Role of Institutional Credit on Agricultural Production: A Time Series Analysis of Pakistan

In our predominant and cash-strapped agrarian sector, adequate credit provision is a definite buttress to implant technological advancements, achieve technical efficiency and hire efficient inputs to uplift agriculture output/income collectively and eradicate poverty eventually. In the midst of beleaguered informal credit sector and recent spurt in banking services in last decade diverted the attention to envisage the formal sector’s optimum potential. In this backdrop, this study is going to explore the role of institutional credit in agricultural production using the time series data for the period of 1972 to 2008. Cobb-Douglas production function is estimated using OLS and all the variables are transformed to per cultivated hectare. Results show that agricultural credit, availability of water, cropping intensity and agricultural labor force are positively significantly related to agricultural production.Agricultural Credit, Time series analysis, Pakistan

Institutional credit and agricultural production nexus

Credit plays an important role in the development of agriculture sector. It capitalizes farmers to adopt new technologies. It helps smooth consumption by providing Working capital and reduces poverty in the process. Both formal and informal lenders are active in rural credit market of Pakistan. There is a need to highlight the relationship between institutional agricultural credit and agricultural production. Time series data for the period of 1973-2009 was used. The study utilized Johansen and Juselius (JJ) cointegration approach and Granger causality test to explore the long-run equilibrium relationship and the possible direction of causality between availability of institutional agricultural credit, labor force availability, cropping intensity, water availability and agricultural production. Result shows the long run relationship among variables. Granger causality test shows the uni-directional causality among institutional agricultural credit and agricultural production and among water availability and agricultural production. The bi-directional causality was found among availability of labor force & cropping intensity and among water availability & cropping intensity.Institutional credit, Agricultural credit, Pakistan

Why The Green Revolution Was Short Run Phenomena In The Development Process Of Pakistan: A Lesson For Future

Agriculture is the most important sector of Pakistan’s economy. It provides food and fibre, source of scarce foreign exchange earning and a market for industrial goods. In 1960s various policy measures were taken for Agriculture development. The research tries to examine various issues related to this sector. Focus of the research, however, is to analyze the role of Green Revolution in the development process of Pakistan and its short and long term impact on the economy. The paper analyzes weaknesses due to which the Green Revolution remained a shortterm phenomena. The contributing factors of Green Revolution and other supporting institutions are also discussed. The findings of this study show that the Green Revolution increased agriculture production and employment level. It also had impact on distribution of income and the social and political environment in the country. However, there were certain policy gaps due to which the impact of Green Revolution remained a short-term phenomena.

THE GROWTH OF PRIVATE HIGHER EDUCATION: AN OVERVIEW IN THE CONTEXT OF LIBERALISATION, PRIVATISATION AND MARKETISATION

Economic policies encouraging private ownership (liberalisation, privatisation and marketisation) have allowed Private Higher Education Institutions (PrHEIs) to proliferate in most parts of the world, particularly since the 1990s. The number of private colleges and universities continues to grow in most countries at a remarkable rate, partly reflecting the demand for greater choice and more flexibility, which PrHEIs are able to offer. In some countries, PrHEIs even outnumber public higher education institutions (PuHEIs) or are at least expected to do so within the next decade. This is particularly the case in emerging and developing countries. The worldwide expansion of private higher education can be illustrated by the fact that one in three students globally is now enrolled in PrHEIs, and there are very few places in the world where public monopolies continue to prevent the emergence of alternative providers from the private sector. In the UK, the Government recognises that private, for-profit higher education institutions, the majority of which award degrees in conjunction with state universities, typically function more efficiently and work harder to improve the student experience. Their appeal among non-traditional students dovetails perfectly with Government rhetoric to make higher education more accessible and widen participation. A legal framework has been created that makes it easier for challenger institutions to enter the market and compete with the public higher education sector. A more streamlined, student-focused approach to the regulation of higher education in the UK is also designed to stimulate further growth and competition in the HE sector, ensuring that private colleges and universities remain a viable alternative to the public sector.   Article visualizations

IS COVID-19 TRANSITIONING CASH COWS INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS INTO CATS?

The Covid-19 pandemic has impacted every aspect of human life. It has disrupted people’s lifestyles around the world and international students are no exception. Every industry has been affected, including higher education (HE); for the first time ever in the HE sector, learning and teaching adopted online platforms to deliver the curriculum. At the same time, there has been growing interest in the business of international students across the globe. More than five million international students are currently studying in higher education institutions (HEIs) outside their home countries. It is often assumed that HEIs consider international students a source of revenue and, therefore, seek to recruit as many as possible. The United Kingdom is the second largest and most popular global destination for international students after the United States. The primary purpose of this study is to assess the impact of COVID-19 on international student enrolment around the world in general and in the UK in particular. Our findings show that international students are cash cows, and COVID-19 had a significant impact on the recruitment of international students.   Article visualizations

Design and FPGA-in-loop based validation of predictive hierarchical control for islanded AC microgrid

This paper proposes a decentralized control approach for the flexible operation of an autonomous AC microgrid (MG). AC MG typically consists of two or more voltage source inverters (VSI), capable of simultaneously regulating the voltage at the point of common coupling (PCC) and meeting the local power demand. The classical linear control techniques attain these functions. However, they have many limitations, such as slow transient response, high sensitivity to the parameter variations, and inability to handle the system nonlinearities. This paper aims to address these issues by presenting an improved finite control set model predictive control (FCS-MPC) approach for inverter-based distributed generation (DG). The proposed scheme tracks the voltage trajectory using cost function (CF) over two-step prediction horizons. The proposed control method is employed for the AC MG having two parallel DGs. Droop control is responsible for the power-sharing between the parallel DGs regardless of impedance mismatch at the distribution level of AC MG. The decentralized secondary control is developed to eliminate the deviation in the voltage and frequency caused due to overlooking the primary control. The proposed control scheme has been validated through extensive simulations and real-time controller hardware in the loop tests using an FPGA ZYBO Z7 board. Moreover, the proposed methodology depicts the enhanced transient response, less computational burden than the classic MPC, and shows robustness to parametric uncertainties in terms of THD than hierarchical linear control. The simulations and experimental results visually represent research outcomes, exhibiting the THD of 0.98 % for different dynamic loads, which is within the limit of IEEE and IEC standards. Furthermore, the proposed controller’s mathematical stability is further supported by analysis based on the Lyapunov stability theory.© 2023 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. on behalf of Karabuk University. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).fi=vertaisarvioitu|en=peerReviewed

THE ECONOMIC IMPACT OF THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC ON ETHNIC MINORITIES – THE CASE OF LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM

This paper aims to analyse the economic impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on ethnic minorities. The focus is on ethnic minorities in London, particularly before and during the Covid-19 pandemic. We investigated the discriminatory practices towards ethnic minorities in the economic downturn caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. These are primarily related to the labour market and the sectors and occupations most affected by the pandemic. We used Government data on the UK's different ethnic groups and the London Datastore, an open data-sharing portal. We also reviewed the empirical literature in economics on discrimination in the labour market before and during the pandemic. The adverse effects of the pandemic have been much more severe in economic downturns than during more stable economic times. We found that, before and during the Covid-19 pandemic, there have been persistent differences in particular economic aspects between ethnic minorities and white men and women. Over the past decade, ethnic minorities in the UK have made progress in the median pay gap, employment gap and unemployment rates. However, ethnic minorities in London have faced more challenges than those in other parts of the UK. In addition, during the Covid-19 pandemic, unemployment rates were much higher for ethnic minorities than they were for whites. JEL: H12; H50; H83; I10 Article visualizations