Foreign exchange market regularities in a developing economy

The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate that the ‘empirical regularities’ observed for exchange rates in the major foreign exchange markets apply equally to the case of a developing economy such as Singapore.     

Rural Bangladeshi consumers’ (un)willingness to pay for low-milled rice: Implications for zinc biofortification

Zinc deficiency is a severe public health problem in Bangladesh. We examine the effects of nutritional information on rural consumers’ willingness-to-pay (WTP) for two ways to increase zinc intake through rice, the main staple crop–low-milling that gives rice grains a distinctive light brown color (a visible trait) and sets it apart from the culturally preferred high-milled white rice grain and biofortification of rice with increased zinc content (an invisible trait), which is also low-milled to retain maximum zinc content. Results of our economic experiments suggest that with nutritional information, consumers are willing to pay a premium of 4.6% for zinc biofortified rice compared to non-biofortified rice, when milled at the same level. However, results confirm the strong preference for high-milled rice by Bangladeshi consumers who discounted low-milled rice by 8%–10% even after receiving information on the nutritional benefits of biofortified or low-milled rice. We find that consumers’ WTP for the two high-zinc-low-milled rice types (biofortified and non-biofortified) is positively correlated with being a female, more educated, belonging to households engaged in non-farm activities and with children under 5 years of age. Results point to the importance of nutritional awareness campaigns for increasing zinc biofortified and low-milled rice consumption and guiding the targeting strategy for such campaigns. Given the consumer preference for high-milled rice, this study also points to the need for exploring the rice fortification strategy to address the challenge of malnutrition.     

Industry 4.0 and circular economy practices: A new era business strategies for environmental sustainability

Amid rising environmental concerns, Industry 4.0 and blockchain technology (BCT) are transforming circular economy (CE) practices and prevailing business models. Recognize the same; this study examines the role of blockchain technology in circular CE practices and their impact on eco-environmental performance, which influences organizational performance. The study collects data from 404 enterprises located in Chinese and Pakistani territories, involved in cross-border supply chain operations. Both countries' sample has great relevance due to the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), which possesses several positive fallouts in terms of technology spillovers across firms. Using the partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) modeling framework, this study provides three key findings. First, BCT significantly improves the circular economy practices (circular procurement, circular design, recycling, and remanufacturing). Second, CE practices help improve firms' environmental performance and stimulate their financial performance. Third, higher eco-environmental performance significantly boosts organizational performance. This study sets out the foundations for participating countries/firms that simultaneously achieve financial and sustainable goals by integrating blockchain technology in circular economy practices.     

Multivariate-based Granger causality between financial deepening and poverty: the case of Pakistan

This paper deals with the empirical investigation of causal relationship between financial deepening, economic growth and poverty reduction using quarter frequency data in case of Pakistan over the period of 1972–2011. We applied the autoregressive distributed lag model bounds testing approach by incorporating structural breaks stemming in the series. The order of integration of the variables is examined by applying structural break unit root test. Our empirical exercise indicated that the long run relationship between financial deepening, economic growth and poverty reduction exists in case of Pakistan. The causality analysis implied that causality results are sensitive with the use of proxy for poverty reduction.     

Data collection for a doctoral study among natives living abroad: revisiting the challenges and strategies undertaken

Quality & Quantity - This paper is based on the first author’s PhD research data collection experiences conducted with his country people who work and live as migrant workers in the...     

Regular Effective Demand Systems (REDS)

Empirical demand analysis is usually conducted on the basis of either ‘regularity’ or ‘flexibility’. This paper takes a middle ground between ‘regularity’ and ‘flexibility’, offering a compromise in the form of a new specification termed ‘REDS’.