Do Public Expenditure and Macroeconomic Uncertainty Matter to Private Investment? Evidence from Pakistan

This study examines the role of macroeconomic uncertainty and public expenditure in determining private fixed investment in Pakistan. It is found that individual series are nonstationary. There is a long-run relationship between private fixed investment, public consumption expenditure, public development expenditure, and market activities. It is revealed that public development expenditure stimulates private investment, whereas public consumption expenditure is detrimental to private investment. The preferred dynamic private fixed investment function confirms that in the short run, public development expenditure enhances private investment. Moreover, macroeconomic instability and uncertainty depresses private investment in Pakistan.Private Investment, Public Expenditure, Macroeconomic Uncertainty, Co-integration, Pakistan

Awareness and the Demand of Safe Drinking Water Practices

The demand for environmental goods is often low in developing countries. The major causes are awareness regarding the contamination of water and poverty, but less attention has been paid to the former reason. We use a household survey from Hyderabad city and estimate the contribution of awareness and income on households water purification behaviour. The study finds out that measures of awareness such as different level of schooling of decision-makers and household heads and their exposure to mass media have statistically significant effects on home purification methods for drinking water, while other members of households can effect this behaviour only when they get higher levels of schooling.Demand, Awareness, Safe Drinking Water, Logit Model and Probit Model

Awareness and the Demand of Safe Drinking Water Practices

The demand for environmental goods is often low in developing countries. The major causes are awareness regarding the contamination of water and poverty, but less attention has been paid to the former reason. We use a household survey from Hyderabad city and estimate the contribution of awareness and income on households’ water purification behaviour. The study finds out that measures of awareness such as different level of schooling of decision-makers and household heads and their exposure to mass media have statistically significant effects on home purification methods for drinking water, while other members of households can effect this behaviour only when they get higher levels of schooling.Demand, Awareness, Safe Drinking Water, Logit Model, Probit Model

Far field imaging of a dielectric inclusion

A non-iterative topological sensitivity framework for guaranteed far field detection of a dielectric inclusion is presented. The cases of single and multiple measurements of the electric far field scattering amplitude at a fixed frequency are taken into account. The performance of the algorithm is analyzed theoretically in terms of resolution, stability, and signal-to-noise ratio.Comment: 6 pages, 5th International Workshop on New Computational Methods for Inverse Problems, ENS Cachan, Franc

Foreign assistance and economic growth: evidence from Pakistan 1972 - 2010

This paper examines the relationship between foreign assistance and economic growth for the period 1972 to 2010. Past literature indicates that due to low domestic resource mobilization Pakistan had to resort to various forms of foreign assistance on a regular basis. Using time series data since 1972 and employing Johansen maximum likelihood procedure we show that foreign assistance in the absence of macroeconomic stabilization and structural reforms has a negative relationship with real per capita GDP. However national savings as percentage of GDP show a positive relationship with real per capita GDP. Pakistan has a long history of dependence on multilateral and bilateral development partners. Over the decades the share of grants as percentage of total foreign assistance has declined forcing the country to procure loans at harsh conditionalties. Given the positive impact of national savings on economic growth there is an urgent need for improving the tax base, promoting instruments that encourage savings culture in the private sector and attracting remittances from abroad. These increased savings would then have to be channelized towards productive investments which in turn require pro market reforms.Foreign assistance, Economic Growth, National Savings

Estimating Total Factor Productivity and Its Components: Evidence from Major Manufacturing Industries of Pakistan

This paper estimates the trend in total factor productivity growth for eleven major manufacturing sub-sectors/industries listed on Karachi Stock Exchange. 1998 to 2007 Malmquist total factor productivity growth indices have been calculated using nonparametric Data Envelopment Analysis which also shows TFP growth sources including efficiency change and technical change. The results of this study are showing a mixed trend for all manufacturing sub-sectors/industries in terms of TFP, technical efficiency change and technological change. Cement and Oil and Gas marketing sectors depict a relatively stable position. Most of the manufacturing industries have gained, in terms of technical efficiency but the technical change is putting a negative affect on the productivity growth except for a few industries.Data Envelopment Analysis, Manufacturing Sector, Malmquist Productivity Index, Total Factor Productivity, Technical Efficiency Change, Technical or Technological Change, Pakistan

Effect of river indus sand on concrete tensile strength

In the development of Pakistan construction industry, the utilization of River Indus sand in concrete as fine aggregate has expanded tremendously. The aim of this research is to study the effect of Indus River sand on the tensile strength of various grades of concrete when it is utilized as fine aggregate. Concrete Samples of M15, M20 and M25 grade concrete were cured for 7, 14, 21 and 28 days. Based on the results, it is found that concrete became less workable when Indus river sand was utilized. It is recorded that tensile strength of concrete is decreased from 5% up to 20% in comparison with hill sand. The results were derived from various concrete grades

Agricultural Terms of Trade in Pakistan: Issues of Profitability and Standard of Living of the Farmers

Liberalisation policies have a major impact on the profitability, employment, and incomes in agriculture sector, as well as on living standards and the poverty levels in the rural areas. In the wake of the IMF structural adjustment programmes and the new emerging trade scenario, the Government of Pakistan, in addition to eliminating input subsidies, is also reluctant to increase support prices for various crops. This has initiated a debate. One view is that the Government must support agricultural prices and farmers must be protected from the decline in market prices of agricultural commodities. The contrasting view is that the subsidies have made the agriculture sector highly dependent on government support, and in order to survive in the WTO trade regime the sector must become highly competitive, efficient, and self-dependent. This paper computes relative price changes in the crop sector to explore whether profitability in this sector has improved or deteriorated. Another goal is to gauge the impact of price changes on the standard of living of the farmers. For this purpose, various terms of trade are calculated. The terms of trade for the crop sector are defined as the ratio of the index of prices received by the crop sector and the index of prices paid by the sector. The paper also probes how movements in international crop prices affect the profitability in the sector and the standard of living of the farmers. The empirical findings, based on the data from 1983-84 to 2002-03, show that the purchasing power and profitability of the farmers in the crop sector have not improved over the last twenty years.Agricultural Trade, Standard of Living, Pakistan

Effectiveness of HRD for developing SMEs in South Asia

Today South Asia is host to a large youth bulge which is entering the labor market every year posing challenging questions for the national governments in the context of employable skills, space for entrepreneurship, innovation and economic freedom. SME sector provides an opportunity for the young to exercise their ideas and ideals. However a prerequisite for the young to be innovate is the how countries produce and retain a high end human capital. This study provides a review of national socio-economic policies in South Asian region - which answer such challenges.human resource development, small and medium enterprises, economic growth, competitiveness