20 research outputs found
Trends in Absolute Poverty in Pakistan: 1990-91 and 2001
Poverty, defined comprehensively as absence of options to shape one’s life according to one’s own preferences, comes closer to the concept of human development as presented in UNDP’s Human Development Reports. Absolute poverty, on the contrary, defines poverty in terms of satisfaction of minimum physical needs of food and non-food items to enable people at the lower end of income distribution to engage in economic activity. From the vantage point of the policy-maker concerned with alleviation of poverty, it is crucial to know the magnitude of the existing level of poverty and identify the policy determinants of poverty as well as constraints standing in the way of an effective attack on the worst forms of absolute poverty. In Pakistan, like many other developing countries, poverty has emerged as a core issue on the policy agenda. The traditional measures of poverty—headcount, severity and poverty gap indicate that the incidence of poverty during the previous decade have shown no sign of poverty abatement despite numerous policy and institutional initiatives undertaken by the government. The debate on trends in poverty during the 1990s—an era of stabilisation and structural adjustment has been wide-ranging in Pakistan. However, there is no consensus on the poverty outcomes from the policy and institutional reforms. Primarily due to non-availability of basic data, the last year for which poverty estimates are available is 1998-99. In view of the need to monitor poverty trends and continuously evaluate the efficacy of policies adopted by the government under the poverty reduction strategy, it is important to evolve a consensus on the use of a consistent poverty line, sources of data and data adjustments for measuring poverty. It is this policy context that has guided us to use a consistent definition of poverty line.
Domestic Terms of Trade and Public Policy for Agriculture in Pakistan
Despite the crucial importance of information on intersectoral
terms of trade in the formulation of a host of public policies, the
official statistical system in Pakistan is yet to generate a statistical
series of the terms of trade for the .agricultural sector on a regular
basis. A number of views expressed on Pakistan's agriculture appear to
be based either on results of studies that are now outdated, or on a
complete neglect of the existing data that could be processed to
calculate the terms-of. trade indices. This paper attempts to provide
information on the movement of terms of trade for the agricultural
sector for the period from 1951-52 to 1983-84. The impact of changes in
terms of trade on farm output, distribution of income and efficient use
of resources is also traced
Landlessness and Rural Poverty in Pakistan
Although reducing rural poverty has been the key agenda of economic reforms in Pakistan, the rural poverty continued to rise during the 1990s. The causes of rural poverty are complex and multidimensional. The rural poor are quite diverse both in the problems they face, and the possible solutions to these problems are also different. The paper uses the most recent household data set available—PIHS 2001-02—to examine the causes of rural poverty, as to what accounts for its persistence and what policy measures should be taken to alleviate it. Poverty estimates using official poverty line suggest the high prevalence of rural poverty ranging from 39 percent to 48 percent in all provinces. Rural poverty is found to be strongly correlated with lack of asset in rural areas. The unequal land ownership in the country is found to be one of the major causes of rural poverty, as poverty level was the highest among the landless households followed by non-agriculture households. The incidence of landlessness is common in rural areas. About 67 percent households own no land in the country. Unusually, just 0.3 percent households own 55 and above acres of land across the country, suggesting a highly skewed landownership pattern. Gini Coefficient of landholding suggests that Punjab has the most unequal landownership pattern, followed by the NWFP, Sindh, and Balochistan. The highly unequal land distribution seems to have resulted in tenancy arrangements such as sharecropping, resulting in high prevalence of absolute poverty particularly in Sindh. A broad-based land reform programme, including land redistribution and fair and enforceable tenancy contracts together with rural public works programmes and access to credit, is critical to reducing rural poverty in Pakistan.Poverty, Pakistan
Trends in Absolute Poverty in Pakistan: 1990-91 and 2001
Poverty, defined comprehensively as absence of options to
shape one’s life according to one’s own preferences, comes closer to the
concept of human development as presented in UNDP’s Human Development
Reports. Absolute poverty, on the contrary, defines poverty in terms of
satisfaction of minimum physical needs of food and non-food items to
enable people at the lower end of income distribution to engage in
economic activity. From the vantage point of the policy-maker concerned
with alleviation of poverty, it is crucial to know the magnitude of the
existing level of poverty and identify the policy determinants of
poverty as well as constraints standing in the way of an effective
attack on the worst forms of absolute poverty. In Pakistan, like many
other developing countries, poverty has emerged as a core issue on the
policy agenda. The traditional measures of poverty—headcount, severity
and poverty gap indicate that the incidence of poverty during the
previous decade have shown no sign of poverty abatement despite numerous
policy and institutional initiatives undertaken by the government. The
debate on trends in poverty during the 1990s—an era of stabilisation and
structural adjustment has been wide-ranging in Pakistan. However, there
is no consensus on the poverty outcomes from the policy and
institutional reforms. Primarily due to non-availability of basic data,
the last year for which poverty estimates are available is
1998-99
Impact of Infrastructure and Agroclimate on the Location of Rural Bank Branches in Pakistan: A Preliminary Assessment
Rural financial institutions play an important role in development and growth of the agricultural sector. In developing economies some rural areas are adequately served by financial institutions, while others have little or no access to these institutions. This uneven pattern of geographic location of rural bank branches has been attributed largely to regional differences in agroclimatic conditions and infrastructural endowments. We have estimated several alternative specifications which can be helpful in understanding the spatial distribution of commercial bank branches across the rural areas. Our results indicate that the location of rural bank branches is significantly influenced by infrastructural endowments and agroclimatic environment.
Domestic Resource Mobilisation for Development in Pakistan
This paper examines the determinants of private, domestic, and household savings in Pakistan. The analysis shows that private savings can be expected to grow gradually as a result of rising per capita income, falling dependency burden, improved financial deepening, and macro stability. Bivariate causality tests between GNP and savings show that GNP causes both domestic and public savings. However, the causality test is inconclusive in the case of causation between GNP and private savings. This finding has important policy implication in the sense that once a virtual cycle succeeds in accelerating growth, saving would catch up with a lag. In this sense, financing of investment is not a major constraint. The paper underlines the following policy options: (i) a strong effort spread over tax policy (tax reforms as well as tax administration), expenditure restraint, effective expenditure management, and public sector corporate reforms should aim at raising public savings to about 6 percent of the GDP; (ii) the incentives for private savings in Pakistan need to be revamped.
Rural Credit and Rural Development: Some Issues
Credit plays an important role in acquiring command over the use of working capital, fixed capital, and consumption goods that leads to growth and development of a country. The paper investigates that the role of non-institutional sources is quite clearly borne out. The price paid for institutional credit in Pakistan Kept low by the government. Institutional credit reforms implemented has not been effective. There is a great need to have the land reforms prior to credit reforms. The importance of social and economic infrastructure needs to be addressed. Appropriate use of new credit should be assured. Proper credit policy be designed and implemented.
Rural Credit and Rural Development: Some Issues
Credit is an important instrument of acquiring command over
the use of working capital, fixed capital and consumption goods. In the
wake of Green Revolution, land and labour have receded into the
background as predominant factors of growth. Use of capital and adoption
of modern techniques of production which have become major sources of
growth of agricultural output necessitate access to credit markets for
financing their use. Institutional sources of credit have become quite
significant during the last few years. The rapid expansion of credit
from institutional sources can be seen from various indicators. The
total disbursement of agricultural loans has gone up from Rs. 306.75
million in 1972-73 to Rs. 5,102.14 million in 1981-82. On a per acre
basis, the loans increased from Rs. 7.33 in 1972-73 to Rs. 106.83 in
1981-82. In this perspective, the disparities in income and wealth in
rural areas would crucially depend on the distribution of capital among
farms of different sizes and occupational groups. Neglecting equitable
distribution of credit as a policy instrument for rural income
redistribution may be a serious omission by the policy makers interested
in an improvement of rural equity
Domestic Resource Mobilisation for Development in Pakistan
This paper examines the determinants of private, domestic, and household savings in
Pakistan. The analysis shows that private savings can be expected to grow gradually as a
result of rising per capita income, falling dependency burden, improved financial deepening,
and macro stability. Bivariate causality tests between GNP and savings show that GNP
causes both domestic and public savings. However, the causality test is inconclusive in the
case of causation between GNP and private savings. This finding has important policy
implication in the sense that once a virtual cycle succeeds in accelerating growth, saving
would catch up with a lag. In this sense, financing of investment is not a major constraint.
The paper underlines the following policy options: (i) a strong effort spread over tax policy
(tax reforms as well as tax administration), expenditure restraint, effective expenditure
management, and public sector corporate reforms should aim at raising public savings to
about 6 percent of the GDP; (ii) the incentives for private savings in Pakistan need to be
revamped
Domestic Resource Mobilisation for Development in Pakistan
This paper examines the determinants of private, domestic, and household savings in
Pakistan. The analysis shows that private savings can be expected to grow gradually as a
result of rising per capita income, falling dependency burden, improved financial deepening,
and macro stability. Bivariate causality tests between GNP and savings show that GNP
causes both domestic and public savings. However, the causality test is inconclusive in the
case of causation between GNP and private savings. This finding has important policy
implication in the sense that once a virtual cycle succeeds in accelerating growth, saving
would catch up with a lag. In this sense, financing of investment is not a major constraint.
The paper underlines the following policy options: (i) a strong effort spread over tax policy
(tax reforms as well as tax administration), expenditure restraint, effective expenditure
management, and public sector corporate reforms should aim at raising public savings to
about 6 percent of the GDP; (ii) the incentives for private savings in Pakistan need to be
revamped