Export potential of cottage industry: a case study of Sialkot (Pakistan)

Sialkot, the export city of Pakistan is earning $900 million per annum by exports. The major exports are the sports goods, surgical instruments, leather products, martial art instruments, musical instruments and sports wear. All these products are value-added by cottage industry. How the export potential of cottage industry in Sialkot may be increased,that is the question. The current paper estimated the export potential of the cottage industry by measuring it through Cobb-Douglas production function. The data has been collected from 354 cottage industrial units selected by random sampling. The results explain that labor, capital, experience and education of entrepreneur, and working conditions enhance the export potential of the units. The labor is more used in cottage industrial units as compared to capital so the elasticity of export production with respect to labor is higher as compared to capital. The football making units and other sports goods producing units use a minor ratio of capital and largely depend upon labor for production. Although leather and surgical producing units use higher ratio of capital in production. The education and experience of the entrepreneur also lead to increased export production. The better working condition increases the export production by raising the productivity of labor. The study proposes the education and training of the individuals involved in cottage industry and provision of good working conditions by the Export Promotion Bureau, Sialkot Chamber of Commerce and Industry and vocational training institutes in their respective areas. The surprising results of the study are that credit availed by the units decrease the export production while distance to market from the unit raises the export production. The relationship between credit and export production explains the misutilization of credit while positive association between distance to market and export production explains the involvement of more number of household members in production in the units away from city as compared to the units situated near to market or city. The misutilization of loaning is needed to be checked.Cottage industry, Pakistan, Exports, Cobb-Douglas production function, Sialkot

Surgical management of blunt pancreatic trauma: A modus operandi or individualized therapy?

The overall rate of blunt pancreatic trauma observed in level one trauma centers is rather low compared to other injuries, with a reported prevalence of 0.4 per 100,000 hospital admissions. The situation may be further complicated by the presence of associated major visceral injuries in these patients. A number of previous reports indicate that blunt pancreatic trauma carries high morbidity and mortality rates, especially when diagnosis is delayed or inappropriate surgery is attempted. Many mandate prompt surgical explorations for organ-specific diagnosis on CT; however other literature and upcoming studies prove otherwise. Over the years, several technologic advances have increased the sophistication of non-operative management. In our case, a period of careful observation followed by surgical intervention did not adversely effect the outcome. The period of observation resulted in stabilization of other solid organ injuries with focus on pancreas during surgical exploration

Financial Liberalization And Demand For Money: A Case of Pakistan

Literature in economics has identified many channels through which the financial liberalization may affect demand for money. There are evidences of stability as well as instability of demand for money due to financial development for developing economies. The objective of the current study is to examine the effect of financial liberalization on demand for money in Pakistan, i.e. whether financial liberalization has affected the demand for money or not. The issue is important as stable demand for money function is a prerequisite for formulating and operating monetary policy. To achieve the objective JJ cointegration and auto regressive distributed lag (ARDL) to the cointegration is employed to estimate the long-run equilibrium relationship between broad money M2 and composite financial liberalization index along with other determinants of demand for money like gross domestic product, real deposit rate and exchange rate. In order to assess the stability of the model, the parameter constancy tests, i.e. recursive residuals, CUSUM and CUSUMSQ tests have been applied. The empirical results indicated that for broad money, there exists long-run money demand function. The financial liberalization, gross domestic product and real deposit rate positively affect the demand for money in the long as well as short-run.Demand for money, Financial liberalization, Real deposit rate, Financial reforms, Pakistan, ARDL

Impact evaluation of structural adjustment program: a case of Pakistan

We analyzed the effect of Structural Adjustment Program (SAP) on macroeconomic variables of Pakistan using annual time series data for the years 1981-2001. The impact of four policy instruments of SAP, i.e. reduction in budget deficit, increase in indirect taxes,adjusting the exchange rate and sliding down of subsidies, on employment, income distribution, per-capita income and inflation has been analyzed. It is found that the first policy instrument, i.e. decrease in budget deficit has affected employment, income distribution and inflation adversely. The second policy instrument of imposition of indirect tax negatively affected the employment, income distribution, per capita income and positively affected the inflation. The third policy instrument of SAP was adjustment of exchange rate. It is estimated that adjusting exchange rate has resulted into increased unemployment and inflation. The fourth policy instrument of shrink in subsidies augmented the unemployment, unequal distribution of income and inflation and dwindled the percapita income. It appears that SAP has adversely affected the major socioeconomic variables of the economy. Currently the government is considering for loan from IMF, so it is proposed to avoid such type of policy directives from IMF.Structural Adjustment Program, Budget deficit, Indirect taxes, Exchange rate, Subsidies, Employment, Income distribution, Per-capita income, Inflation,Pakistan

Analysis of consumption behaviour concerning current income and lags consumption: Empirical evidence from Pakistan

As in other economies, consumption expenditure is the largest component of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of Pakistan economy. The figure has been estimated around 80 percent of the GDP and demonstrates that historically, Pakistan’s economic growth is characterized as consumption-led growth. The present paper aims to explore the relationship between income and consumption using annual time series data for the period: 1975 to 2012 in Pakistan. For empirical investigation the linear regression model and the method of Least Squares is used as analytical techniques. Empirical results support the existence of a significant positive relationship between income and consumption. The finding suggests that long term committed planning is indispensable to enhance the productive capacity of the economy, employment opportunities and reduce poverty levels more effectively

Analysis of consumption behaviour concerning current income and lags consumption: Empirical evidence from Pakistan

As in other economies, consumption expenditure is the largest component of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of Pakistan economy. The figure has been estimated around 80 percent of the GDP and demonstrates that historically, Pakistan’s economic growth is characterized as consumption-led growth. The present paper aims to explore the relationship between income and consumption using annual time series data for the period: 1975 to 2012 in Pakistan. For empirical investigation the linear regression model and the method of Least Squares is used as analytical techniques. Empirical results support the existence of a significant positive relationship between income and consumption. The finding suggests that long term committed planning is indispensable to enhance the productive capacity of the economy, employment opportunities and reduce poverty levels more effectively

Taxes and Subsidies on Agricultural Producers as Elements of Intersectoral Transfer of Resources: Magnitude of the Transfer and Search for Policy Options

Public policies in many diverse fields have implications for the transfer of resources between sectors. Administered agricultural prices, taxes, subsidies, an overvalued currency and protection provided to producers are examples of some of the policies that have been used by many governments in mobilizing resources for development. From the vantage point of assessing the past performance and development prospects of the agricultural sector, it is useful to have an idea about the direction and extent of the resource transfer from this sector. The knowledge of the policy instruments used to bring about the transfer is also important. While the size of the transfer is a measure of the overall incentives being provided, the tools used for the transfer have unique implications for efficiency, equity and growth outcomes. The purpose of the paper is confined to: (i) an estimation of the magnitude of the transfer for the period 1972-73 to 1986-87; and (ii) identification, in broad terms, of the direction that the restructured public policies may take