Bi-directional Causality Between Remittances and Poverty: An Empirical Evidence From Pakistan.

This study explores the two-way causality between poverty and remittances in Pakistan. The empirical evidence is based upon ARDL double bound approach for the long run relationship between remittances and poverty and VECM was used for direction and magnitude of causation. Furthermore, variance decomposition and Impulse response functions were used to capture the standard deviation shocks. Poverty (head count ratio) and remittances to GDP ratio were used from 1973-2006 for analysis purpose. In the study two equations were used interchangeably as dependent variable. It was found by using the Narayan (2005) test criteria for small sample there is co-integration found between poverty and remittances. The relationship is further supported by long run and short run analysis by ECM. Poverty and remittances are inversely and significantly related in the short run and long run by the estimates of ECM. VECM confirms the results by providing the short run and long run significant estimates. The results are also corroborated with variance decomposition and impulse response function. It could be concluded from the results that remittances are playing a vital role after the foreign direct investment. It is also found that due to altruistic behavior, inflow of remittances is increasing due to the poverty and it provides safety nets to poor and ultimately helping to reduces poverty. Key Words: Remittances, Poverty, ARDL, VECM and co-integration JEL classification: O11,O1

Employment Diversification Patterns in Pakistan: Empirical Assessment Revisited

Employment diversification depicts a dynamic socio-economic process where domestic workers widen the range of employment sources. Whereas, the prospect is usually based on a mix of Part-time and Full-time employment. Employment decisions significantly derive from the economic incentives such as wage differentials and the growth rates in different sub-sectors of economic activity. Research at hand summarizes and analyses Employment Diversification Patterns in Pakistan and the motives behind the labor shift. Time series data has been collected from various sources for 1990-2018. The Seemingly unrelated regression model has been applied for empirical estimations. The current analysis of employment pattern diversification concluded that part-time and full-time wages rates have a significant impact on the part and full-time employment in different sub-sectors of economic growth. Variation in wage rates in one sub-sector varies the employment level in different sectors. The estimates elaborated the significant rise in part-time employment these sub-sectors. Moreover, the dynamic interrelation between part-time and full-time employment is examined in the Agriculture, Construction, Electricity, Manufacturing, Wholesale and Retail Trade, Transport, Storage and Communication. These estimates show the quick adjustment of part-time employment within and across the sectors. Policies are needed to enhance labor mobility as one wants to diversify the employment one can do it to enhance the economic productivity

Structural Changes in Employment Diversification in Pakistan: Assessing the Role of Sectoral Employment Elasticities in Employment Generation

Employment growth (part-time and full-time) in Sub-sectors of economic activity is not only determined by the output growth in this sector but the time lag is also involved, in addition to this the wage elasticity of employment is also critical in determining employment diversification and labor mobility between sectors, varied widely in different sectors of the economy. This paper endeavors to illustrate the role of part-time and full-time employment elasticity among sectors along with employment diversification. Furthermore, the empirical analysis is carried out on time series data for 1990 to 2019. By utilizing Seemingly Unrelated regression and by estimating wage elasticity of employment with modified two factor Cobb-Douglas function for full time and part-time employment, the results have been illustrated, by carefully considering the reliability, consistency, and accuracy of the findings, this study demonstrates an increased sectoral output tends to enhance employment in respective sectors. For the manufacturing sector and construction sector, both sectoral output and total output were found to have comparable responses that suggest employment for both sectors tends to increase in line with the output. Therefore, the conclusions of the study establish that an effective way to enhance employment is to create flexibility in the wages as an efficient approach to enhance sectoral employment

Role of uncertainty for FDI inflow: Panel econometric analysis of selected high-income nations

AbstractThe purpose of this study is to evaluate the influence of economic policy uncertainty in determining the FDI inflow for 19 economies with higher incomes between 2000 and 2021. Using the panel Ardl approach, the data were examined. The dynamic fixed effect approach was selected for assessing the necessary set of hypotheses based on the significance of the Hausman test. Increasing levels of economic policy uncertainty, exchange rate, and inflation rate discourage foreign investors from investing in the host country, whereas trade openness and real growth rate increase investors’ confidence in increasing FDI inflow in the host country. The economic implications of the study include the political stability of the host country and the uniformity of government policies, particularly in favor of international investors. This study contributes to the existing body of knowledge on FDI by examining the long-term and short-term effects of uncertainty for the high-income group. The findings of the study apply to higher-income economies. In the future, comparative time-series analysis may be used to assess studies on an individual or regional basis for other groups as well

Rare earth ions (La3+, Nd3+) substituted cobalt–strontium spinel ferrites for photocatalytic degradation of textile dyes

In the industrial sector, productive and effective treatment of toxic dye-based color pollutants is a key issue. Lanthanum and neodymium substituted cobalt–strontium (Co–Sr) spinel ferrite (Co0.5Sr0.5RExFe2-xO4, x = 0.00 and 0.06) catalysts were synthesized and used to degrade Congo red and rhodamine B dyes from an aqueous solution mixture in this study. For this specific purpose, RE3+ ions substituted Co–Sr spinel ferrite nanoparticles with photocatalytic degradation ability were prepared through sol–gel method. The degradation of CR and RhB in recently synthesized nanoferrites was also examined. SEM and XRD were used to characterize the prepared samples. The optical band gap values of synthesized spinel ferrites were examined with the help of Tauc plots by using UV-visible absorption. It was determined that the energy bandgap ranged from 2.91 to 2.52 eV. For Co0.5Sr0.5Fe2O4, Co0.5Sr0.5La0.06Fe1.94O4, and Co0.5Sr0.5Nd0.06Fe1.94O4 nanoferrites, the rates of CR and RhB dye degradation were 73–90% and 45–85%, respectively, at pH 5–7. The kinetics models successfully described the degradation reaction as pseudo-first-order kinetics. It was, therefore, concluded that the prepared samples can be used as effective photocatalysts in order to eliminate hazardous pollutants present in wastewater. HIGHLIGHTS Rare-earth ion substitution spinel ferrite.; Ferrite for degradation of dyes.; Suitable band gap for photocatalytic purpose.

Structural and magnetic studies of Ce-Zn doped M-type SrFe12O19 hexagonal ferrite synthesized by sol-gel auto-combustion method

Structural and magnetic studies of Ce-Zn doped M-type SrFe12O19 hexagonal ferrite synthesized by sol-gel auto-combustion metho