Testing for Environmental Kuznets Curve and Pollution Haven Hypothesis: A Continental Analysis

Environmental pollution and sustainable development have become major concerns for policy makers as both may not be achieved simultaneously. On one hand, economic growth and foreign direct investments (FDI) are necessary for the countries to prosper. On the other hand, economic growth and FDI are related with environmental pollution which affects atmosphere at global level and poses threat to all those who share common environment. To address this concern, this study tests the validly of environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) and pollution haven hypothesis (PHH) for CO2 emission. The study uses cross-sectional as well as panel data for a sample of 42 countries from three continents (Asia, Africa and Europe) and covers the period from 1990 to 2014. The study applies ordinary least square, pooled OLS, fixed effect model, random effect and twostage least square techniques to estimate the models. The study finds that energy use and globalization positively impact pollution when estimated for full sample. Moreover, the study suggests that EKC holds for full sample, Asia, and Europe while results do not confirm EKC for Africa continent. Besides, the study finds that PHH does not sustain in any of the three continents. The study suggests that use of cleaner energy should be promoted to mitigate CO2 emission. Therefore, the policy makers should design alternative policies for Africa to reduce global environmental degradation

Earning Inequalities in Pakistan: Is Education the Main Driver?

The present study is an attempt to explore the role of education in earning inequalities. The analysis is based on two surveys of HIES for 2010-11 and 2015-16. Overall, the earning inequalities in Pakistan and its rural-urban segments are decomposed with respect to the education of the earner. For this purpose, the earners are classified into eight education groups. The results show that significant number of earners are either illiterate or belong to low education groups. Moreover, the level of inequality in general reduces with the increase in education level. Therefore, expansion of higher education can be a source of reducing earning inequality and hence, promoting more fair distribution of income and consumption. However, the study finds that around 20% of earnings inequalities are explained by differences in education in Pakistan. Therefore, the main conclusion of the present study is that contrary to the expectations, education of the earners does not account for much of the inequality among earnings and further studies are needed to analyze this phenomenon

Rural-Urban Migration in South Asia: A Case Study of Pakistan

The recent estimates suggest that South Asia is the least urbanized region in the world, however, Pakistan is one of the most urbanized countries in this region. Rural-urban migration is considered the main cause of urbanization and an inherent part of economic development process. Therefore, this study examines the determinants of rural-urban migration in Pakistan and utilizes two waves of Labour Force Survey of Pakistan (2006 & 2018). The study finds that there are various determinants of migration such as age, gender, marital status and education but higher levels of education appear to be important determinants of migration. This finding suggests that migration decision is positively linked to the human capital embodied in the individual. Therefore, policy makers should focus on the provision of higher education institutions. So, people may contribute to their own development as well as to the development of the country

ICT and E-government as the Sources of Economic Growth in Information Age: Empirical Evidence from South Asian Economies

The growing importance of information and communication technologies (ICTs) and egovernment has attracted the attention of policy makers who are committed to increase the GDP per capita of a country. Therefore, this study investigates the growth effects of ICT and egovernment for a sample of eight South Asian economies over the period 1980-2016. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first empirical study, which examines the relationship between economic growth and ICT with a special emphasis on the role of ICT implementation in public sector. In particular, we use diverse indicators of ICT to assess the robustness of empirical findings. Moreover, the study employs instrumental estimation techniques 2SLS and GMM to deal with the possible problem of endogeneity. The empirical findings of our study indicate that growth effects of ICT as well as e-government are positive and significant in all models. Finally, our study concludes that the South Asia region can greatly benefit from the implementation of ICT infrastructure in general and in public sector in particula

Education levels and Life Expectancy of Males and Females: Empirical Evidence from Pakistan

This study investigates the impact of different levels of education on life expectancy of males and females in Pakistan using annual time series data from 1971 to 2017. The research on determinants of population health has proliferated in recent years. A number of indicators such as income, trade openness and climate change have been identified in the empirical literature on health determinants. Surprisingly, the importance of education has been less focused in the literature. In particular, to the best of our knowledge, the relationship of health and education in the case of Pakistan is not analyzed. The empirical analysis for the effect of education on health is based on the ARDL approach to cointegration. Moreover, Generalized Method of Moments (GMM) estimation technique is used to obtain more reliable estimates. The empirical findings show that primary and secondary education significantly and positively enhance population health. This relationship remains robust for a separate analysis of both males and females life expectancy. This study recommends that investment in primary and secondary education will not only improve the education status of Pakistan but it will also improve the health status of both males and females, thereby alleviating health burden of the population

Education levels and Life Expectancy of Males and Females: Empirical Evidence from Pakistan

This study investigates the impact of different levels of education on life expectancy of males and females in Pakistan using annual time series data from 1971 to 2017. The research on determinants of population health has proliferated in recent years. A number of indicators such as income, trade openness and climate change have been identified in the empirical literature on health determinants. Surprisingly, the importance of education has been less focused in the literature. In particular, to the best of our knowledge, the relationship of health and education in the case of Pakistan is not analyzed. The empirical analysis for the effect of education on health is based on the ARDL approach to cointegration. Moreover, Generalized Method of Moments (GMM) estimation technique is used to obtain more reliable estimates. The empirical findings show that primary and secondary education significantly and positively enhance population health. This relationship remains robust for a separate analysis of both males and females life expectancy. This study recommends that investment in primary and secondary education will not only improve the education status of Pakistan but it will also improve the health status of both males and females, thereby alleviating health burden of the population

Intertemporal substitution in import demand and the role of habit formation : an application of Euler equation approach for Pakistan

Introduction The study examines the importance of intertemporal substitution in import demand considering the role of habit formation. A two-goods version of the permanent income model is used in which time-non-separability in consumers’s preferences is assumed. The model is estimated using annual data for Pakistan at disaggregated level covering the period from 1977 to 2017. Objectives The objective of the study is to estimate elasticities of substitution along with parameters of habit formation for consumption goods at a disaggregated level. Method The study employs co-integration for the estimation of parameters of elasticities of substitution and generalized method of moments (GMM) for the estimation of the parameters of habit formation from Euler equations. Findings The estimates of intertempral elasticity of substitution suggest that the nature of commodity group (necessity/luxury) plays an important role when consumers are making intertemporal choices. Moreover, the study finds that intratemporal elasticity of substitution is larger than intertempral elasticity of substitution in almost all cases in Pakistan, suggesting that imported and domestic goods are best described as substitutes in Edgeworth-Pareto sense. In addition, the inclusion of habit formation delivers results with plausible signs and the habit formation process seems significant for certain commodity groups including tea, beverages, tobacco products and drugs. Conclusion The study concludes that there is a possibility of crowding out effect on domestic consumption and the depreciation of local currency may improve Pakistan’s balance of tradeinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Earning Inequalities in Pakistan: Is Education the Main Driver?

The present study is an attempt to explore the role of education in earning inequalities. The analysis is based on two surveys of HIES for 2010-11 and 2015-16. Overall, the earning inequalities in Pakistan and its rural-urban segments are decomposed with respect to the education of the earner. For this purpose, the earners are classified into eight education groups. The results show that significant number of earners are either illiterate or belong to low education groups. Moreover, the level of inequality in general reduces with the increase in education level. Therefore, expansion of higher education can be a source of reducing earning inequality and hence, promoting more fair distribution of income and consumption. However, the study finds that around 20% of earnings inequalities are explained by differences in education in Pakistan. Therefore, the main conclusion of the present study is that contrary to the expectations, education of the earners does not account for much of the inequality among earnings and further studies are needed to analyze this phenomenon