegal private housing societies - operating without adhering to the modalities set for residential spaces. Islamabad also has 63 un/under-serviced slums housing 30% of the total city population. All this is the result of a restrictive zoning regime that encourages sprawl against high-density mixed-use development causing inefficient use of land. Urban Sprawl has disadvantages in terms of increased travel time, transport costs, pollution, destruction of arable lands. The World has moved on from restrictive master planning. Master plans are time and data-intensive. Being static and mostly non-inclusive, their stringent requirements leave little space for markets to develop. Islamabad is an over-regulated city favoring single-family houses. Successful cities have flexible zoning codes to adjust to changing physical requirements of a city. Islamabad is not an affordable city for low-income groups. Real estate prices increase where height restrictions are excessive. Rezoning helps the increase of supply land to keep prices in check. Policy needs to recognise cities as engines of growth. The zoning paradigm needs to favor density, high-rise mixed-use development, walkability, public and community spaces. Government ownership of city-center land needs to be reduced to allow cities adequate ownership of their land and resources. Commerce is to be given priority in city centers. City management should be professional and accountable. Cities must be able to hire out of their budgets. Decision-making must be an open consultative process

Efficiency Dynamics and Financial Reforms: Case Study of Pakistani Banks

Banking sector in Pakistan were facing problems of weak health and low profitability due to various factors i.e. low productivity, high intermediation cost (high cost deposits), huge expenditures on establishment, over staffing, large number of loss making branches and mismanagement of funds etc. Owing to this, banking sector in Pakistan was under great deal of pressure to maintain their profitability. To overcome these issues, Pakistan undertook financial sector reforms in early 1990s with financial support of World Bank and Japanese government under the banking sector adjustment loan (BSAL) program. The main goal of these reforms was to improve the Total Factor Productivity (TFP) of financial system through separating ownership, management and strengthening the accountability mechanism. Using the data sets of 20 domestic commercial banks of Pakistan, this study is intended to measure the banking efficiency through Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) Malmquist Index of Total Factor Productivity (TFP) from 1990 to 2005 to access the impact of reforms on banking sector. The analysis is useful not only for policy makers but it also assess the impact of reforms on domestic commercial banks of Pakista

Slums, Sprawl and Contemporary Islamabad - A Doxiadis’ Mess

Islamabad is currently in the process of reviewing its Master Plan. Islamabad, planned in 1960 by C. A. Doxiadis on the principles of ‘Dynapolis’ – “the City of the Future” is a low-density administrative city, with single-family homes based on an American suburban model. There was no room for the poor, a central business district (CBD), or even a university. The city has 126 illegal private housing societies - operating without adhering to the modalities set for residential spaces. Islamabad also has 63 un/under-serviced slums housing 30% of the total city population. All this is the result of a restrictive zoning regime that encourages sprawl against high-density mixed-use development causing inefficient use of land. Urban Sprawl has disadvantages in terms of increased travel time, transport costs, pollution, destruction of arable lands. The World has moved on from restrictive master planning. Master plans are time and data-intensive. Being static and mostly non-inclusive, their stringent requirements leave little space for markets to develop. Islamabad is an over-regulated city favoring single-family houses. Successful cities have flexible zoning codes to adjust to changing physical requirements of a city. Islamabad is not an affordable city for low-income groups. Real estate prices increase where height restrictions are excessive. Rezoning helps the increase of supply land to keep prices in check. Policy needs to recognise cities as engines of growth. The zoning paradigm needs to favor density, high-rise mixed-use development, walkability, public and community spaces. Government ownership of city-center land needs to be reduced to allow cities adequate ownership of their land and resources. Commerce is to be given priority in city centers. City management should be professional and accountable. Cities must be able to hire out of their budgets. Decision-making must be an open consultative process