Comparative analysis of the productivity levels achieved through the use of panelised prefabrication technology with those of traditional building system : a thesis submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in Construction, School of Engineering & Advanced Technology, Massey University, Albany, New Zealand

Several studies have documented benefits of prefabricated building system compared to the traditional approach. Despite the acknowledged benefits of prefabrication, its application is generally low in the New Zealand construction industry. This low uptake is largely attributed to the fact that the documented benefits of prefabrication technology are anecdotal, or based on investigations of isolated case studies. This study aims to contribute to filling this knowledge gap by analysing cost savings, time savings, and productivity improvement achievable by the use of panelised prefabrication in place of the traditional building system. A two-phased mixed method of research was adopted for the study. The first phase involved the use of case study-based archival research to obtain qualitative data from records of 151 completed building projects in three cities of New Zealand – Auckland, Christchurch and Wellington. The second phase involved the use of questionnaire survey to obtain feedback from industry stakeholders. Results showed that the use of panelised prefabrication in place of traditional building system contributed to 21 percent cost saving, 47 percent time saving and 10 percent average improvement in the productivity outcomes in the building projects. Results further showed that 17 factors could significantly influence the levels of benefits achievable with the use of prefabrication technology. ‘Building type’ and ‘location’ were the factors having the most significant influence on the benefits achievable by the use of panelised prefabrication in place of the traditional building systems. Other factors that influence the benefits of prefabrication included (in diminishing order of influence): logistics, type of prefabrication, scale/repeatability, standardisation, contractor’s level of innovation, environmental impact, project leadership, type of procurement, whole of life quality, site conditions, site layout and client’s nature

Monetary policy restriction and dividend behavior of Pakistani firms: an empirical analysis

Studies upon impact of macro variables on firm’s dividend policy are very limited and specifically rare in Pakistan perspective. Main purpose of this research paper is to observe impact of restricted monetary policy on dividend behavior of Pakistani firms. During restricted monetary policy, cost of external funds increases and firms prefer to utilize internal funds leading to reduction in dividend payout. Behaviour of 100 listed firms, selected purposefully, has been observed for the period from 2001 to 2009 by using Lintner’ modified model.. During the research period of nine years, monetary policy has been gone through both loose and tight phases. Proposed model is dynamic one as lagged dependent variable has been used as explanatory variable. Due to certain limitations with selection of monetary policy instrument, overall stance of State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) in its annual reports has been used as a dummy variable in the model. Results of all the three estimations reveal almost same results. First lagged dividend has been proved to be most deterministic factor of dividend policy followed by current earnings. Monetary policy and lagged dividends interactive variables provide mixed results. First interactive variable has negative coefficients in all three, fixed effect, random effects and GMM, models but with insignificant p values. Second monetary policy interactive variable has positive coefficients with significant values in random effects and GMM model. Firms seem to follow relatively stable dividend policies with lower adjustment factor. As model is dynamic, GMM estimation is preferred. Monetary policy has not been observed as significant determinant of dividend policy of Pakistani firms.Dividend payment, Monetary Policy

Feasibility, Architecture and Cost Considerations of Using TVWS for Rural Internet Access in 5G

The cellular technology is mostly an urban technology that has been unable to serve rural areas well. This is because the traditional cellular models are not economical for areas with low user density and lesser revenues. In 5G cellular networks, the coverage dilemma is likely to remain the same, thus widening the rural-urban digital divide further. It is about time to identify the root cause that has hindered the rural technology growth and analyse the possible options in 5G architecture to address this issue. We advocate that it can only be accomplished in two phases by sequentially addressing economic viability followed by performance progression. We deliberate how various works in literature focus on the later stage of this ‘two-phase’ problem and are not feasible to implement in the first place. We propose the concept of TV band white space (TVWS) dovetailed with 5G infrastructure for rural coverage and show that it can yield cost-effectiveness from a service provider’s perspective

Economics of Property Crime Rate in Punjab

This study intends to ascertain the impact of socio-economic, demographic and deterrent variables and the effect of technical criminal know-how and past criminal experience on property crime rate. The property crime equation comprises of the following independent variables: population density, unemployment rate, literacy rate, police strength and number of police proclaimed offenders in a society. The property crime equation has been estimated by using a time-series data set for Punjab from 1978 to 2012. We have applied Johansen cointegration approach to test the long run relationship among the variables. Empirical findings suggest that police strength has a deterrent effect while past criminal experience enhances property crime rate in Punjab. The study finds population density has a significant positive relationship while education has a significant negative relationship with property crime rate. Further we also find a negative relationship between unemployment and property crime which is supported by the concept of ‘consensus of doubt’ in the discipline of crime and economics. JEL Classification: D

Monetary Policy Restriction and Dividend Behaviour of Pakistani Firms: An Empirical Analysis

Dividend behaviour has extensively been reviewed by many researchers from time to time across different countries. Empirical evidences observed in most of the studies reveal equivocal results about dividend theories [Bhattacharyya (2007)]. Since, in absence of any unanimous findings, need for future research has not been restricted, theoretically. In developing countries like Pakistan, where limited research is available on corporate dividend policy, need for future research is more looked for. Most of the available research papers, address only firm specific determinants of dividend policy. Do macroeconomic variables influence corporate financing decisions? The need to address this question is the prime motive of this research paper. Major objective of this paper is to observe dividend behaviour of listed firms in Pakistan under monetary policy restrictions and this is the first attempt of its kind in Pakistan to the best of my Knowledge. This study is very relevant in present scenario since State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) has been persistently pursuing restricted monetary policy since 2005 to control inflation

Diagnostic Accuracy of Peroperative Color Doppler Ultrasonography for Determining the Nature of Anterolateral Thigh Flap Perforators

Objective: To determine the diagnostic accuracy of color Doppler ultrasonography for diagnosing septocutaneous nature of anterolateral thigh flap perforators taking peroperative findings as gold standard among patients undergoing soft tissue reconstruction. Methodology: A total number of 100 patients undergoing soft tissue reconstruction using antero-lateral thigh flap perforators at plastic surgery unit, Pak Italian Modern Burn Center, Multan and fulfilling the selection criteria were approached. An informed consent were taken from them before enrolling in the study. Information regarding their demographic data were noted in the proforma. A high frequency color Doppler ultrasound was done by the consultant radiologist to determine the nature of the perforator (as per operational defination) and the results were noted in the proforma. The anterolateral thigh thin flap was undermined, but kept in situ. The elevation was performed either on superficial or sub-facial plane depending upon situation and surgical plan, and the points of emergence through the deep fascia and nature of its perforators, as they appeared during surgery, was noted in the proforma. Results: Age distribution of the patients was done, it showed that out of 100 patients, 17 %( n=17) were in age group of 15-27 years and 83%( n=83) were in age group of 28-40 years and  mean age was calculated as 33.96±5.72 years. Gender distribution of the patients was done, it showed that 88 %( n=88) were male whereas 12 %( n=12) were females. In this study, Sensitivity and specifity of septocutaneous nature of perforator was 78.41% and 83.33% respectively and PPV was 97.18% and NPV was 34.48% and  accuracy was 79%. Conclusion: Color doppler ultrasonography is the reliable test for the prediction of nature of anterolateral thigh flap perforator

Socio-economic and environmental drivers of green innovation: evidence from nonlinear ARDL

The adoption of green technology is imperative to realise sustainable development. Considering the same, this study explores the drivers of Green Innovation (GI) based on the theoretical foundation of the Triple Bottom Line (environmental, social, and economic factors) with the integration of information and communication technologies (ICT) and institutional governance (INST) in Pakistan. This study employs a nonlinear autoregressive distributed lag (NARDL) framework on quarterly data from Q1-1996 to Q4- 2019. The results reveal that positive shocks in human capital (HCI) instigate GI by 1.05%, while negative shock undermines GI by 0.93%. Similarly, positive shocks in carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions increase GI by 0.63%, while any negative shock undermines GI by 0.01%. On the other hand, positive shock in ICT leads to 0.55% advanced GI; however, this effect turned stronger in negative shocks, which leads to reduced GI by 0.78% in the long-run. These results confirm the asymmetricity because positive and negative shocks in HCI, CO2 emissions, and ICT instigated GI differently. Finally, INST and GDP contribute to enhancing GI by 0.12% and 1.69%, respectively. The results indicate that the Pakistan government should improve institutional governance, adapt, and focus on sustainable practices with ICT integration to promote green technologies

Assessing the Impact of Information Communication Technology (ICT) on Women’s Empowerment in Southern Punjab, Pakistan

Women’s empowerment is a procedure that provides control of intensity and assets to women, and completely changes them after sometime through their dynamic support in that procedure. The main objective of this study was to evaluate the impact of Information Communication Technology (ICT) on the social and economic empowerment of women in three selected districts of Southern Punjab, Pakistan viz. Multan, Vehari and Khanewal. For this purpose, cross-sectional data of 384 women (100 from Multan, 100 from Khanewal and 184 women from Vehari district) were obtained through random stratified sampling from both rural and urban areas. Women empowerment index (WEI), ANOVA, t-test and ordinary least square (OLS) methods were used for analysis. The findings concluded that the practice of ICT significantly affected the social and economic empowerment of the women. It is recommended that women should be given free access to use ICT for creating new opportunities and more empowerment in the society

Comparison of levels of von Willebrand factor and ADAMTS13 in Patients of Myocardial Infarction and Healthy Controls

Background: to determine the levels of von Willebrand factor (vWF) and ADAMTS13 in patients of myocardial infarction and healthy controls Methods: In a comparative study, the samples were collected from 45 myocardial infarction patients and 45 age and sex matched healthy controls. Total 5ml blood was collected in tri-sodium citrated vials. The determination of VWF was carried out by chromogenic assay on Stago and ADAMTS13 assay was carried out by standard ELISA kit. The Mann Whitney U test was used to determine the median difference between two groups (patients and control). Results; Patients with MI had higher median plasma level of VWF (161%) as compared to healthy controls (120%). The median plasma level of ADAMTS13 of control and patients was 56.54 U/L and 18.80 U/L respectively. The difference in median plasma levels of VWF & ADAMTS13 between groups was statistically significant (p < 0.001 Conclusion: Plasma VWF and ADAMTS13 had a significant association with MI patients. There exists an inverse correlation between plasma VWF and ADAMTS13 levels in MI patients, but this correlation was very weak in control group

Does green finance facilitate firms in achieving corporate social responsibility goals?

Socio-economic and environment-friendly initiatives are imperative to ensure sustainable development. And corporate social responsibility (CSR) emerged as a solution to create a balance in society through sustainable business performance. However, organizations need plentiful resources to comply with the philosophies of sustainability and CSR. Therefore, the current study explores the role of green financing that covers the social, environmental, and economic aspects of green financing for achieving, excelling and enhancing CSR in the banking sector. Through the employment of survey methodology and the application of Partial Least Square-Structural Equation Modelling (PLS-SEM), the data confirms the contributing role of green finance and its respective dimensions (Environmental, Economics, and Social) in enhancing the multiple facets of CSR. Based on these findings, it is recommended that the banking sector should allocate additional financial resources to promote CSR attributes