WHO’S THE BOSS? HOUSEHOLD DISTRIBUTION OF POWER IN A NON‐COOPERATIVE FRAMEWORK

When labour market participation influences bargaining power in a household, the male and the female labour supplies can be either positively or negatively related. If negatively related, possibilities include: ‘balance of power’, the complete dominance of one member, and circumstances where inequity persists with incomplete dominance. If effort levels are positively sloped, it is possible to have equilibrium at either high or low effort levels leading to equity. The effects of economic development and wage discrimination are also discussed.     

Exploring the effect of buyer engagement on green product innovation: Empirical evidence from manufacturers

In this study, we are interested in how export firms organize knowledge management and increase product innovation performance. Prior studies have concluded that knowledge transfer from external actors leads to operational performance outcomes; others have questioned the positive influence of buyer-driven knowledge transfer activities on innovation performance. Drawing on absorptive capacity, we aim to offer a better understanding, how export firms as recipients of knowledge resources, organize their internal capabilities in order to realize firm-level product innovation. This empirical study examines the interplay of buyer-driven knowledge activities, resource acquisition and combining, and product innovation outcomes in the context of Pakistani export firms. Drawing on survey data from 239 export-manufacturing firms, we test hypotheses using structural equation modeling. Our findings show that buyer-driven knowledge transfer activities play a crucial role in enhancing export firms in absorbing and combining resources that lead to product innovation. The pragmatic suggestion of the research suggests that managers look closely at developing a culture of involvement with their buyers that promotes the development of knowledge resources. The results of this study have research, policy, and managerial implications.     

Consumer Protection in Islam: The Case of Pakistan

Consumers whether in an Islamic State or otherwise face similar problems that need to be taken care of by the government and the individuals themselves. Islam as a religion gives a comprehensive framework for conducting business and protecting the consumers' rights. Apparently, this framework seems similar to the commercial laws but glaring differences between the two exist: commercial laws are a relatively new phenomena and are made by humans for the sake of convenience only. Islamic law on the other hand, provided such guidelines 1500 years ago which are based on divine principles set by Allah. Moreover, there is no reward in complying with the commercial laws but Allah promised the believers rewards both in this world and the Hereafter for complying with Islamic principles.
Pakistan is an Islamic State but the area of consumer protection has remained neglected so far. This paper explores how an environment can be created in Pakistan whereby the interests of consumers are best protected under the teachings of Islam. The Qur'anic principles are delineated with reference to: guidelines for Muslim businessmen and consumers; the role of state and institutions.     

Provision of human capital by business schools of Pakistan: A need for the sustainability of the Pakistani banking sector

Economic growth of Pakistan through the banking sector relies heavily on the human capital dispensed to them by the Pakistani business schools. A conceptual model of the continuous improvement cycle for building human capital is developed through a literature review, with the aim of helping to generate human capital. Six semistructured interviews were conducted with bank branch managers and eight junior bank managers to gauge the extent to which this model was being followed so that the growth in the Pakistani banking sector remains. The results showed that a linear model was currently in place where there was no room for continuous improvement for building human capital for the banking sector.     

Families and firms: Agency costs and labor market imperfections in Sialkot's surgical industry

The family firm is generally viewed as an organizational solution to agency costs in the labor market for managers and institutional underdevelopment. Consistent with this view, this paper links the preponderance of family firms in the surgical instrument industry of Sialkot to the prevailing agency and institutional problems. However, strong dependence on family management coupled with restrictions on family size constrains the firms from optimally choosing management size. The resulting labor market distortion is manifested by a significant positive correlation between the founder's family size and the firm size such that the founders who have more brothers (a larger pool of potential managers) end up with bigger firms.     

Spillovers to low-income countries: importance of systemic emerging markets

This article documents the expanding economic linkages between low-income countries (LICs) and a narrow group of ‘Emerging Market (EM) leaders’ that have become major players in international trade and financial flows. VAR models show that these linkages have increased the share of growth volatility that can be attributed to foreign shocks in LICs. Dynamic panel models further analyse the impact of LIC trade orientation and production structure on the sensitivity to foreign shocks. The empirical results demonstrate that the elasticity of growth to trading partners’ growth is high for LICs in three out of the five regions: Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean, and Europe and Central Asia. However, for commodity-exporting LICs in Sub-Saharan Africa and the Middle East, terms of trade shocks and demand from the EM leaders are the main channels of transmission of foreign shocks