Does export variety determine economic growth in Pakistan?

This study explores the impact of export variety on economic growth in Pakistan. Export variety is decomposed into export related (within sector) and unrelated variety (between sectors) to examine the long run effect of export related variety and unrelated variety on economic growth. For this purpose, we incorporated export related variety and unrelated variety into the production function. The result of cointegration test shows that variables of the study are cointegrated in the long run. The result of fully modified ordinary least squares confirms the positive and significant effect of export related variety and unrelated variety on economic growth. Furthermore, the long run estimates show that the magnitude of export related variety is more than export unrelated variety. This study also finds the positive and significant effect of human capital on economic growth in the long run. It can be deduced from the results of the study that a specific sector shock will not disturb the economic pace of Pakistan.     

Rural families food intake behaviour in relation to livelihood diversification,income differences and family size

The livelihood diversification significantly contributes to the family income having effect on food varieties' consumption in rural families of different sizes. This study investigated the food intake differences among rural families considering different income levels and family sizes. Moreover, barriers faced by the rural families to increase the consumption of food varieties were also analysed. A total of 200 rural families were selected through multistage purposive and random sampling techniques in the Punjab province of Pakistan and were directly interviewed and categorized first into low and high livelihood diversified families. The food groups were derived by assigning individual food to conventional food group taxonomies, and two‐way ANOVA (4 (income groups) × 3 (family size groups) was separately conducted for low and high livelihood diversified families. The income instability, prices of food items, market distance and storage were perceived as barriers for increasing food consumption. The high livelihood diversified families significantly and regularly consumed more food items than low diversified families. The rural households both in low and high livelihood diversified family categories having low income and high family size consumed less expensive food items. The regular consumption of fruits, bakery products, and livestock and dairy items was greatly associated with high income and small family size. One of the most remarkable findings of the multivariate multiple regression model was the households belonging to the lowest income group were significantly lowering the consumption of livestock and dairy food items as the family size increased from small to large family size. The interaction effect was highly associated with per capita income because the consumption of food items increased with the rise in income irrespective of the family size. However, family size groups showed different patterns of food intakes with different income levels. Government agencies should assist rural households to diversify their income portfolios for better nutrition.     

Linking Customer Engagement to Trust and Word-of-Mouth on Facebook Brand Communities: An Empirical Study

Given the rise of social networking sites, particularly Facebook, companies have started engaging with customers in this newly emerged digital space. This study explores the role of customer engagement in enhancing trust and word-of-mouth on brand communities over Facebook. The effect of customer involvement on customer engagement is also checked. This study also investigates the direct relationship of customer involvement with trust and word-of-mouth. A pen-and-paper questionnaire survey of 450 Facebook account holder students was used. Data were analyzed using structural equation modeling. The results reveal that a higher level of involvement with the brand community leads to a higher level of customer engagement. Customer engagement leads to customer trust and word-of-mouth activities. The results further suggest a direct positive relationship of customer involvement with trust and word-of-mouth, but the mediation of customer engagement strengthens the mentioned effect.     

Forecasting the Dynamics of the Depletion of Conventional Energy Resources

The paper presents the results of forecasting the dynamics of the depletion of conventional energy resources, including hydrocarbons (coal, oil, natural gas) and natural uranium, which currently form the mainstay of the energy supply of the economy. A balance model developed by the authors shows the dynamics of the growing shortage of exhaustible conventional energy resources after 2040 at various energy-consumption rates. For the time being, it is unclear which nonconventional primary energy sources are able to supply advanced commercially acceptable fast-growing energy systems (including capital investment) in order to equalize the rapidly growing primary energy shortages expected in the 1940s. The most advanced energy technology with almost unlimited resources that has reached the near-commercial stage of development can be nuclear fuel breeding.     

Determinants for forecasting technological substitution

This paper investigates the factors determining the rate of technological substitution and evaluates the prospects for forecasting models based on market-share data only. Studies on underlying causes for the substitution of one technology or product by another reveal the frequent presence of a number of factors. These factors are first discussed in general terms so as to establish their causal relationships with the rate of substitution. On the basis of the identified cause-effect relationships, a composite model is formulated that incorporates the impact of individual factors in a combination of additive and multiplicative interactions. The relative importance and sensitivity of different factors in describing the behavior of the substitution process is then studied through a system-dynamics application of the model. Finally, using three specific cases, a comparison is given between the forecasts made by the comprehensive model, incorporating factors that are known to have significant impact on the rate of substitution, with that of a generalized model for forecasting technological substitution.     

Do the BRICs and Emerging Markets Differ in their Agrifood Imports?

This study develops an import demand model to explore the role of income in explaining the trade performance of low‐, middle‐ and high‐income countries with a special emphasis on Brazil, Russia, India and China – the BRIC economies. The study estimates the impact of the growth in per capita income on the trade of agrifood products using data from 52 countries and 20 agrifood products for the years 1990–2006. The results suggest that China, Russia and Brazil now have more income elastic import demands than other middle‐income countries. Conversely, the income elasticities of import demand in India are similar to other low‐income countries and for the most part statistically equal to zero.     

The role of farmers’ attitude towards their resources to alleviate rural household poverty

Quality & Quantity - The key objective of this study is to analyze the moderating effect of farmers’ attitude between the resources of farmer and poverty incidence in rural areas. For...     

Does unionization lead to corporate changes in productivity practices?–insights from Singapore

This paper explores the role of trade unions in influencing corporate change towards productivity improvement for a newly industrialized country– Singapore.Empirical analysis of a sample of firms found unionization to be positively associated with certain productivity practices.The more significant and stronger correlations being the sharing of productivity gains, role Specialization (productivity manager) and productivity as part of corporate policy. Implications of these findings are discussed.

A Sunday Times commentary 2 suggested that, drawing from the Singapore industrial relations experience, trade unions could play a positive role in generating economic growth. If that is seen to be occurring from the macrolevel, it will naturally be interesting to inquire further what effects unionization can have on internal organizational practices, such as in productivity improvement. There may also be practical benefits from having insights into the dynamic forces that are at work when trade unionism is present.

A perspective on the direction (whether positive or negative) and scale of change in the emphasis on productivity improvement practices could help multinational enterprises formulate more effective employee relations policies when operating in Singapore –where tripartite co–operation is the key industrial relations philosophy. Corporations that are in the process of

being unionized may be able to appreciate that resulting change to their operating environments as a consequence of unionization need nor always be unfavourable.Management operating in unionized contexts could rethink their industrial relations strategies in light of the findings here –that it is quite possible to work with trade unions to enhance corporate productivity.

Most significantly, such findings could foster a greater determination by both the management and unions in engendering a co-operative industrial relations climate.This is particularly relevant for corporations operating in countries such as Britain, where industrial relations are traditionally less harmonious.To survive in the increasingly global competition of the 1990s and beyond, Western businesses will need co-operative industrial relations that help to foster productivity improvement efforts. This theme isfurther explored in the last section of the paper.     

Does market discipline impact bank charter value? The case for Australia and Canada

This study analyses the relation between market discipline and bank charter value using a panel data set of publicly listed domestic banks in Australia and Canada over the period of 1995–2011, with a focus on the 2007–2008 global financial crisis (GFC). Overall, the results show a positive relation between market discipline and bank charter value, but this relation is weaker in the post‐GFC period. Our findings reveal that in the presence of market discipline, bank capital, contingent liabilities and non‐interest income are important sources of charter value. These findings have important policy implications related to bank stability. The results are robust to several model specifications.     

INSTITUTIONAL DEVELOPMENT: SKILL TRANSFERENCE THROUGH A REVERSAL OF 'HUMAN CAPITAL FLIGHT' OR TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE

Abstract.  We examine the issue of technical assistance versus brain drain repatriation as alternative strategies for transferring scarce skills to a skill-poor economy. Technical assistance relies mainly on expatriate skills and labour from the host country, while brain drain repatriation seeks to effect a return of skills that might have been lost in migration. We show that, even in the simplest setting with imperfect information, a surprisingly rich menu of responses is obtained.