410 research outputs found
Milk Supply Chain and Efficiency of Smallholder Dairy Producers in Pakistan
Many developing countries are re-orienting their production and marketing systems by linking local agri-producers with organized supply chain networks and supermarkets to meet increasing consumer demands. However, the existing literature is silent on the effects of such integration on relative inefficiency of smallholder producers. This paper analyzes the effects of such supply chains using data from a natural experiment in the dairy sector of Pakistan. We study the impact of rural milk supply chain, known as milk district, on smallholder efficiency of commercial dairy producers by employing stochastic production frontier and technical inefficiency effects model using survey data of 800 dairy households. While location of dairy households in our sample is exogenously determined, building of milk supply chain indeed decreases technical inefficiency. We detect stronger power of milk district in further reducing technical inefficiency if the farms are located in remote areas, or if their size is relatively large. The advice to policy makers from these results conforms to the standard economic view that market competition leads to decreased levels of technical inefficiency of smallholder producers.supply chain, Production frontiers, Dairy efficiency, Food policy
The State of Pakistan’s Dairy Sector : An Assessment
While there is a plethora of research documenting a multitude of dimensions of the crop sector of Pakistan, there is virtual absence of meaningful economic analysis of the dairy economy that is surprising. No serious attempt has been made in the past to clarify the micro-level potential of this sector in creating an impact on rural economy. This paper is a pioneering attempt to provide an objective assessment of the state of Pakistans dairy and to point out areas of further research. The paper analyzes some core issues and highlights the potentials, and recommends measures that could be adopted.dairy, rural economy, research areas
The State of Pakistan’s Dairy Sector: An Assessment
While there is a plethora of research documenting a multitude of dimensions of the crop sector of Pakistan, the virtual absence of meaningful economic analysis of the dairy economy is surprising. No serious attempt has been made in the past to clarify the microlevel potential of this sector to impact rural economy. This paper is a pioneering attempt to provide an objective assessment of the state of Pakistan’s dairy and to point out areas of further research. The paper analyses some core issues, highlights the potential of this sector, and recommends the measures to be adopted towards such a goal.Dairy Industry, Pakistan
Prospects of Wheat and Sugar Trade between India and Pakistan : A Simple Welfare Analysis
This paper asks how opening up of wheat and sugar trade between two nuclear neighbours, India and Pakistan, would affect welfare in the two countries. We conduct a partial equilibrium analysis to simulate welfare implications of trade between the two countries under three alternative trade regimes : a) under an FTA between India and Pakistan, b) under SAFTA, and c) under a grant of mostfavoured nation (MFN) to India by Pakistan. We conduct simple welfare analysis for wheat, on the basis of real world data of FY2005, and for sugar, based on data for FY 2000-01. In both these years, India had a net surplus and Pakistan had a net deficit for both wheat and sugar. We show that among other things, favourable weather conditions play a critical role in generating these surpluses, which are most likely to get reversed in years when weather conditions become more favourable to Pakistan. While we find there would be net gains to both countries, in case trade happens, the highest welfare gains accrue to both countries under free trade agreement. Further analysis reveals that if subsidies to Indian wheat farmers are removed, their competitive edge disappears in favour of wheat farmers in Pakistan.wheat, sugar, trade, weather conditions, Pakistan, India, subsidies
Formal Participation in a Milk Supply Chain and Technical Inefficiency of Smallholder Dairy Farms in Pakistan
This paper provides empirical evidence on the impact on
technical inefficiency of smallholder dairy producers when they formally
participate in a milk supply chain. Here the stochastic production
frontier and technical inefficiency effects model are estimated based on
the data gathered from 800 smallholder dairy farms in Pakistan. The
results suggest that the technical inefficiency of the participating
farms is significantly reduced. A strong impact of the supply chain is
also detected in reducing technical inefficiency of farms that are
located in remote areas and on those that have larger herd-size.
Experienced farmers upto the age of 36 years have the advantage of
reducing technical inefficiency. The remaining differences in relative
inefficiency of dairy farms are accounted for by severe long-term
depressive disorders. JEL classification: D24, Q12, Q13, Q18 Keywords:
Agri-food Supply Chain, Production Frontiers, Dairy Efficiency, Food
Policy, Pakista
Industrial Sector Input Demand Responsiveness and Policy Interventions
In Pakistan, government intervention in the input market of the industrial sector is considerable. It regulates prices of virtually all energy and certain other non-labour inputs. To stimulate industrial production and output growth, it also encourages the provision of extended credit facilities to the industrial producers. Further, it has also often announced adjustments/reductions in duties and tariffs on products used in industrial production. Conversely, government also imposes taxes on outputs. It may desire to levy new taxes on the industrial inputs. All interventions have profound implications for producers, consumers and the government alike. Therefore, it is important to know how they may affect the industrial input demand. Further, it is equally important to know how effective they may be for the government in the realisation of its objectives. The most pertinent approach to ascertain the industrial input demand responsiveness to government interventions is to obtain valid estimates of price elasticities. In fact, competent elasticity estimates of the producer input demand derived with a sound methodology can serve as a solid basis to predict producer responsiveness to market changes and thereby the effectiveness and desirability of government interventions. While the price elasticities of products over the years have been estimated for Pakistan, renewed interest on estimating responsiveness of producer input demand with modern estimation procedures has recently surged. Idrees (1997) and Khan (1998) have determined elasticities for the domestic large-scale manufacturing sector from a demand system. Although these research studies make a good addition to the literature, their scope is extremely limited because they have combined industrial inputs into large aggregates. At present, there is no study that has investigated the input demand elasticities of the domestic industrial sector at the dis-aggregated level.
The State of Pakistan’s Dairy Sector: An Assessment
While there is a plethora of research documenting a multitude
of dimensions of the crop sector of Pakistan, the virtual absence of
meaningful economic analysis of the dairy economy is surprising. No
serious attempt has been made in the past to clarify the microlevel
potential of this sector to impact rural economy. This paper is a
pioneering attempt to provide an objective assessment of the state of
Pakistan’s dairy and to point out areas of further research. The paper
analyses some core issues, highlights the potential of this sector, and
recommends the measures to be adopted towards such a goal
Supervised training of practical procedures in the internal medicine residency
In order to get feedback whether the medical residents are getting adequate supervised training to perform practical procedures, a questionnaire was distributed among the residents asking their involvement in sixteen frequently performed procedures in the medical unit of the Aga Khan University Medical Centre. Though the residents were satisfied about their training in doing lumbar punctures, pleural and peritoneal aspirations, bone marrow aspiration and trephine and chest tubes placement, they showed their concern about training in putting central lines, venous cut downs, cardiac pacing and biopsies. A better schedule training programme, organized subspecialty rotation, continuous evaluation of resident\u27s skill, credentialing procedures and willingness on the part of faculty to teach and residents to learn may improve the training
Simulation of optimized bolt tightening strategies for gasketed flanged pipe joints
This paper presents results of detailed non-linear finite element analysis (FEA) of gasketed bolted flange pipe joints (GBFJ) of different sizes (1, 4, 5, 6, 8, 10, 20 inch) of 900# pressure class for achieving proper preload close to the target stress values with and without considering yielding at bolt and flange and gasket crushing recommended by ASME and industrial guidelines for optimized performance using customized optimization algorithm. In addition, two strategies TCM (torque control method) and SCM (stretch control method) are used which is a normal practice in the industry
Industrial Sector Input Demand Responsiveness and Policy Interventions
In Pakistan, government intervention in the input market of
the industrial sector is considerable. It regulates prices of virtually
all energy and certain other non-labour inputs. To stimulate industrial
production and output growth, it also encourages the provision of
extended credit facilities to the industrial producers. Further, it has
also often announced adjustments/reductions in duties and tariffs on
products used in industrial production. Conversely, government also
imposes taxes on outputs. It may desire to levy new taxes on the
industrial inputs. All interventions have profound implications for
producers, consumers and the government alike. Therefore, it is
important to know how they may affect the industrial input demand.
Further, it is equally important to know how effective they may be for
the government in the realisation of its objectives. The most pertinent
approach to ascertain the industrial input demand responsiveness to
government interventions is to obtain valid estimates of price
elasticities. In fact, competent elasticity estimates of the producer
input demand derived with a sound methodology can serve as a solid basis
to predict producer responsiveness to market changes and thereby the
effectiveness and desirability of government intervention
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