1,320 research outputs found

    MACRO AND SOCIOECONOMIC DETERMINANTS OF SAVINGS IN PAKISTAN

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    Due to close relationship of savings to economic growth,poverty, income inequality the analysis of the savings behaviorbecomes very important in development economics. The present studyhas analyzed the saving behavior of Pakistan for the period 1973-2013. It has been found that age dependency, foreign savings andinflation have a negative and significant relationships with all thethree type of savings (i.e. national, public and private), while economicgrowth and financial sector development enhances savings inPakistan. The study finds that interest rate has an insignificant impacton nationals and private savings. However, in the case of publicsavings the impact is positive and significant. As far as the role oftaxes is concerned, it has been found that taxes discourage privatesavings while the impact on public savings is positive

    Savings Behavior in Muslim and Non-Muslim Countries in Context to the Interest Rate

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    Savings have been recognized as crucial determinant of economic growth because it finances investment – higher investment is associated with higher growth. Given the fact that economic growth plays a pivotal role in improving well-being of people and reducing poverty, the analysis of saving behavior becomes a very crucial policy issue for developing countries. Two main theories in explaining saving behaviour are: “Permanent income hypothesis” [Friedman (1957)], and “life-cycle hypothesis” [Ando and Modigliani (1963)]. In permanent income hypothesis, transitory and permanent components of income are differently analyzed in determining savings. Permanent income is defined as long-time income expectation over a period, while transitory income is the difference between permanent and actual income. The hypothesis suggests that transitory changes in income do not have any significant impact on savings and savings are determined only by permanent income. According to the life-cycle hypothesis, lifetime consumption of an individual is spread over his lifetime. Saving is accumulated in working years and is used to maintain consumption level after the retirement period. It suggests the importance of demographic factors in determining savings. Despite the large existing empirical work, there exist mixed results regarding effects of interest rate on savings. Mikesell and Zinser (1973), McKinnon (1973), Fry [(1988), (1995)], Gylfason (1993) and Munir, et al. (2010) found that interest rate has a positive impact on savings, while Giovaninni (1985), Gupta (1987), Jongwanich (2010) and many others found it as insignificant. The role of interest rate in Muslim countries is rather a complex issue. Assuming that majority of Muslims follows Islam in its true spirit, interest rate (Riba) has a very limited role in attracting savings of Muslims because interest is forbidden in Islam. The first explicit prohibition of interest came in 2 AH. The directive is found in Surah Al-Imran, verse 130 where Allah says; “O those who believe do not consume up Riba, doubled and redoubled”. Latter, after the conquest of Makkah in 8 AH, the most comprehensive condemnation of Riba was in Surah Baqarah verse 275-280, where Allah says;”Those who take usury will not stand on the day of Judgment except as he who has been driven mad by the touch of the Demon. . . . . . . . .Oh you who believe give up what remains of Riba if you are believers. But if you do not then listen to the declaration of War from Allah and his messenger (SAW). If you repent, yours’ is your principal and nothing more’ In 10 AH, the Prophet (P.B.U.H.), in his famous last sermon at Mount Arafat said; “All interest obligation shall henceforth be waived. Your capital however is yours to keep. You neither wrong nor be wronged. Allah has judged that there be no Riba and that all interest due to Abbas ibn Abd Al-Muttalib shall henceforth be waived”. It is to be noted that during the period 1980 to 2013, saving rates varied considerably all over the world. Latin America and the Caribbean countries save around 20 per cent of their GDP and the East Asian countries save more than 30 per cent. Similarly, Arab countries (limited data is available) save approximately 30 per cent per cent, South Asian countries around 25 per cent; and in complete contrast the Sub-Saharan African countries save only 15 per cent of the GDP [WDI (2014)]. The situation raises an important research question, as to: why do the savings rates fluctuate between various regions. It also leads toward another related question, about the forbidden status of interest rate affects savings behaviour of Muslim countries? The layout of the paper is as follows: the review of relevant literature is presented in Section II. Section III discusses the data sources and methodology. Empirical analysis and estimation of results, based on the data are summarised in Section IV. Finally, conclusions and policy implications are given in Section V

    Impact of Microfinance on Poverty Reduction: A Case Study of District Faisalabad

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    The micro - finance program extends small loans to very poor people for self-employment projects that generate income, allowing them to care for themselves and for their families. Micro-finance enables an entrepreneur to build a business or expand the existing business and create a better change in their lives. The micro-financing institutions (MFIs) provide the opportunity for the people who are living under the poverty lines by investing the affordable funds/capital and somehow by providing their management expertise. This study shows the effect of micro-financing of small business and the implications for poverty reduction. The respondents are the clients of Khushhali Bank Ltd, District Faisalabad. The data were collected with the help of well-designed and structured questionnaire, which will be analyzed by applying FGT techniques. The results showed that the poverty has been reduced by financing the peoples. Keywords:Micro finance, poverty, FG

    How Promotional Advertisements Can Change the Buying Behavior of Children

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    This study aims to highlight the impact of promotional advertising on children's buying behavior.Promotions are tools that maximize the sales of any organization. Retailers or manufacturers apply this toolto invite consumers to buy more products. The proposed study aims to focus the advertising impact on childpurchases in the Pakistani capital. It is convenient to sample 500 respondents and collect data with the helpof the questionnaire. The results show that there is a negligible correlation between the purchase behaviorand coupons. On the contrary, buying one-to-one free, the physical environment impacts significantly on thepurchase behavior. The proposed research helps marketers recognize most effective promotional ads thatcan significantly affect a child's buying behavio

    The psychological impact of coronavirus on university students and its socioeconomic determinants in Malaysia

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    This article examines the impact of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) upon university students’ anxiety level and finds the factors associated with the anxiety disorder in Malaysia. We collected data from 958 students from 16 different universities using an originally designed questionnaire. The Generalized Anxiety Disorder Scale 7-item (GAD-7) was used to estimate the anxiety. We find that 12.3% students were normal, whereas 30.5% were experiencing mild, 31.1% moderate, and 26.1% severe anxiety. Surprisingly, only 37.2% of students were aware of mental health support which was provided by their universities. Moreover, it was found that gender as male (Odds Ratio (OR= 0.798, 95% Confidence Interval (CI)= 0.61 - 1.04)) and having internet access (OR = 0.44, 95% CI= 0.24 - 0.80) were alleviating factors for the anxiety. Whereas, age above than 20 years (OR= 1.30, 95% CI= 0.96 - 1.75), ethnicity Chinese (OR=1.72, 95% CI= 0.95 - 3.1), any other disease (OR=2.0, 95% CI=1.44 - 2.79), decreased family income (OR=1.71, 95% CI=1.34 - 2.17), more time spent on watching COVID-19 related news (OR=1.52, 95% CI=1.17 -1.97), and infected relative or friends (OR=1.62, 95% CI=1.06 - 2.50) were risk factors for anxiety among students. We suggest that the government of Malaysia should monitor the mental health of the universities’ students more closely and universities should open online mental health support clinics to avoid the adverse impacts of the anxiety disorder

    What factors can help COVID-19 patients to recover quickly in Pakistan

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    The research paper uncovers the socioeconomic factors which are associated with the recovery of coronavirus in Pakistan. Using a self-designed questionnaire, we collected the data from 170 corona recovered patients and applied Multiple linear regression to predict the effect of socioeconomic factors. The paper finds that patients aged between 36 and 46 years take around 3 more days to recover, whereas, patients aged above than 46 years take around 7 more days to recover in comparison to the young adults (17-25 years). In addition, patients who live in urban areas recover almost 1.5 days earlier than those who live in rural areas. Patients who have other serious diseases take almost 1.7 more days to recover in comparison to those who do not have any disease. Patients who smoke take 2 more days to recover in comparison to those who do not smoke. Moreover, obese people take almost 2.6 more days to recover in comparison to those who have a normal body mass index. Surprisingly, income, gender, and education remain insignificant in relation to the recovery days. We suggest, people above 46 should be given extra care, policies regarding smoking cessation, and lowering obesity should be implemented to combat coronavirus

    FARMER EMPOWERMENT AND ITS CONTRIBUTING FACTORS (A CASE STUDY OF PATCHOULI FARMER IN KABUPATEN ACEH JAYA)

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    Kabupaten Aceh Jaya is a very potential Aceh patchouli production center. The development of the patchouli industry sector in Aceh faces serious challenges, especially the capacity building of farmers towards good agriculture practices, and innovation and technology. This study aims to identify the level of empowerment of farmers and the affecting factors. The study employed a questionnaire survey to 88 samples from 383 populations. Data analysis used a descriptive method and chi-square test. The results show that a low level of farmer empowerment is predominantly. The weakest elements are the ability to cooperate and solidarity; meanwhile, the ability to overcome obstacles is the highest, followed by the awareness and desire to change, and the ability to increase capacity to gain access. Farmer's perceptions on the group institutions, and program intervention have a significant association with empowerment, while the perception to characteristics of the social systems has no relationship. Therefore, the role of empowerment innovation is necessary for capacity building

    Graphene: The Material of Today and Tomorrow

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    Graphene has astounding aptitudes owing to its unique band structure characteristics outlining its enhanced electrical capabilities for a material with the highest characteristic mobility known to exist at room temperature. Graphene, one-atom-thick, a planar sheet of carbon atoms densely packed in a honeycomb crystal lattice, has grabbed considerable attention due to its exceptional electronic and optoelectronic properties. Reported properties and applications of this two-dimensional form of carbon structure have opened up new opportunities for the future devices and application in various fields. Though graphene is recognized as one of the best electronic materials, synthesizing single sheet of graphene has been less explored. This review article aims to present an overview of the progression of research in graphene, in the area of synthesis, properties and applications. Wherever applicable, the limitations of present knowledge base and future research directions have also been discusse

    Microbial Extraction of Antimony from Stibnite of Qillah Abdullah

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    The study involve bioleaching of antimony ore collected from Qillah Abdullah   Balochistan (Pakistan) by using Thiobacillus ferrooxidans isolated from coal mine drainage of district Harnai. Analysis of ore revealed that it has 19.54% antimony along with 42.24% SiO2  as gangue material. Trails for bioleaching were conducted in shake flasks having 10% (w/v) ore and growth medium. Isolated microorganisms were found more efficient for liquification of antimony contents at grain size -150#. Liquefied antimony was recovered as antimony sulphide by  precipitation  with H2S. Parameters affecting the process of bioleaching such as aeration, time period, temperature, grain size of ore and pH were also optimized. Overall recovery of product was estimated as 73% in 120 days. 
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