Export taxes and sectoral economic growth: evidence from cotton and yarn markets in Pakistan

Pakistan used an export tax on raw cotton from 1988-1995 in order to suppress the internal price of cotton to benefit the domestic yarn industry. An analysis was conducted to estimate the impact of this policy on both the cotton and yarn sectors. These effects were simulated using the results ol a structural econometric model of these sectors of Pakistan's economy Results indicated that the export tax had a negative impact on the growth rale in the cotton sector, while having little or no impact on the yarn sector. Thus, the export lax did not achieve its objective of increasing the growth rate of value-added (yarn) production above what would have occurred naturally.     

Asymmetric impact of oil prices,exchange rate,and inflation on tourism demand in Pakistan: new evidence from nonlinear ARDL

This study scrutinized the asymmetric impact of oil prices, exchange rate, and inflation on tourism demand in Pakistan using [Shin, Y., Yu, B., & Greenwood-Nimmo, M. (2014) Modelling asymmetric cointegration and dynamic multipliers in a nonlinear ARDL framework. In Festschrift in honor of peter schmidt (pp. 281–314). New York, NY: Springer] nonlinear autoregressive distributed lag (NARDL) model. The NARDL bounds test examined the existence of cointegration in study variables, including CO₂ emissions, institutional quality, oil prices, exchange rate, inflation, and tourism demand. The evidence proposes that disregarding the intrinsic nonlinearities may misinform inference. The estimated NARDL model affirmed long-run negative and significant effect of CO₂ emissions on tourism demand, while institutional quality was positively associated with tourism demand. Furthermore, the findings of the study also suggested long-run asymmetric relationship between oil prices, exchange rate, inflation, and tourism demand.     

Global networks as a mode of balance for exploratory innovations in a late liberalizing economy

This article suggests that under weak institutional arrangements, adverse economic conditions, and institutional voids in a late liberalizing economy, local firms that are part of the global value chains of multinational enterprises develop international networks as a balancing strategy to engage in exploratory innovations. We argue that local firms do so in order to counter the negative influences of local institutions on exploratory innovations. Using exploratory in-depth qualitative analysis, we study the suppliers of motorcycle parts in Pakistan that are working with leading Japanese and Chinese motorcycle assemblers. The results suggest that in adverse economic situations local institutional factors can sustain only the development of exploitative innovations. As a balancing strategy, motorcycle part suppliers develop international networks with global Tier 1 suppliers, international trade fairs, and international institutions. This strategy helps circumvent the negative influence of home institutional factors on developing exploratory innovations. Our study highlights the importance of global networks as a balancing strategy for creating exploratory innovations by firms in a late liberalizing economy.     

Labour effects of foreign and domestic remittances – evidence from Pakistan

Remittances are playing an increasingly important role in the economies of developing countries. In this paper, we study the effects of these flows on Pakistan’s labour market. We employ the 2007–2008 Household Integrated Economic Survey and Probit as well as Propensity Score Matching techniques to examine the impact on labour participation, quantity of work and activities of working as well as non-active members of remittance-receiving households. We find that both foreign and domestic remittances tend to lower labour supply of the recipient households. This impact is higher among women and among the young. The impact is more pronounced in the rural areas. In addition, foreign remittances increase the likelihood of household members attending middle school. We also examine the quantity of labour supplied by the remittance-recipient households. Results show little difference in the number of months and days worked between the households receiving and not receiving remittances. Furthermore, we find that the likelihood of being self-employed and cultivating one’s own land is higher among remittance recipients. In sum, our analysis highlights a higher role of foreign remittances in the labour market as compared to internal remittances.     

The Recreational Value of Rohtas Fort,Pakistan

This study evaluates the use value of Rohtas Fort, in province Punjab (Pakistan). Employing the Individual Travel Cost Method, the study estimated the total annual consumer surplus as US$ 8.71 million and the total recreational value as US$ 11.70 million (which is 0.05% of total GDP of Pakistan in the year 2013). The major influencing factors of visitation frequency were observed as travel cost, household income, age, household size, education and sex. Visitors were highly satisfied from the museum as against the waste disposal services. Cleanliness is a major problem faced by visitors with the highest priority index value of 0.88. Based on high willingness to pay for the entrance fee, the authority can increase the entrance fee which will add to the revenue generation for the Fort and ultimately the authority would have resources for renovation/maintenance projects. The authority should arrange the appropriate waste disposal system for the Fort.     

Impact of contract farming on land productivity and income of maize and potato growers in Pakistan

While the positive income effect of contract farming is well established in the literature, the heterogeneity of effects for different crops has not been widely investigated. This study compares the income and productivity effects of large-scale contract farming under contract schemes for potatoes and maize in Pakistan. In the area of the study, maize is a common staple crop, widely available in the market, while the potatoes produced by contract farmers are a special variety not sold in the market. We find that potato contracting is associated with significantly higher income for participating farmers, while maize contracting has no association with either income or productivity. We found no negative association between contract participation and income from other sources. Taken together, these results show a higher total household income for potato contract farmers. We also show unique evidence that potato contract farmers tend to employ more skilled workers under a salary system for the management of farms, which implies that contract farming may have positive spillover effects in the skilled labor market. Neither scheme, however, is associated with larger employment of agricultural labor for simple tasks.     

‘Intended’ and ‘implemented’ HRM: the missing linchpin in strategic human resource management research

We argue that inconclusive findings in the SHRM literature regarding the relationship between HRM systems and organizational performance may result primarily from methodological weaknesses and a failure of researchers to distinguish between HR practices intended by the organizations and those actually implemented. Rather than relying upon a single respondent per organization as is the norm, we contrast reports of both managers and non-managers from inside and outside HR departments to highlight differences between intended and implemented HRM. The findings, arrived at with the help of 195 interviews, 508 questionnaire responses and several company documents, support our expectation: implemented HRM may be substantially different from intended HRM; consistent implementation increases employee satisfaction with HRM, which is positively related to organizational performance. The current study thus highlights new factors that require attention in developing HR–performance analyses and also suggests that a mere imitation of HRM in the hopes of improving organizational performance creates no value. It is crucial that HR departments and managers remain committed and supportive to the development of effective HRM systems by focusing upon actual ‘implementation’ within their organizations.     

Female Social Networks: Identifying Better Communication Platforms to Advertise Nonprofit Services in Rural Pakistan

Women’s access to nonprofit organizations providing financial and community services is an issue in remote areas of Pakistan. Weak communication of nonprofit services to potential female clientele is a significant barrier to women’s access to nonprofit services. This article examines how personal networks among women in remote areas may improve the information delivery about the women-focused nonprofit projects in Pakistan. The women’s networks also play a critical role in members’ motivating each other to join the services offered by the nonprofit organizations. The study used concepts of network and social capital and current network analysis techniques. Data from three remote locations in Pakistan were analyzed using a 2-mode network analysis, content analysis of nonprofit websites, and face-to-face interviews. UCINET software program identified network routines (centrality measures).

The study found that friends, neighbors, and local schools are significant information sources for women. Most information about income-producing projects came from their spouses. Information about social services came from friends, neighbors, or social gatherings. Husbands have high betweenness centrality indicating high power over women’s access to services. Closeness centrality measures indicate that women are not well connected for exchanging information on nonprofit services.     

New development: Turning around failing schools—lessons from Lahore

This article reviews the operation of two improvement partnerships in Pakistan, where third sector organizations adopted selected state schools. The authors reflect on the lessons arising from both schemes in the light of the Institute of Educational Sciences’ (IES) guidance on turning around schools. Although the operation of both partnership schemes is context specific, the findings should nevertheless be of interest to policy-makers in other countries. They also show how some aspects of the IES’s guidance may need to be adapted and augmented, especially in the context of developing countries.