The small and medium enterprises Act as catalyst for economic growth and development in Pakistan: Economic growth and development perspective

This paper explores the value of small and medium enterprises for the economic growth and development especially in Pakistan. Moreover, it assesses the usage of information technology in SMEs sector of Pakistan. According to the recent Census of Establishments conducted by the Federal Bureau of Statistics (FBS) there are about 3.2 million economic establishments in Pakistan. Out of these Small & Medium sized enterprises (SMEs) (with employment base up to 99) constitute 90% of all private enterprises employing approximately 78% of non-agriculture labor force1. SMEs contributed over 30% to GDP, 25% in export earnings besides sharing 35% in manufacturing value addition2. The paper suggests that SMEs act as a catalyst to economical growth and development where IT embedded in their operations, planning and decisions like Hong Kong, Denmark and USA. Many other societies also place great value on the small and medium enterprises and encourage their activity. In fact, wealth and a high majority of jobs are created by small & medium businesses in the world. As a result, many experienced business people, political leaders, economists, and educators believe that fostering a robust small and medium business culture will maximize individual and collective economic and social success on a local, national, and global scale. It is recommended that SMEs may be offered access to inexpensive capital, tax exemptions and management advice & experiences and IT infrastructure which further leads toward the economical growth & development. The economical growth and development in a country can brings happiness and prosperity to its nation

Stock prices’ variability around earnings announcement dates at Karachi Stock Exchange

The purpose of this study is to investigate how earnings announcement event affects stock returns at Karachi Stock Exchange (KSE). For this purpose we use the KSE-100 Index as our sample. We use the CAR Analysis to analyze the impact of earnings announcement over the stock returns around announcement dates. Our results suggest that KSE experiences abnormal stock returns around earnings announcement dates for the overall market and for different categories which indicate that efficient market hypothesis does not hold in Pakistani market and point out the presence of informational dissemination inefficiencies in the marke

Protozoidal activities of Eucalyptus cammeldulensis, Dalbergia sissoo and Acacia arabica woods and their different parts on the entozoic flagellates of Heterotermes indicola and Coptotermes heimi

Different parts of three woods of Eucalyptus cammeldulensis, Dalbergia sissoo and Acacia arabica were analyzed for their toxicity potentials against two species of termites (Heterotermis indicola and Coptotermis heimi). Termite workers were allowed to feed on 2 g complete wood powder of plant species and their parts, including; bark, sapwood and heartwood. Samples of flagellates were collected after each 24 h from the termites’ gut and they showed a significant variation in their mortality rate as per the wood species and their parts used in the experiments. After six days, mortality rates in flagellates were 100% with all wood parts of E. cammeldulensis, whereas it was 87.2, 47.61 and 100% with bark, sapwood and heartwood of D. sissoo respectively. However, in the case of A. Arabica, only bark inflicted 44.5% mortality on the flagellates in termites on the 6th day. It is revealed from the results that different woods or their specific parts have some specific toxic compounds that inflicted varying degree of toxicity on enteric flagellates of termites. Considering the toxigenic nature of different woods and their respective parts, the three woods; E. cammeldulensis, D. sissoo and A. arabica and their parts barks, sapwoods and heartwoods were analyzed for the presence of water soluble constituents such as lignin, benzene-ethanol soluble components and alpha cellulose contents. However, it is highly recommended that such protozoicidal compounds should be isolated, purified and biochemically characterized in order to apply them as commercial products for the control of pest like termites, which cause a huge damage to woody plants, and their products.Keywords: Bark, sapwood, heartwood, Eucalyptus cammeldulensis, Dalbergia sissoo, Acacia arabica, termite flagellate

Pakistani Youth in Relation to CPEC and Their Future as Entrepreneurs

The objective of the study is to reveal whether the Pakistani youth accepts CPEC as their future and have shown positivity to become an entrepreneur. Our study reveals that; the youth in Pakistan feels that it is a need of time for their country and to take this opportunity as positive indicator towards their country prosperity and economic revival in no times. The research is focused on the samples based upon the youth of Lahore specifically the university students who directly have impact over being the entrepreneurs of Pakistan We use frequency analysis for our resultants, that helps us to interpret the data at a glance initially for the subject problem identified. It also helps us to evaluate and highlight the factors involved with the composition of its involvement as variable

Prediction-based resource allocation model for real time tasks

High performance computing (HPC) platforms provides computing, storage and communication facilities to process real-time applications efficiently. Such applications produce less important results if the deadlines are missed. Most of the real-time algorithms decently schedule applications tasks offline, but they usually take longer in processing which results in deadlines miss when tasks need some data from remote storage locations. In this paper, we propose a prediction-based model which analyze task feasibility before scheduling on the HPC resources when tasks have data-intensive constraints. The main advantage of the prediction analysis modules is to save time by refraining further analysis on non-scheduled tasks. The model helps in searching suitable resources and improved resource utilization by considering task workload in advance

Combined Influence of Fly Ash and Recycled Coarse Aggregates on Strength and Economic Performance of Concrete

Recycled coarse aggregates (RCA) and fly ash (FA) are materials with least to very low global warming potential. Considering long term strength and durability, various studies have suggested to use RCA in concrete with FA. This research paper deals with the strength and economic performance of concrete made with individual and combined incorporation of FA and RCA. Nine different mixtures of concrete were prepared by varying the incorporation levels of RCA and FA. 0% RCA, 50% RCA and 100% RCA were used in concrete with three different levels of FA (0%FA, 20%FA, and 40%FA). The compressive strength of each mixture of concrete was determined at the age of 3, 28, 90 and 180 days. To evaluate economic performance cost of 1 m3 of each mixture of concrete was compared to that of the control mixture having 0% RCA and 0% FA. Results showed that RCA was detrimental to the compressive strength of concrete at all ages, whereas, FA reduced early strength but improved the strength at later ages of testing i.e. 90 and 180 days. FA plus RCA mixes also showed lower early age strength but gained higher strength than conventional concrete at the age of 180 days. RCA did not reduce the cost of concrete effectively. FA despite having a very high transportation cost, it reduced the cost of concrete efficiently. FA did not only reduce the cost of binder but also lower the demand of plasticizer by improving workability. Cost to strength ratio (CSR) analysis also indicated that FA significantly improve the combined economic and strength performance of RCA concrete mixes

Mediating role of Environmental Education for Sustainable Supply chain Performance: Empirical Evidence from Chemical Companies of Pakistan

Previous studies have been conducted in developed countries, and only a few are conducted in developing countries. Furthermore, a contribution of this is that the mediating role of environmental education is considered in the present study. This study aimed to identify the mediating role of environmental education between internal environmental management, supplier selection, and green packaging on sustainable supply chain performance in Pakistan. A total of 250 chemical companies filled out the questionnaire. The findings of this study revealed a partial mediation effect of environmental education for internal environmental management, supplier selection, and green packaging in sustainable supply chain performance in Pakistan. However, the supplier selection results are more critical compared to internal environment management and green packaging due to the higher beta value. This study proposed a pivotal variable to achieve a sustainable supply chain in developing countries such as Pakistan.JEL Classification: Q01, Q51, Q54, Q56How to Cite:Junejo, I., Qureshi, F., & Khan, M. A. (2023). Mediating role of Environmental Education for Sustainable Supply Chain Performance: Empirical Evidence from Chemical Companies of Pakistan. Etikonomi, 22(1), 131–142. https://doi.org/10.15408/etk.v22i1.27139

Review of Catalytic Transesterification Methods for Biodiesel Production

Attempts for improving the synthesis procedure of catalysts for fatty acid methyl ester production have been progressing for a considerable length of time. Biodiesel lessens net carbon dioxide emissions up to 78% with reference to conventional fuel. That is the reason for the improvement of new and operative solid catalysts necessary for inexhaustible and efficient fuel production. Homogenous base catalysts for transesterification is risky in light of the fact that its produces soap as byproduct, which makes difficult issues like product separation and not temperate for industrial application. In comparison, heterogeneous process gives higher quality FAME which can be effectively isolated and facilitate costly refining operations that are not required. A focus of this review article is to study and compare various biodiesel synthesis techniques that are being researched. The catalytic strength of numerous heterogeneous solid catalysts (acid and base), specially earth and transition metal oxides were also appraised. It was observed that catalytic proficiency relied upon a few factors, for example, specific surface area, pore size, volume and active site concentration at catalyst surface. This review article will give assistance in assortment of appropriate catalysts and the ideal conditions for biodiesel generation