Stabilisation Policy vs. Growth-oriented Policy: Implication for the Pakistan Economy

Pakistan has initiated a comprehensive reforms efforts aiming at tracking the economy on a higher and sustainable economic growth, reduce level of poverty, reducing unemployment, raising their level of standard of living. These objective were to be achieved through a programme that would build on the macro-economic stability which encompasses structural reforms, trade liberalisation, privatisation, fiscal reforms and financial sector. This paper makes one of the early attempt to analyse the Pakistan stabilisation experiences. In Pakistan the stabilisation programme was started in 1988-89. In this paper we mainly examine the fiscal and monetary policy package since 1988 when the Pakistan committed to a set of conditionalities under the Structural Adjustment Programme of the IMF. The fundamental question that has risen was the relative efficacy of stabilisation oriented versus growth oriented policies on development and welfare. Admittedly, stabilisation and growth are not mutually exclusive and any policy package has to incorporate both the elements. However, the manner in which the policy has been implemented in Pakistan has tended to pursue stabilisation at the expense of growth.

Cyclical and Market Determinants of Involuntary Part-Time Employment

We examine the determinants of involuntary part-time employment, focusing on variation associated with the business cycle and variation attributable to more persistent structural features of the labor market. Our theoretical framework distinguishes between workers' decision to seek part-time work and employer demand for part-time work hours, emphasizing demand and supply determinants of involuntary part-time work such as workplace technology, labor costs, and workforce demographics. We conduct regression analyses using state-level panel and individual data for the years 2003-2014. The results show that the combination of cyclical variation and the influence of market-level factors can explain virtually all of the variation in the aggregate incidence of involuntary part-time employment since the Great Recession

Stabilisation Policy vs. Growth-oriented Policy: Implication for the Pakistan Economy

Pakistan has initiated a comprehensive reforms efforts aiming at tracking the economy on a higher and sustainable economic growth, reduce level of poverty, reducing unemployment, raising their level of standard of living. These objective were to be achieved through a programme that would build on the macro-economic stability which encompasses structural reforms, trade liberalisation, privatisation, fiscal reforms and financial sector. This paper makes one of the early attempt to analyse the Pakistan stabilisation experiences. In Pakistan the stabilisation programme was started in 1988-89. In this paper we mainly examine the fiscal and monetary policy package since 1988 when the Pakistan committed to a set of conditionalities under the Structural Adjustment Programme of the IMF. The fundamental question that has risen was the relative efficacy of stabilisation oriented versus growth oriented policies on development and welfare. Admittedly, stabilisation and growth are not mutually exclusive and any policy package has to incorporate both the elements. However, the manner in which the policy has been implemented in Pakistan has tended to pursue stabilisation at the expense of growth

Bringing “Behavioral” Fully Into Behavioral Public Administration

Behavioral economics is an increasingly influential field across the social sciences, including public administration. But while some behavioral economics ideas have spread rapidly in public administration research, we argue that a broader range of behavioral economics concepts can and should be applied. We begin by outlining some central models and concepts from behavioral economics to fix ideas, including the rational model and the “behavioral” response. We then discuss how a variety of heretofore underutilized behavioral economics concepts can be applied to a specific area of work in public administration – bureaucratic decision making. Our aim in doing so is two-fold. First, we hope to provide fresh food for thought for researchers and practitioners working in the broader behavioral public administration space. Second, we hope to demonstrate that there is substantial scope for expanding behavioral economics’ influence on public administration research

Education, Marriage, and Professionalization: The Modern Qatari Woman’s Dilemma

We offer observations about the obstacles to promoting a gender-inclusive labor force based on two sets of data on female Qatari students and professionals. Data set 1 is the result of a project pertaining to the disparity between education and employment among Qatari women. We surveyed 274 young women between the ages of 17 and 25 with the aim of understanding some of the reasons why Qatari women were not entering the workforce. Data set 2 derives from 350 focus groups and interviews with female students to assess the effect their tertiary education had on their marriageability. While education has delayed the age of marriage when this generation of women is compared with that of their mothers and grandmothers, the social expectations of becoming a wife and ensuing motherhood mean that marriage can restrict a woman’s working outside the home

Global Journalist: Barack Obama’s presidential run through Kenyan lenses

On Jan. 3, 2008, Stuart Loory invites a journalistic perspective from Afghanistan and Kenya about the U.S. presidential elections. From Senator Barack Obama’s Kenyan ancestors to Afghans’ not taking any of the eight candidates seriously, the journalists debate it all

Education, marriage, and professionalization: the modern Qatari woman's dilemma

"We offer observations about the obstacles to promoting a gender-inclusive labor force based on two sets of data on female Qatari students and professionals. Data set 1 is the result of a project pertaining to the disparity between education and employment among Qatari women. We surveyed 274 young women between the ages of 17 and 25 with the aim of understanding some of the reasons why Qatari women were not entering the workforce. Data set 2 derives from 350 focus groups and interviews with female students to assess the effect their tertiary education had on their marriageability. While education has delayed the age of marriage when this generation of women is compared with that of their mothers and grandmothers, the social expectations of becoming a wife and ensuing motherhood mean that marriage can restrict a woman's working outside the home." (author's abstract)"Anhand zweier Datensätze von Interviews, die mit katarischen Studentinnen und Professorinnen durchgeführt wurden, werden die Hindernisse auf dem Weg hin zu einer geschlechterinklusiven Erwerbsbeteiligung untersucht. Der erste Datensatz ist das Ergebnis eines Projekts, das die Disparitäten zwischen Bildungsabschluss und Erwerbsbeteiligung unter katarischen Frauen untersucht. 274 junge Frauen im Alter von 17 bis 25 Jahren wurden mit dem Ziel befragt, einige der Gründe nachzuzeichnen, warum katarische Frauen nicht ins Berufsleben treten. Der zweite Datensatz bündelt die Ergebnisse von 350 Fokusgruppendiskussionen und Interviews mit Studentinnen. Hier wurde die Auswirkung von deren höherer Bildung auf deren Heiratsfähigkeit untersucht. Ihre Bildung hat - im Vergleich zu den Generationen ihrer Mütter und Großmütter - zu einer Erhöhung des Heiratsalters geführt, aber die sozialen Erwartungen an Frauen, die Rolle der Ehefrau und Mutter zu erfüllen, führen weiterhin dazu, dass eine Heirat die Arbeit einer Frau außerhalb des Hauses einschränken kann." (Autorenreferat

Prof. Dr. Ehsan Rashid Memorial Lectures: Vision and Strategy for Regional Development: The Case of Balochistan Province, Pakistan

Despite seven decades of independence of Pakistan, large parts of the country remain woefully undeveloped with poor infrastructure and limited income generating opportunities. Balochistan stands out in this respect. However, development is possible. Balochistan has a manageable population, comprising just 1.5 million families. At one job per family, Balochistan needs to provide just 1.5 million jobs. This is eminently feasible and it is possible to create an almost zero-unemployment economy in Balochistan. There are a number of theories of under-development and of growth. The theories that best fit Balochistan are ‘Big Push’ and ‘Unbalanced Growth’. The two theories postulate that the injection of a large project in any one sector creates an imbalance with respect to other sectors. However, the project performs the role of an ‘engine of growth’ and propels growth in other sectors. Balochistan is, as yet, a primary sector economy of Pakistan; more specifically, it is essentially a pastoral economy. As such, it is prudent for the province to concentrate scarce fiscal resources in selected sectors and aim to obtain maximum impact. More importantly, it is necessary to chart a vision and set a direction. A vision sets the direction, which – sequentially – enables a strategy to be formulated, a policy to be framed, plans to be drawn and, accordingly, schemes to be prepared and implemented. Today, the development process has been turned on its head. Schemes are prepared and (half) implemented without the context of a plan, a policy, a strategy, a direction, or a vision. The result is expenditure of billions of rupees in the name of development, without any meaningful development