Lahore Journal of Economics最新文献

{"title":"Unskilled Migration, Child labor and Human Capital Accumulation of Children in the Presence of Parental Absenteeism","authors":"Yumna Hasan, Waqar Wadho","doi":"10.35536/LJE.2020.V25.I2.A5","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.35536/LJE.2020.V25.I2.A5","url":null,"abstract":"Temporary unskilled migration and the remittancesit generateshavethe potential to reduce child labor and improve educational outcomes in developing countries. However, recent literature points towards the adverse impact of the parental absenteeism on children left behind. We build a theoretical model to explore the joint impact of remittances and parental absenteeism on child labor and human capital formation of children left behind in the context of unskilled workers’ migration. We find threshold conditions for the relative wage of source to destination countriesbeyond which unskilled migration helps in reducing child labor and increasing human capital. Moreover, the threshold is endogenous and depends on the sensitivity of human capital formation to parental absenteeism relative to the child’s time spent on acquiring human capital. In a special case when the former is equal to the latter, the wages in the destination country should at least be twice as much as in the source country to have a detrimental (promoting) impact on child labor (human capital formation). Since the importance of parental absenteeism would depend on a variety of sociocultural factors such as marriage, presence of extended families, religious communities, and social networks, there will be heterogeneity in the impact of unskilled migration.","PeriodicalId":198286,"journal":{"name":"Lahore Journal of Economics","volume":"6 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"129106148","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Trade Agreements and Export Creation: An Empirical Analysis of Pakistan’s Exports at Industry Level","authors":"T. Qureshi, Anwar Shah","doi":"10.35536/LJE.2020.V25.I2.A4","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.35536/LJE.2020.V25.I2.A4","url":null,"abstract":"This paper examinespatternsof export creation and diversion by analyzing Pakistan’s trade agreements at the two-digit industry level for all 88 export-oriented industries. We compare the net change in exports with nine free trade agreement (FTA) partners and the top15 partners with most-favored nation (MFN)status. We find that 45 industries account for USD4.1 billion inexport creation across all Pakistan’s FTA partners.Here, net exports increase after FTAs with both FTA and MFN partners. Conversely, export diversion worth USD137million occurs in 10 industries with all FTA partners as net exports to FTA partners rise while net exports to MFN partners fall. In the same manner, we find that net exports in 33 industries declined by USD500 million with FTA and MFN partners. The totalnet exports addition after FTAs was USD3.5 billion or,on average,USD350 million annually,accounting for about 1.4 percent of Pakistan’s total annual goods exports. On average, Pakistan has successfullycreatedexports in half itsexport-oriented industries, althoughhighly subsidized industries exhibit either export diversion or a net decline with both MFN and FTA partners. A difference-in-differenceanalysis shows that exports to China and Mauritius rose significantly while the remainingseven FTA partners did not have a significant increase in exports after the FTAs were implemented. In view of these findings, wesuggest revisiting the policy of export subsidies.","PeriodicalId":198286,"journal":{"name":"Lahore Journal of Economics","volume":"229 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"122118258","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Pakistan’s Balance-of-Payments Crisis and Some Policy Options","authors":"Moazam Mahmood, Shamyla Chaudry","doi":"10.35536/LJE.2020.V25.I2.A3","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.35536/LJE.2020.V25.I2.A3","url":null,"abstract":"Neoclassical price theory, and its extension to IMF country advice, argues that balance-of-payments crises such as Pakistan’s are better resolved by depreciating the exchange rate, making exports cheaper and imports dearer. We argue that a partial equilibrium analysis of just the tradeable goods market on the current account side ignores the capital market on the capital account side, where an increase in outflows allows no equilibrium value for the exchange rate, through a phenomenon dubbed ‘depreciationary expectations’, akin to inflationary expectations. Thisphenomenon will not allow the exchange rate to settle at an equilibrium level, leading to a vicious downward cycle. In such a case,capital controls may well be needed to counter the downward cycle, allowing a return to growth.","PeriodicalId":198286,"journal":{"name":"Lahore Journal of Economics","volume":"1 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"116232578","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Regional Economic Integration and Productivity Convergence: Empirical Evidence from East Asia","authors":"Maryam Ishaq","doi":"10.35536/LJE.2020.V25.I2.A2","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.35536/LJE.2020.V25.I2.A2","url":null,"abstract":"The study attempts to seek evidence on regional economic integrationin driving labor productivity convergence in low-and middle-income East Asian states towards Japan, the country assumed to be the regional technology leader. The labor productivity convergence of low-and middle-income East Asian countries towards their rich neighbor is modelled against their national levels of innovation, technology spill-oversfrom the regional economic leader and their productivity differential with the frontier country. The hypothesized relationship is empirically verified for seven East Asian states, using a robust econometric approach. The time-series test estimates under Error Correction Representation yield absolute support in favor of valid productivity convergence occurring between Japan and its low-and middle income neighbors. However, panel data estimates generated with better statistical power outperform the time-series test findingsand these results reject the significance of Japan as the regional productivity growth driver for its regionaldevelopingstates.","PeriodicalId":198286,"journal":{"name":"Lahore Journal of Economics","volume":"45 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"115450974","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"An Analysis of the Cost Structure of Food Industries in Pakistan: An Application of the Translog Cost Function","authors":"S. Hussain, Uzma Nisar, W. Akram","doi":"10.35536/LJE.2020.V25.I2.A1","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.35536/LJE.2020.V25.I2.A1","url":null,"abstract":"Given the importance of food industriesin Pakistan, this studyanalyzestheircost structure by estimating thetranscendental logarithmic cost function. The study also considers elasticity of substitution along with own-price elasticity and cross-price elasticity. Four factor inputs,i.e.,labor, capital, energy,and materials,are used toestimatethe cost function. The results indicate that materialsaccount for the highest share of the cost. The elasticity of substitution of materialsfor capital and energy is also weak. The own-price elasticities indicate that the demand for materialsis least responsive to a change in its own price while the demand for other inputs varies with price. The cross-priceelasticities show that labor, capital and energy are substitutes foreach other. The output elasticity of cost demonstrates the presence of economies of scale.","PeriodicalId":198286,"journal":{"name":"Lahore Journal of Economics","volume":"67 2 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"132215851","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Energy Consumption and Greening: Strategic Directionsfor Pakistan","authors":"R. Rasiah, M. Mubarik","doi":"10.35536/lje.2020.v25.i1.a3","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.35536/lje.2020.v25.i1.a3","url":null,"abstract":"WecomparePakistan's energy consumption structures toselected East Asian economies with a view towards ensuringan adequate supply ofpowerforeconomic catch-up and,at the same time,meeting the greening goalsenvisioned by the United Nations Framework Convention for Climate Change. The evidence shows that Pakistan relies significantly lesson non-renewable energy to meet its energy demandscompared to China, Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, and Thailand,while itsdependence on fossil fuels has been rising rapidly.Usingdata forPakistan from 1960 to 2015, we deployed panel co-integration and Granger causality teststo analyse selected East and Southeast Asian countriesbefore exploring what it will takefor Pakistan to develop itsrenewable energy(RE)sector. The evidence showsthat catching up economically with these countriesthrough rapid GDP per capita growthwill exacerbate Pakistan’scurrent energy imbalance,thereby aggravating greenhouse gas (GHG) and carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions.We argue that Pakistan enjoys strong endowments to avert this problem, and hence, it should strategicallyfocus on the development of RE resources, especially solar and windenergy,but only after taking account the relevant costs.","PeriodicalId":198286,"journal":{"name":"Lahore Journal of Economics","volume":"2 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"117145469","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"A Policy Move towardsSustainable Urban Transport in Pakistan: Measuring the Social, Environmental and Economic Impacts of Lahore BRT System","authors":"Irem Batool, M. Irshad, Muhammad Abid","doi":"10.35536/lje.2020.v25.i1.a2","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.35536/lje.2020.v25.i1.a2","url":null,"abstract":"We examine the impacts of a sustainable urban transport initiative, the first Bus Rapid Transit System launched in Lahore, Pakistan in year 2013. We measure the socio-economic and environmental impacts of the BRT using a questionnaire-based survey that collected information on customers’ travel purpose, travel frequency, travel time, mode access, previous travel mode choices (pre-BRT) and travel mode choices at present. We estimate that, on average, a BRT passenger saves about 46 minutes per day on a single trip. However, the modal shift from personal automobiles to the BRT system is found to be only 4 percent, i.e., significantly less than the shift found in other worldwide BRT systems. Moreover, we estimate the reduction in the number of private vehicles on roads, total distance travelled in km and associated travelling costs and, subsequently, the reduction in the carbon emissions. We conclude that the Lahore BRT transit system needs to be expanded to other parts of the city. * Department of Management Sciences, COMSATS University Islamabad, Sahiwal Campus, Pakistan. Email: irembatool@cuisahiwal.edu.pk ** Department of Management Sciences, COMSATS University Islamabad, Sahiwal Campus, Pakistan. Email: acuteacademy@gmail.com *** Department of Mechanical Engineering, COMSATS University Islamabad, Wah Campus, Pakistan. Email: m.abid@ciitwah.edu.pk The authors are thankful to Punjab Mass-transit Authority (PMA) for its support in data collection process from the Lahore Metro Bus passengers during their journeys. This research was partially funded by the German Academic Exchange Commission (DAAD) under the German–Pakistani joint collaborative research project titled “Determinants of (De-) Regulation of Transport Markets (DAAD–No.57063183)” between Institute of Transport Economics (IVM), University of Muenster, Germany and COMSATS University Islamabad, Sahiwal Campus. Authors are thankful to Prof. Dr. Gernot Sieg (Director, IVM) for his tremendous support and valuable suggestions during the entire period of research. The authors are also thankful to Punjab Mass-transit Authority (PMA) for its support in data collection from the Lahore BRT passengers during their journeys. Social, Environmental and Economic Impact of Lahore BRT System 28","PeriodicalId":198286,"journal":{"name":"Lahore Journal of Economics","volume":"5 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"125365425","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"China’s Belt and Road Initiative and the Rise of Yuan –Evidence from Pakistan","authors":"Jamshed Y. Uppal, Syeda Rabab Mudakkar","doi":"10.35536/lje.2020.v25.i1.a1","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.35536/lje.2020.v25.i1.a1","url":null,"abstract":"The Chinese yuan is poised to become an international currency and play a major role in global finance which will have significant consequences for countries, like Pakistan, which have recently seen large inflows of the Chinese capital. This paper presents empirical evidence of the evolving nature of the yuan, as reflected in the statistical distribution of the exchange rate, with a particular focus on the period after the initiation of Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) projects. We observe that the currency’s empirical distribution exhibits tell-tale characteristics of a managed currency. Over time, though the yuan’s statistical properties have converged towards those of other hard currencies, they still remain distinct. We find that there is a long-term trend of increasing correlations over time as indicated by the Dynamic Conditional Correlations (DCC), which is pronounced in the post BRI period. Furthermore, the yuan is increasingly being influenced by other major currencies in the recent periods, indicating increasingly integration of the currency in global foreign exchange markets. This article discusses the implications of the rise of the yuan for the management of Pakistan’s foreign currency reserves and exchange rate: it should be driven by the yuan’s evolving convertibility, credibility and liquidity.","PeriodicalId":198286,"journal":{"name":"Lahore Journal of Economics","volume":"38 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"130338233","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Are Agricultural Markets in the Punjab Technically Efficient?","authors":"Mahniya Zafar, Naved Hamid, F. Arshad","doi":"10.35536/lje.2020.v25.i1.a4","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.35536/lje.2020.v25.i1.a4","url":null,"abstract":"We test the technical efficiency, measured by the degree of integration, of agriculture markets for five crops in the Punjab province of Pakistan using daily wholesale market prices from the Agriculture Management Information System (AMIS). We find that potato, onion and mango markets are well integrated both horizontally and vertically, with the speed of price adjustment in most cases (mango is the exception) being very rapid. We also find that kinnow and basmati rice markets are both vertically fairly well integrated. Furthermore, we find that trends in cropping patterns over the period 2000 to 2014 are in line with the changing market demand and government price interventions. The reforms introduced by the Punjab Agriculture Marketing Regulatory Authority (PAMRA) Act 2020, aimed at increasing competition in agriculture markets, have the potential to significantly improve economic efficiency.","PeriodicalId":198286,"journal":{"name":"Lahore Journal of Economics","volume":"1 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"125826760","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Foreign Aid, Political Institutions and Economic Freedom: Empirical Evidence from Selected Developing Countries","authors":"MirajulHaq MirajulHaq, Nuzhat Shamim, M. Luqman","doi":"10.35536/lje.2020.v25.i1.a6","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.35536/lje.2020.v25.i1.a6","url":null,"abstract":"This article empirically examines the effects of foreign aid on economic freedom while considering the mediating role of political institutions. We contribute to the literature in two ways. First, we provide an empirical analysis of how different types of foreign aid affect the economic freedom of the receiving country. Second, we provide evidence regarding how political institutions mediate the foreign aid/economic freedom relationship. We use IV and GMM techniques to test a model using data from 40 developing countries covering the time period 1985 to 2016. Our analysis yields three main findings. First, democratic and politically stable countries enjoy more economic freedom. Second, foreign aid’s net effect is to reduce economic freedom, whether we consider official development assistance (ODA) or net official assistance (NOA). Finally, economic freedom increases with both types of foreign aid if the receiving country’s political institutions are more democratic and/or durable.","PeriodicalId":198286,"journal":{"name":"Lahore Journal of Economics","volume":"1 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"116397670","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}