Human capital inequality and income inequality: testing for causality

This study investigates the causal relationship between human capital inequality and income inequality in case of Pakistan. The annual time series data ranging from 1973 to 2009 is used for econometric analysis. Johanson co-integration and Granger Causality tests are used to confirm the existence of long run relationship and the causal relationship between human capital inequality and income inequality. The results indicate that there is positive relationship between the two types of inequalities in the long run. The estimates of causality test indicate that income inequality causes the human capital inequality but human capital inequality does not cause income inequality. Policy initiatives to reduce income inequality may empower people economically to avail skill building opportunities and accumulate their human capital through access to educational services.     

Is energy consumption sensitive to foreign capital inflows and currency devaluation in Pakistan?

This study investigates the relationship between foreign capital inflows and energy consumption by incorporating economic growth, exports and currency devaluation in energy demand function for the case of Pakistan. The long-run and short-run effects are examined via ARDL bounds testing procedure. Foreign capital inflows and currency devaluation (economic growth and exports) decrease (increase) energy consumption in long-run. The results confirm a feedback effect between foreign capital inflows and energy consumption. These findings would be helpful to policy makers in designing comprehensive economic and energy policies for utilizing foreign capital inflows as a tool for optimal use of energy sources to enhance economic development in long run.     

Does history matter? Colonial education investments in India

Can good policy overcome or alter the effects of history? This question is addressed in this article using unique district‐level data for 148 districts of former British India. Controlling for observable differences in geography and income, the ordinary least squares estimates suggest a large and positive effect of colonial expenditures on rural primary education in 1911 on rural literacy up to 1991. However, instrumental variable estimates that control for the endogeneity of colonial investments suggest that the effects of historical spending are significant only up to 1971. Two policy changes can account for these findings: an increase in spending following the 1968 National Education Policy and a greater emphasis on the universal provision of public goods such as schools in the 1970s. Unlike recent studies documenting the persistent effects of historical investments on contemporary outcomes, this study emphasizes how effective policies can overturn the effects of history.     

Future of Ethically Effective Leadership

This research focuses on (a) introducing and exploring ethically effective leadership, (b) introducing and testing theory on triad of typical–maximal–ideal ethically effective leadership performances, (b) theorizing and empirically testing that each of typical–maximal–ideal ethically effective leadership performance is different from each others, in other words exploring mean differences between each pair of typical–maximal–ideal effective leadership performances, (c) introducing, theorizing, and testing mechanism to quantify respondents’ intrinsic desire and inherent potential to enhance their ethically effective leadership performances, (d) exploring precedents of each of typical–maximal–ideal ethically effective leadership performances, and finally (e) exploring bases and feasibility of virtual, robotic, and mixed reality ethically effective leadership that may or may not be same as conventional ethically effective leadership. This paper explores global leadership aspect of ethically effective leadership performance at three data collection levels (via typical, maximal, and ideal effective leadership performances) adding precision to assessment of ethically effective leadership and resolving an important challenge (precise assessment) to ethical leadership development. It explores respondents’ typical ethically effective leadership performance E_T, their maximal ethically effective leadership performance E_M, and their ideal ethically effective leadership performance E_I. It presents non-western perspectives on ethically effective leadership disregarding homogenization of leadership behavior. It advances our insight into ethical leadership development by empirically identifying presence, direction and magnitude of respondents’ (a) intrinsic desire and (b) existing intrinsic potential for alteration of their ethically effective leadership. Means of typical ethically effective leadership performance E_T, maximal ethically effective leadership performance E_M, and ideal ethically effective leadership performance E_I are distinct. Typical ethically effective leadership performance E_T is positively associated with maximal ethically effective leadership performance E_M and ideal ethically effective leadership performance E_I. This article concludes that the selected leaders report their ideal ethically effective leadership performance E_I to be higher than their typical ethically effective leadership performance E_T and maximal ethically effective leadership performance E_M depicting significant intrinsic desire for 14 % enhancing their ethically effective leadership performance. Respondents have significant existing intrinsic potential for 10 % enhancing their ethically effective leadership performance. Regression constants for regression models for typical ethically effective leadership performance E_T, maximal ethically effective leadership performance E_M and ideal ethically effective leadership performance E_I are significant depicting that the researchers have to look for other variables to fully explain variance in typical ethically effective leadership performance E_T, maximal ethically effective leadership performance E_M and ideal ethically effective leadership performance E_I. Regression coefficient of typical ethically effective leadership performance E_T is significant in model for ideal ethically effective leadership performance E_I as well as maximal ethically effective leadership performance E_M and vice versa. So, the paper suggests that training strategies may be feasible to alter typical ethically effective leadership performance E_T and maximal ethically effective leadership performance E_M in such a way as to bring it closer to ideal ethically effective leadership performance E_I but for this, researchers have to look for other variables too.     

A policy of credit disruption: the Punjab Land Alienation Act of 1900

If land is titled and transferable, it can be used as collateral against which money can be borrowed. The resulting increase in access to credit is usually expected to foster economic growth. This article focuses on a policy in colonial India that made land less available as collateral for debt. Using a panel dataset for Punjab districts from 1890 to 1910, the findings show that this reduced the availability of mortgage-backed credit, but did not hurt proxies for economic development, such as acreage and cattle, at least in the short run.     

Taxation and educational development: Evidence from British India

This paper measures the effects of public expenditures on literacy in early 20th century British India. Using a new dataset and an instrumental variables strategy, I find that public investments in primary education had positive and statistically significant effects on literacy. A 10 percent increase in 1911 per-capita spending or 44 additional primary schools would have translated into a 2.6 percentage point increase in 1921 literacy in the population aged 15-20. The findings, however, differ by gender: the IV estimates on spending are statistically significant only for male literacy. India’s historical experience thus suggests that building more schools would not have solved the problem of female illiteracy that continues to persist even today.     

Effects of fiscal policies on US agriculture

According to the macro rational expectation (MRE) hypothesis, only unanticipated macroeconomic policy has impacts on real economic variables, and anticipated policy changes have no real impacts. This study analysis the effects of the anticipated and unanticipated components of fiscal policy on the US farm real GNP by testing the neutrality and rationality propositions of the MRE hypothesis. The test results show that both the rationality and neutrality propositions are rejected. The empirical findings indicate that the anticipated fiscal policy does have significant effects on farm output. Examination of a specific sector sheds light on the nature of the market and helps ascertain the resons for the non-neutrality.     

DISTANCE TO PROMOTION: EVIDENCE FROM MILITARY GRADUATE EDUCATION

Using a unique dataset of U.S. military officers enrolled in graduate programs at the Naval Postgraduate School, we find students enrolled in distance education programs are 19 percentage points less likely to graduate compared to students enrolled in comparable traditional resident programs. Interestingly, distance education students receive a larger proportion of As on their courses. But, they are also more likely to fail and withdraw from their courses compared to their resident counterparts. The negative effects of distance education are worse for students enrolled in more technical engineering programs compared to less technical business programs. Although distance students are more likely to separate from the military after completing their education compared to traditional students, there are no significant differences in job promotion within the military between the two groups. Our results highlight the challenges of designing effective distance education programs in technical fields. (JEL I20, I23)