Examining volatility spillover between Asian countries' stock markets

Background: This study examined the volatility spillover effects between the stock markets of Asian countries, i.e., Pakistan, India, Sri Lanka, China, Japan, and Hong Kong. Methods: The daily data was considered from the period 4 January 1999 to 1 January 2014, consisting five trading days from Monday to Friday. The volatility spillover between stock markets was captured by using the generalized autoregressive conditional heteroskedasticity (GARCH) model. Results: The empirical analyses show evidence of significant bidirectional spillover of return and volatility between China and Japan. The results also show significant bidirectional volatility transmission between the equity markets of the following countries: Hong Kong and Sri Lanka, China and Sri Lanka. The significant unidirectional transmissions of stock market volatility are found to be flowing from India to China, Sri Lanka to Japan, Pakistan to Sri Lanka, and Hong Kong to India and Japan. Conclusions: These results are important for economic policy makers in order to safeguard the financial sector from international financial shocks. The investors can use this information for making efficient portfolio which will reduce their risk and enhance their returns

Monitoring Expanse Near Lakhodair Landfill and Mehmood Booti Dump Sites of Lahore, Paksitan

Solid waste management in any large urban city like Lahore requires special disposal measures. In thisregard, Lakhodair landfill and Mehmood booti dump sites collect and handle major bulk of all the solid waste comingfrom ten towns of Lahore, with the city’s waste generation rate of being 0.84kg/capita per day. Spatial expanse of boththe sites was calculated in Arc GIS 10.3 system. The findings clearly showed that the extent of both these dump siteshad increased during 2006-2016 due to an enormous rise in solid waste generation. During 2006, the area of MehmoodBooti dump site and Lakhodair Landfill site was only 15 hectares and 17 hectares respectively. By 2016, this area hadincreased to 32 hectares and 52 hectares respectively. The mapping of these two sites can help in future researchesbased on investigating the disease patterns among people residing around these sites and by determining methaneemissions in the study area

Biomechanical understanding of blow-out fractures: A finite element study

Blow-out fractures are one of the most common fractures in maxillofacial trauma. Two mechanisms are thought to cause these fractures, the buckling mechanism and hydraulic mechanism. This study aims to compare between the two mechanisms in terms of intensity and extension using the finite elements method. Three-dimensional model was generated using computed tomography data of young male patient. Virtual loads were applied on the infra-orbital rim and the eyeball separately. Von Mises stress and equivalent elastic strain were examined in each simulation. The simulation predicted fractures on the infra-orbital rim and orbital floor when simulating the buckling mechanism, and on the orbital floor and mesial wall when simulating the hydraulic mechanism. Biomechanical studies are essential in understanding maxillofacial fractures mechanisms. Our results ascertained and confirmed what is seen clinically and explained the two mechanisms of blow-out fractures

Structural diversity, its components and regenerating capacity of lesser Himalayan forests vegetation of Nikyal valley District Kotli (A.K), Pakistan

AbstractObjectiveTo report the patterns of species diversity, and regenerating capacity in the forest of Nikyal valley in relation to environmental variables and underlying anthropogenic influence.MethodsA study area was selected in a traditionally managed mountain woody pasture during July 2012 to June 2013. The area was sampled by quadrat method. The quadrats were laid down at regular intervals of 150 m. The size of quadrats was kept 10×10, 5×5 and 1×1 m2 for trees, shrubs and herbs respectively. Density, frequency and cover were recorded. Importance value index of each plant species was calculated and plant communities were named after the plant species having the highest IV. Then diversity, its components and regenerating capacity were calculated with their formulas.ResultsShannon's diversity ranged from 2.75 to 3.31, Simpson's diversity, 0.90 to 0.95; Menhinick's diversity, 0.83 to 1.19; evenness, 0.41 to 0.65; species richness, 4.89 to 6.08 and maturity index, 30 to 44 species distribution pattern. Diversity values were similar to the other Himalayan forests. Pinus roxburghaii was the only regenerating species whereas the remaining four tree species including Qurecus dilatata regenerate up to 100 cm; they are at extreme risk of elimination due to anthropogenic factors.ConclusionsNikyal valley is under severe deforestation pressure for fuel and timber value. There is an urgent need to promote the ethics among the people that improvement and conservation of natural resources are critical for land and soil management

EFFECTS OF REMITTANCES ON PER CAPITA ECONOMIC GROWTH OF PAKISTAN

This study investigates the effects of remittances on per capita economicgrowth of Pakistan for the period 1976 to 2013. The Auto RegressiveDistributed Lag (ARDL) Bounds testing model was employed toexplore short run and long run liaison of remittances with per capitaeconomic growth. The analyses evidence statistically significantpositive long run and short run impacts of remittances on per capitaeconomic growth. Based upon the empirical results, this study suggeststhat government should formulate and adopt policies which canfurther motivate and enhance remittances inflow, and hence a morepromising economic growth

PUBLIC DEBT AND ECONOMIC GROWTH IN PAKISTAN: A REASSESSMENT

This study examined the effect of public debt on economicgrowth for Pakistan over the period 1972 to 2012. Autoregressivedistributed lag (ARDL) bounds testing procedure was applied toexplore the long and the short run liaison between public debt andeconomic growth. This study examined the effect of public debt onboth the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and the Grass NationalProduct (GNP) unlike other studies, which examined only oneindicator of economic growth. Public debt includes both externaldebt and domestic debt. Our findings reveal a significant negativeeffect of external debt on GDP and GNP in the long run and in theshort run. Further, debt servicing is inversely influencing GDP andGNP in the short run. However, domestic debt is found to have noeffect on economic growth. This study suggests that reliance on publicdebt should be minimized as this adversely effects economic growthin Pakistan

The Effect of Trade Liberalization on Expenditure Structure of Pakistan

Demand side public policy plays a risk reducing role for imperfect sectors of the developing economies through public investment during liberalization. Public sector investment, composition and structure play an important role to determine the comparative advantage for the productive sector. This study explores the effect of trade liberalization and trade tax revenue on the expenditure structure of Pakistan during 1975-2016. Autoregressive Distributed Lag approach has been used for examining the long run co-integration among the expenditure structure and trade liberalization and Vector Error-Correction model is used for short run dynamics of the concerned variables. The empirical result shows that trade tax revenue has a positive impact on the expenditure structure in the long run but not in the short run. Trade liberalization, budget deficits and defense expenditure have negative associations with expenditure structure

The Effect of Trade Liberalization on Expenditure Structure of Pakistan

Demand side public policy plays a risk reducing role for imperfect sectors of the developing economies through public investment during liberalization. Public sector investment, composition and structure play an important role to determine the comparative advantage for the productive sector. This study explores the effect of trade liberalization and trade tax revenue on the expenditure structure of Pakistan during 1975-2016. Autoregressive Distributed Lag approach has been used for examining the long run co-integration among the expenditure structure and trade liberalization and Vector Error-Correction model is used for short run dynamics of the concerned variables. The empirical result shows that trade tax revenue has a positive impact on the expenditure structure in the long run but not in the short run. Trade liberalization, budget deficits and defense expenditure have negative associations with expenditure structure

Rising Population and Food Insecurity Linkages in Pakistan: Testing Malthusian Population Growth Theory

Specific amount of food and safe drinking water are basic necessities of living human-beings. The human population of the universe is touching its highest level and counted more than seven billion, it is going towards facing a great famine as predicated by Malthus (1798) . The positive and preventive checks of Malthus (1798) can be observed empirically in different parts of the world (Swaminathan and Feng 1994). The study has tested the population theory of Malthus in case of Pakistan. For investigating the long run relationship among the variables of the model Johanson cointegration technique is applied. For examining the short run dynamic Error Correction Model (ECM) is applied. The results of the study of the study supported that the Malthusian theory about the population and income growth in the case of Pakistan. Furthermore, higher population growth rate increases the food insecurity not only in long run but also in short run in case of Pakistan