Sunamganj community based resource management project (SCBRMP): an approach to sustainable beel fisheries management

Sunamganj is a land dominated by floodplains with seasonally flooded tectonic depressions known locally as haors and smaller water bodies known as beels. PeopleÆs livelihoods and culture are largely dominated by the haor economy where beel fisheries play a very critical role. Although the beel has a wide range of resources, the people at large have not been able to benefit from them. A small number of people by virtue of their power and influence have been exploiting the resources overriding all the codes of resource management and maintenance.Fishery management, Flood plains, Bangladesh,

Human Capital and Economic Growth in Pakistan

Pakistan’s economy has grown faster on average than many other low- and middleincome countries over the past two decades. But several countries in Southeast Asia have fared even better. This paper focuses on factors that explain Pakistan’s relative growth performance. In addition to more traditional factors believed to determine growth, this paper looks particularly at the role of differences in the quality of human capital. The cross-country empirical results suggest that accumulation of physical capital and improvements in the quality of institutions have the largest pay-offs in terms of achieving higher growth, but that better education and health care also have a significant impact. Investment in these areas will increase the possibility of Pakistan entering a virtuous cycle of high growth and improved living conditions for the population.

India-Pakistan Trade: A Roadmap for Enhancing Economic Relations

Periodic heightened political tensions between India and Pakistan have derailed attempts to improve economic ties and trade relations between the two countries. India-Pakistan trade is unnaturally small, currently about $2 billion per year. Pakistan accounts for less than 1 percent of India's trade, and India accounts for less than 5 percent of Pakistan's trade. Constraints include high tariff and nontarrif barriers, inadequate infrastructure, bureaucratic inertia, excessive red tape, and direct political opposition. Khan recommends that President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who had their first post-Mumbai attacks meeting on June 16, and are slated to meet again in Egypt in July, should pick up from where former President Pervez Musharraf and Prime Minister Singh left off in their meeting in New Delhi in April 2005. The two governments could start with implementing short-term measures mainly to facilitate trade--such as easing restrictions on visas, opening additional border crossings and road routes, and increasing air links--many of which have already been agreed in principle at the April 2005 Musharraf-Singh meeting. The success of these "confidence building" short-term measures and the resulting growth in trade would encourage the creation of constituencies that would support more far-reaching liberalization of trade between the two countries. Over the medium to long term, Pakistan should grant most favored nation (MFN) status to India, which India already provides to Pakistan, and allow transit trade from India; India should significantly lower tariff rates for goods of particular interest to Pakistan (e.g., textiles) and remove nontariff barriers; and both countries should facilitate trade in energy, information technology, and services, remove obstacles to foreign direct investment flows, and harmonize customs procedures. Improving economic ties may help to resolve the larger political issues that have bedeviled India-Pakistan overall relations for over 60 years.

Impact of monetary policy on lending and deposit rates in Pakistan: Panel data analysis

The study estimates impact of monetary policy (discount rate) on lending and deposit rates in Pakistan using bank type data from November 2001 to March 2011. The study finds evidence of long run relationship between lending and discount rate but deposit rate is not cointegrated with discount rate, monetary policy instrument. The study also finds an increase in the lending rate pass through rate during restricted monetary policy times (2005-2010), whereas deposit rate pass through remains same. The study finds that overall banks pass on only 20% impact of a change in discount rate to the lenders in first month implying it is not complete. There is also significant difference in various bank types pass through rates. The pass through of deposit rate is further low at 0.16 as revealed by short run analysis. It implies that the effectiveness of monetary policy is limited in Pakistan.Discount rate, pass-through, monetary policy

Study of anyon condensation and topological phase transitions from a Z4\mathbb{Z}_4 topological phase using Projected Entangled Pair States

We use Projected Entangled Pair States (PEPS) to study topological quantum phase transitions. The local description of topological order in the PEPS formalism allows us to set up order parameters which measure condensation and deconfinement of anyons, and serve as a substitute for conventional order parameters. We apply these order parameters, together with anyon-anyon correlation functions and some further probes, to characterize topological phases and phase transitions within a family of models based on a $\mathbb Z_4$ symmetry, which contains $\mathbb Z_4$ quantum double, toric code, double semion, and trivial phases. We find a diverse phase diagram which exhibits a variety of different phase transitions of both first and second order which we comprehensively characterize, including direct transitions between the toric code and the double semion phase.Comment: 21+6 page

Capital Flows in the APEC Region

This paper describes the current episode of capital inflows to several Asian economies, summarizing the principal facts, the impact of the inflows, and policy options.25 The discussion also covers, when relevant, the similar experiences of Latin American countries, with an emphasis on the policy priorities that could ensure the persistence and sustainability of these flows, as far as possible. The analysis draws heavily on previous work by Calvo, Leiderman, and Reinhart (1993, 1994, and forthcoming, 1995), who used data for ten Latin American countries and eight Asian countries, as well as other recent studies undertaken in the IMF. The first part of this section describes the main characteristics and macroeconomic consequences of capital inflows to the Asian region. The second part discusses the role of external factors in the present inflows episode, as well as the likely factors that will determine the sustainability of these capital inflows. Finally, the relative merits of various policy responses to the surge in capital inflows are discussed.