Essays on international trade and policy

Doctor of PhilosophyDepartment of EconomicsYang M. ChangLeaders around the world have introduced various trade policies including subsidies, tariffs, anti-dumping duties or price undertakings throughout the trade history. These trade policies have benefitted states in different ways. For example, some countries achieved economic development by supporting their firms through various subsidies and helping them to enhance their product qualities and become competitive in the international market. Whereas, in other cases leaders engage in imposing tariffs - a policy helps leaders to protect their producers and generate revenue. Such trade policies are not only limited to the benefits; however, they may incur costs too. As such, the imposition of trade policies affects the social welfare of all parties engaged in trade. Recently, we have seen that US-China engaged in a trade war where the United States has imposed tariff duties against China, and China responded with its tariffs on US products. This trade war has affected the social welfare one way or another. Such trade practices in the past have led scholars to address questions related to trade policies. Despite the work on trade policies, there is still a wide variety of questions yet to be answered regarding trade policies. This dissertation address three important questions related to international trade policies and their impact on social welfare. The first chapter is motivated by the observation of the quality difference between imported and local products in Pakistan. This chapter addresses the question of whether import-competing markets where foreign products are of high quality, are domestic firms doomed to produce low-quality products? What are policy options available to an importing country government that has the multiple objectives of maximizing consumer surplus, domestic profit and welfare, besides generating product quality reversal? Using a duopoly framework of vertical product differentiation, we analyze and compare three policy options: an import tariff, free trade, and a quality-upgrading R&D subsidy. We identify the conditions under which the quality-based R&D subsidy policy is a win-win-win strategy in that consumer surplus, domestic profit, and social welfare are all at their maximum levels, in addition to product quality reversal. The second chapter is motivated by the contemporary US-China trade war and its welfare implications. This paper analyzes differences in welfare implications between import tariffs and antidumping (AD) duties within a unified model of trade in quality-differentiated products under international duopoly. Specifically, the model allows for product quality choices by two competing firms located separately in a developed country (DC) and a less-developed country (LDC), where there is a different degree of international market competition. We show that dumping arises as an LDC firm sells a low-quality product that is “dumped” into the DC market. Compared to import tariffs, imposing AD duties (based on the dumping margin) by the DC government makes its firm better off. Whether DC consumers are better off and whether there is welfare improvement for DC are shown to depend on the degree of market competition. We further identify conditions under which a tariff policy is preferred over an AD policy (or the other way around) from the world perspective of welfare. The third paper investigates which types of firms (DC or LDC) tend to practice dumping, using a two-market equilibrium model of trade in “like” products with quality differentiation. Specifically, within the framework of duopolistic competition between a DC firm and an LDC firm, we show that the DC firm sells a high-quality product without practicing dumping. In contrast, the LDC firm sells a low-quality product that is dumped into the DC market at a price less than the price of the product in its LDC market. The imposition of antidumping duties by the DC government increases domestic welfare. It is welfare increasing to LDC when its exporting firm accepts a price-undertaking, rather than practicing dumping. From the perspective of world welfare, defined by aggregating the welfare of DC and LDC as trading partners, the trade damage measure of an antidumping policy is Pareto superior to free trade (under which dumping takes place) and price-undertakings

Impact of Working Capital Management on Financial Charges: Empirical Evidence of Manufacturing Industry of Pakistan

Conventionally, the researchers in finance realm have principally focused on the long-term financial decisions making, particularly capital structure, dividends, investments, and company valuation decisions. However, short-term assets and liabilities are important components of total assets and needs to be carefully analyzed. Working capital management plays a significant role in better performance of firms worldwide. This paper analyzes the impact of Financial Charges onto working capital management in the firms of Pakistan for the period 2006 to 2011. For this purpose, panel data of 8 Pharmaceutical manufacturing firms is used which are listed on Karachi Stock Exchange. The results indicate that the average collection period, inventory holding period, average payable period, cash conversion cycle, net trade cycle are not single-handedly significantly affecting the working capital of the firms but after taking the lag collective effect of all working capital resulted in significant. The useful policies must be devised for the individual components of working capital but the results lead us that an aggregative effect is expected in working capital management from the perspective of financial charges impact. Furthermore, for handsome reduction in the financial charges efficient management of all working capital components are vital & future study of the same dimension shall bring more insight reviews & make it more reliable. Keywords: Working Capital Management, Financial Charges, Manufacturing Industr

Titanium Cage Fixation in Thoracic and Thoraco-lumbar Anterior Inter-body Fusion

nner by inter body fusion. Study Design:  Prospective Study. Material and Method:  The study was conducted at the department of neurosurgery Lahore general hospital Lahore. Results:  Thirty cases were included during period two years. All cases operated for decompression, fusion and instrumentation, cages of titanium mesh were used. Neurological status of the patients assessed before and after operation. Twenty eight (93.3%) cases improved neurologically. Two (6.7%) did not improved. There were three infected cases which were treated and improved in the long run. Conclusion:  By using anterior interbody fusion (AIF) with cage we can mobilize the patient early. Improvement of the neurological status is excellent. Per operative infection rate is very low. Deformity can be corrected with more accuracy. Key Words:  Anterior cervical corpectomy, anterior dorsal inter body fusion, anterior, posterior and lateral, computed tommography, magnetic resonance imaging

Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopic and Histopathological Findings in the Supratentorial Brain Space Occupying Lesions

Objective:  Diagnosis of supratentorial space occupying lesion is a frequent dilemma in neurosurgical practice. MR spectroscopy that is an advanced MR imaging sequence can prove to be decisive in such cases. The objective of the study is to determine diagnostic accuracy of MRS in differentiating supra-tentorial brain space occupying lesions taking histopathology as gold standard Material and Methods:  The cross sectional study was conducted at Department of Neurosurgery, Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre, Karachi from August 2018 to July 2019. A calculated sample size of 156 patients aged between 18-50 years after informed consent. All patients underwent MR Spectroscopy pre-operatively. Surgery was performed and histopathological findings were compared with spectroscopic findings. Results:  The average age of the patients was 32.41 ± 10.02 years. There were 84 (53.84%) males and 72 (46.15%) females. The sensitivity of MRS was 90.69% with a specificity of 97.34%. Conclusion:  MR Spectroscopy is an accurate diagnostic tool for establishing pre-operative differentiation between neoplastic and inflammatory lesion. It should be performed in all cases where contrast MRI is inconclusive in establishing the diagnosis. Keywords:  , Brain Abscess, Supratentorial lesion, Brain Tumo

Outcome of cranial firearm injuries in civilian population based on a novel classification system

Background: Cranial firearm injuries (CFAIs) are expected to be frequent during warfare; however, it is becoming increasingly common among civilian population in our part of the world. These injuries are associated with significant morbidity and mortality in addition to financial loss. The objective of our study is to evaluate the pattern of gunshot injuries to cranium and their outcome.Methods: The study was conducted on 114 patients presenting with CFAIs to Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre, Karachi, Pakistan, between June 2015 and January 2019. Patients were evaluated with respect to age, gender, pattern of injury, Glasgow coma scale on arrival, radiological and clinical assessment, surgical intervention, and Glasgow outcome score measured at 6 months follow-up.Results: Among patients with cranial gunshot, injuries most were males (76.3%). More than 50% patients aged between 18 and 35 years. About 46.5% of patients presented with moderate traumatic brain injury commonly involving the temporal lobe (36.8%). Of total 114 patients, 84.2% were managed conservatively but wound debridement was done in all patients. At 6 months, the overall mortality in our patients was 33.3%. Patients with good outcome (GOS 4 and 5) were 30.7% and 35.9% patients had bad outcome (GOS 2 and 3). Complication rate was 14.9% and the most common complication was disseminated intravascular coagulation in 5.2%.Conclusion: Surgical intervention has no significant benefit over conservative management on long-term mortality and should be limited to patients with large intracranial hematomas and intraventricular hematomas causing hydrocephalus

Glycerol Conversion to Diglycerol via Etherification under Microwave Irradiation

According to Grand View Research in polyglycerol market size, demand for diglycerol is expected to grow by 50% from 2012 to 2022 due to its extensive use in various industries, thus validating the importance and value addition of producing diglycerol. Due to the volatility of refined glycerine market price and increasing demand of diglycerol, research has been conducted to upgrade glycerol via various processes. Etherification is a single-step process of catalytic conversion of glycerol into polyglycerols, involving the condensation of two glycerol molecules to form the simplest oligomer which is diglycerol with linear, branched, or cyclic isomers. Thus, this chapter will discuss on the methods of synthesizing diglycerol followed by the type of catalyst to be used. These include homogenous and heterogenous catalyst with their subdivision of acid and base type, respectively. Besides, this chapter does include on the method for the etherification process where it highlighted the advantage of advance technology microwave irradiation over conventional heating

Examining the Impact of Social Capital Scales on Brand Commitment In An Online Brand Community

The Purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between interaction, trust, reciprocity, identification, language, vision, bonding and bridging on brand commitment in an online brand community. The sample size of our research is 250; the data was collected from the teachers and Students of the business university. In this research, data is analyzed using (PLS-SEM) model. The findings of our study will benefit retailers and marketers of Nestle, in the context of community engagement and brand knowledge by offering information on how they may enhance social connection. Our findings reveal that shared vision has a positive impact on brand commitment. Hence, company’s top management should share the vision with customers and colleagues so that they become more involved and committed to their growth as a brand. The results identified that there is a significant and direct effect of trust, shared value, shared language, shared vision, reciprocity and bridging on Brand commitment. Whereas, there is an insignificant and direct effect of bonding and identification on brand commitment in an online brand community. Furthermore, we found out that factors like trust, shared value, language and vision, bridging acts as a strong determinant of brand commitment and our findings add value to the area of literature where researchers seek to investigate the role of these variables in online brand communities