Economically Active Children and Home-care Children: How Much They Differ

Over the issue of the difference or otherwise between economically active children and home-care children, there are two competing claims by researchers. One holds that economically active children and home- care children are the same in that both groups of children have identical determinants, while the other contradicts this view. Using the probit analysis for both groups of children in Pakistan, our study compares the determinants of the two groups to check whether they have same determining factors and ultimately are the same or they differ with each other in this matter. It is found that a significant number of explanatory variables have shown opposite effect on economic activity of children and home-care activity of children. So it is concluded that economically active children and home-care children are two different groups which cannot be merged into each other. However, policies focused on elimination of economically active children trickle down the effect to home-care children as some determining factors of both groups are the same.Child labor, Human Capital, Children, Pakistan

Technical Change, Technical Efficiency, and Their Impact on Input Demand in the Agricultural and Manufacturing Sectors of Pakistan

Technical change has been considered as one of the most important determinants of economic growth. In developed economies, a proportionately higher percentage of GDP growth is attributable to technological progress and technical efficiency. However, technical change in developing countries is in its early stages and increased use of factor inputs is still the dominant source of economic growth. An attempt has been made in this paper to analyse technological progress and technical efficiency and their contribution to economic growth along with other factors of production by using more efficient methods in the manufacturing and agriculture sectors of Pakistan. There are a few studies on technological growth and technical efficiency change in Pakistan but they suffer from certain limitations. Most of them use the terms of technical change and productivity synonymously. Further, all of them use Hicks’s formula of neutral technical change and assume that technical change is happening at a constant rate. We have attempted to measure technical change, technical efficiency, and productivity in the form of the Hicks neutral technical change as well as in the form of variable and continuous and discrete technical change. Besides, this paper also analyses the impact of technical change on input demand (i.e., its impact on labour and capital demand) and examines the issue of technical change being either labour-saving or capital-saving. We found that technical change was taking place at a continuous and variable rate. The major contributor to the growth of output and value-added in both sectors was capital, contributing over 50 percent. Labour share was about 20 percent in the agriculture sector and about 10 percent in the manufacturing sector. Technical change share was very significant in manufacturing but not so in agriculture. The manufacturing sector in Pakistan has grown at an annual rate of about 6 percent during 1970s and at 8.7 percent during 1980s, and its share in GDP has increased from 16.5 percent to about 19 percent, but it has failed to generate new employment opportunities for the labour force. The employment growth rate is only about 2 percent.

Impact of Agricultural Modernization on Crude Birth Rate in Indian Punjab

Pooled cross-section and time-series data of 11 districts in the Indian Punjab have yielded three hypotheses: (1) High infant-mortality rates lead to high fertility rates and high fertility rates cause high infant-mortality rates; (2) Agricultural modernization affects fertility and infant-mortality; and (3) The direction and strength of the effects of agricultural modernization on fertility and infant-mortality depend upon the distribution of the benefits of such modernization

An exploration of triadic family relationships: a systemic-attachment perspective on the experiences of adolescents who self-harm and their parents

Self-harm as an expression of emotional pain and hurt is starting to become the consensus view amongst professionals. This present study explored how young people who self-harm and their parents experience the young person’s self-harm and how it affects the relationships in the family. The research was a case study with three families, each consisting of an adolescent and of their parents. Semi-structured interviews were used to explore the lived experiences of each participant. In addition, relational scenarios and conjoint interviews were conducted with the parents. All interviews were audio-recorded and transcribed. These sets of data were analysed in accordance with Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) guidance. The meta themes were presented in detail in the Findings section. The key themes for the adolescents were: Feeling Responsible and Self-Harm Creates Closeness. The main themes for the parents were: Feeling Emotionally Overwhelmed and the Impact on Couple Relationship. The individual and couple analyses were linked together to provide a family-based analysis of the data. The meta themes were linked with one another to acknowledge the pre-existing connections between different participants and to add a richer, systemic perspective to the results. Mutual influences of the different family members on each other were identified. The findings indicated that a young person’s self-harm can be seen to be part of triadic interactional processes within the family. The various layers of analysis were integrated which enabled a systemic and attachment based theoretical model to be proposed in relation to self-harm in the context of the family. Wider cultural perspectives were also considered in the way that they shaped the understandings and relationship strategies in how to deal with the self-harm. The proposed theoretical model is used to offer implications for therapeutic practice and recommendations for future research are suggested

Technical Change, Technical Efficiency, and Their Impact on Input Demand in the Agricultural and Manufacturing Sectors of Pakistan

Technical change has been considered as one of the most important determinants of economic growth. In developed economies, a proportionately higher percentage of GDP growth is attributable to technological progress and technical efficiency. However, technical change in developing countries is in its early stages and increased use of factor inputs is still the dominant source of economic growth. An attempt has been made in this paper to analyse technological progress and technical efficiency and their contribution to economic growth along with other factors of production by using more efficient methods in the manufacturing and agriculture sectors of Pakistan. There are a few studies on technological growth and technical efficiency change in Pakistan but they suffer from certain limitations. Most of them use the terms of technical change and productivity synonymously. Further, all of them use Hicks’s formula of neutral technical change and assume that technical change is happening at a constant rate. We have attempted to measure technical change, technical efficiency, and productivity in the form of the Hicks neutral technical change as well as in the form of variable and continuous and discrete technical change. Besides, this paper also analyses the impact of technical change on input demand (i.e., its impact on labour and capital demand) and examines the issue of technical change being either labour-saving or capital-saving. We found that technical change was taking place at a continuous and variable rate. The major contributor to the growth of output and value-added in both sectors was capital, contributing over 50 percent. Labour share was about 20 percent in the agriculture sector and about 10 percent in the manufacturing sector. Technical change share was very significant in manufacturing but not so in agriculture. The manufacturing sector in Pakistan has grown at an annual rate of about 6 percent during 1970s and at 8.7 percent during 1980s, and its share in GDP has increased from 16.5 percent to about 19 percent, but it has failed to generate new employment opportunities for the labour force. The employment growth rate is only about 2 percent

Productivity Constraints of Cholistani Farmers

This paper examines the factors behind low crop yield in Cholistan. Both the quantitative and qualitative analysis show how the low levels of agricultural productivity in this area may be linked to material and climatic factors. The quantitative analysis is mainly focused on physical factors. The qualitative analysis, however, emphasises that relative inefficiency of agricultural activity in Cholistan reflects the influence of physical, economic, social and, most importantly, climatic factors. The quantitative findings provide valuable insight into various ‘sources of productivity’ in terms of acreage effect, capital input effect and irrigation water availability effect. The size of the positive and significant coefficients on these variables suggest the extent to which one or the other variable effect is prominent in improving the crop yield. The qualitative analysis examines multiple interrelated factors which can be blamed on for relative inefficiency of Cholistani farmers. The hot climate of the area turns out to be the most critical variable in this analysis. Many specific technological drought-mitigating measures are proposed. However, for consistent policy formulation, a thorough study and quantitative evaluation of the potential and practicality of these measures in Cholistan is suggested.

An exploration of triadic family relationships: a systemic-attachment perspective on the experiences of adolescents who self-harm and their parents

Self-harm as an expression of emotional pain and hurt is starting to become the consensus view amongst professionals. This present study explored how young people who self-harm and their parents experience the young person’s self-harm and how it affects the relationships in the family. The research was a case study with three families, each consisting of an adolescent and of their parents. Semi-structured interviews were used to explore the lived experiences of each participant. In addition, relational scenarios and conjoint interviews were conducted with the parents. All interviews were audio-recorded and transcribed. These sets of data were analysed in accordance with Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) guidance. The meta themes were presented in detail in the Findings section. The key themes for the adolescents were: Feeling Responsible and Self-Harm Creates Closeness. The main themes for the parents were: Feeling Emotionally Overwhelmed and the Impact on Couple Relationship. The individual and couple analyses were linked together to provide a family-based analysis of the data. The meta themes were linked with one another to acknowledge the pre-existing connections between different participants and to add a richer, systemic perspective to the results. Mutual influences of the different family members on each other were identified. The findings indicated that a young person’s self-harm can be seen to be part of triadic interactional processes within the family. The various layers of analysis were integrated which enabled a systemic and attachment based theoretical model to be proposed in relation to self-harm in the context of the family. Wider cultural perspectives were also considered in the way that they shaped the understandings and relationship strategies in how to deal with the self-harm. The proposed theoretical model is used to offer implications for therapeutic practice and recommendations for future research are suggested

Productivity Constraints of Cholistani Farmers

This paper examines the factors behind low crop yield in Cholistan. Both the quantitative and qualitative analysis show how the low levels of agricultural productivity in this area may be linked to material and climatic factors. The quantitative analysis is mainly focused on physical factors. The qualitative analysis, however, emphasises that relative inefficiency of agricultural activity in Cholistan reflects the influence of physical, economic, social and, most importantly, climatic factors. The quantitative findings provide valuable insight into various ‘sources of productivity’ in terms of acreage effect, capital input effect and irrigation water availability effect. The size of the positive and significant coefficients on these variables suggest the extent to which one or the other variable effect is prominent in improving the crop yield. The qualitative analysis examines multiple interrelated factors which can be blamed on for relative inefficiency of Cholistani farmers. The hot climate of the area turns out to be the most critical variable in this analysis. Many specific technological drought-mitigating measures are proposed. However, for consistent policy formulation, a thorough study and quantitative evaluation of the potential and practicality of these measures in Cholistan is suggested

Private schooling - a quality puzzle

Primary school enrollment rates in Pakistan are lower than in other countries at the same level of economic development. The proportion of children reaching grade 5 is about half that in Sri Lanka and China and three-quarter that in India. Nationally, the gross primary school ratio is 74, and 101 for boys and 45 for girls. According to the National Education Policy 1992-2002, the target of literacy rate was set at 70 percent by the year 2002, which was achievable besides other measures, by inviting the private sector into education. Now, overall, private education accounts for about 10-12 percent of gross enrollments. The government of Pakistan has established a goal of universal primary enrollment by the year 2006. In the present study the quality characteristics of private schooling are discussed, i.e. qualitative aspects of schools, physical infrastructure of schools, teachers’ qualification and salaries, and fee, dropout rate, and repletion rate of the students, etc