Remittances, trade liberalisation, and poverty in Pakistan: The role of excluded variables in poverty change analysis

This paper explores the impact of two shocks, trade liberalisation policies and decline in remittances, on welfare and poverty in Pakistan. It begins by reviewing the economy, which reveals that during the Nineties although import tariffs were reduced by 55 percent, poverty however remained higher in this period than in the Eighties. At the same time, Pakistan has experienced a slow down in the inflow of remittances, which reduces the incomes of households and puts pressure on the exchange rate resulting in reduction in the inflow of imports despite a reduction in import duties. Thus, in the absence of the effects of decline in remittances, the analysis of the impact of trade liberalisation policies may render biased results. This study overcomes this constriction and analyses the impact of trade liberalisation policies in the absence and presence of decline in remittances in a CGE framework with all the features necessary for trade policy analysis with poverty and remittances linkages. The simulation results show that a decline in remittances reduces the gains from trade liberalisation. The negative impact of remittance decline dominates the positive impact of trade liberalisation in urban areas. But, the positive impact of trade liberalisation dominates the negative impact of a decline in remittances in the case of rural areas. Poverty rises in Pakistan as a whole. It shows that the decline in remittance inflows is a major contributory factor in explaining the increase in poverty in Pakistan during the Nineties.Pakistan; Remittances; Trade Policy; CGE; Poverty

Poverty-reducing or Poverty-inducing? A CGE-based Analysis of Foreign Capital Inflows in Pakistan

Foreign capital inflows (FKI) help an economy by financing the imbalance between income and expenditure. However, their impact on poverty in the recipient economy is a controversial issue. In this study, a static computable general equilibrium (CGE) model for Pakistan has been used to assess the impact of foreign capital on poverty. Several interesting results emerged from the study. FKI increase demand for goods for investment purposes that lead to the expansion of import-competing- sector machinery to fulfil domestic demand. However, the contraction of the majority of trading sectors combined with expansion of non-trading sectors of the economy have generated ‘Dutch disease effect’. The results show that FKIs have a positive impact on poverty in Pakistan. Trade liberalization of import of machinery reduces the negative effect of the decline in FKI. Rise in poverty in Pakistan may be attributed to the decline in foreign capital

Proximate Phytochemical analysis of Corallocarpus epigaeus (Arn.) Cl rhizomes and Vernonia anthelmintica willd seeds

The proximate phytochemical analysis of Corallocarpus epigaeus (Arn.) Cl rhizomes and Vernonia anthelmintica wild seeds carried out using standard reference methods. The result shown the seeds of Vernonia anthelmintica had significant values of ash content, moisture content, total solid content and extractives as compared to C. epigaeus rhizomes. The qualitative chemical test indicated that the presence of alkaloid, flavonoid, saponin, amino acids and proteins in C. epigaeus rhizomes extract while carbohydrate, flavonoid, saponin, amino acids and proteins were found in the V. anthelmintica seeds extracts. Among all the extract, aqueous extract of V. anthelmintica seeds contains highest amount of total flavonoid content followed by aqueous extract of C. epigaeus rhizomes. The presence of high secondary metabolites in the C. epigaeus (Arn.) Cl rhizomes and V. anthelmintica seeds willd seeds indicated that if the plant is subjected to further research such as identification and characterization of plant, bioactive compounds with strong biological activities may be isolated and novel compounds may also be identified. Keywords: Ash value, extractive value, total flavonoids content

Financial Leverage and Its Impact on Profit Margin in Pakistan’s Textile Industry

The core purpose concerned in this study remains to explore the impact of the financial leverage on the stitched textile industry, and mainly on the profit margin. The textile industry in Pakistan is said to be the largest manufacturing industry and so is the stitching industry increasing with the great importance of readymade dresses especially among females. The objective set in this study remains to study the relationship between the Financial Leverage (FL) and the Profit Margin (PM). This further includes the proving of the idea that the stitched industry becomes more profitable as soon as the financial leverage has been adopted by the companies. The data from 10 Stitched-Textile companies has been gathered as a sample in this study, from the period of 2012 to 2015 for data analysis. The tools used for data analysis comprised of descriptive analysis, correlation analysis,and regression analysis. The results from this analysis conclude that in the stitching industry there is no significance recognition but positive impact on the FL by the PM. Therefore, it is being recommended that the best possible use of the FL should be made by the stitched industry in order to achieve the target of becoming the most profitable industry of Pakistan Textile Industry. Furthermore, it could be noted that the optimum increase in the production of the textile industry would help in minimizing the level of poverty in Pakistan and also building a healthy population. Keywords: Financial Leverage; Profit Margin, Stitched-Textile Industry, profitability. DOI: 10.7176/EJBM/11-12-13 Publication date: April 30th 201

Remittances, trade liberalisation, and poverty in Pakistan: The role of excluded variables in poverty change analysis

This paper explores the impact of two shocks, trade liberalisation policies and decline in remittances, on welfare and poverty in Pakistan. It begins by reviewing the economy, which reveals that during the Nineties although import tariffs were reduced by 55 percent, poverty however remained higher in this period than in the Eighties. At the same time, Pakistan has experienced a slow down in the inflow of remittances, which reduces the incomes of households and puts pressure on the exchange rate resulting in reduction in the inflow of imports despite a reduction in import duties. Thus, in the absence of the effects of decline in remittances, the analysis of the impact of trade liberalisation policies may render biased results. This study overcomes this constriction and analyses the impact of trade liberalisation policies in the absence and presence of decline in remittances in a CGE framework with all the features necessary for trade policy analysis with poverty and remittances linkages. The simulation results show that a decline in remittances reduces the gains from trade liberalisation. The negative impact of remittance decline dominates the positive impact of trade liberalisation in urban areas. But, the positive impact of trade liberalisation dominates the negative impact of a decline in remittances in the case of rural areas. Poverty rises in Pakistan as a whole. It shows that the decline in remittance inflows is a major contributory factor in explaining the increase in poverty in Pakistan during the Nineties

Remittances, trade liberalisation, and poverty in Pakistan: The role of excluded variables in poverty change analysis

This paper explores the impact of two shocks, trade liberalisation policies and decline in remittances, on welfare and poverty in Pakistan. It begins by reviewing the economy, which reveals that during the Nineties although import tariffs were reduced by 55 percent, poverty however remained higher in this period than in the Eighties. At the same time, Pakistan has experienced a slow down in the inflow of remittances, which reduces the incomes of households and puts pressure on the exchange rate resulting in reduction in the inflow of imports despite a reduction in import duties. Thus, in the absence of the effects of decline in remittances, the analysis of the impact of trade liberalisation policies may render biased results. This study overcomes this constriction and analyses the impact of trade liberalisation policies in the absence and presence of decline in remittances in a CGE framework with all the features necessary for trade policy analysis with poverty and remittances linkages. The simulation results show that a decline in remittances reduces the gains from trade liberalisation. The negative impact of remittance decline dominates the positive impact of trade liberalisation in urban areas. But, the positive impact of trade liberalisation dominates the negative impact of a decline in remittances in the case of rural areas. Poverty rises in Pakistan as a whole. It shows that the decline in remittance inflows is a major contributory factor in explaining the increase in poverty in Pakistan during the Nineties

A coupled optical-thermal-electrical model to predict the performance of hybrid PV/T-CCPC roof-top systems

A crossed compound parabolic concentrator (CCPC) is applied into a photovoltaic/thermal (PV/T) hybrid solar collector, i.e. concentrating PV/T (CPV/T) collector, to develop new hybrid roof-top CPV/T systems. However, to optimise the system configuration and operational parameters as well as to predict their performances, a coupled optical, thermal and electrical model is essential. We establish this model by integrating a number of submodels sourced from literature as well as from our recent work on incidence-dependent optical efficiency, six-parameter electrical model and scaling law for outdoor conditions. With the model, electrical performance and cell temperature are predicted on specific days for the roof-top systems installed in Glasgow, Penryn and Jaen. Results obtained by the proposed model reasonably agree with monitored data and it is also clarified that the systems operate under off-optimal operating condition. Long-term electric performance of the CPV/T systems is estimated as well. In addition, effects of transient terms in heat transfer and diffuse solar irradiance on electric energy are identified and discussed

The Cholecystectomy As A Day Case (CAAD) Score: A Validated Score of Preoperative Predictors of Successful Day-Case Cholecystectomy Using the CholeS Data Set

Background Day-case surgery is associated with significant patient and cost benefits. However, only 43% of cholecystectomy patients are discharged home the same day. One hypothesis is day-case cholecystectomy rates, defined as patients discharged the same day as their operation, may be improved by better assessment of patients using standard preoperative variables. Methods Data were extracted from a prospectively collected data set of cholecystectomy patients from 166 UK and Irish hospitals (CholeS). Cholecystectomies performed as elective procedures were divided into main (75%) and validation (25%) data sets. Preoperative predictors were identified, and a risk score of failed day case was devised using multivariate logistic regression. Receiver operating curve analysis was used to validate the score in the validation data set. Results Of the 7426 elective cholecystectomies performed, 49% of these were discharged home the same day. Same-day discharge following cholecystectomy was less likely with older patients (OR 0.18, 95% CI 0.15–0.23), higher ASA scores (OR 0.19, 95% CI 0.15–0.23), complicated cholelithiasis (OR 0.38, 95% CI 0.31 to 0.48), male gender (OR 0.66, 95% CI 0.58–0.74), previous acute gallstone-related admissions (OR 0.54, 95% CI 0.48–0.60) and preoperative endoscopic intervention (OR 0.40, 95% CI 0.34–0.47). The CAAD score was developed using these variables. When applied to the validation subgroup, a CAAD score of ≤5 was associated with 80.8% successful day-case cholecystectomy compared with 19.2% associated with a CAAD score >5 (p < 0.001). Conclusions The CAAD score which utilises data readily available from clinic letters and electronic sources can predict same-day discharges following cholecystectomy