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This article analysed gender disparities in Pakistan focusing on access to primary education and women's education in light of National Education policies from 1947 to 2017 to achieve universal primary education. This study aimed to trace the evolution of National Education policies (1947–2017) in the attainment of universal primary education and gender disparities in Primary education in Pakistan. A qualitative document analysis technique was employed to extract relevant data related to policy objectives, strategies, and targets of primary education, gender disparities, and women's education. The quantitative data was extracted from the Pakistan Economic Survey 2022–2023, Pakistan Education Statistics 2020–2021, and all National Census 1951, 1961, 1972, 1981, 1998, and 2017. The study found that education policies highlighted the importance of primary education but did not dedicate larger sections to women's education in the first 40 years. The recent education policies addressed the importance of women's education for achieving gender parity. These findings, which stem from a review of national education policies' documents, are in line with the findings drawn from the quantitative data extracted from authoritative reports which stated that significant gender disparities existed in the numbers of primary schools, access to primary education, and students' enrolments throughout the history of Pakistan. The study also found significant gender disparities in the number of primary schools per 100,000 children, with male students comparatively attending schools more than female students. The study found consistent gender disparities in primary education enrolment in Pakistan with notable progress in recent years but have not been able to eliminate these disparities. Gender disparity is evident in literacy rate, gross enrolment rate (GER), and net enrolment rate (NER). The study recommended that the revision of existing policies and formulation of new education policies should be based on comprehensive documentation on women's education and its impact on the economy, literacy rate, and universal primary education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Poverty is a big threat to prosperity in developing countries like Pakistan. Alleviating poverty needs concerted efforts including how to measure and analyze poverty. Therefore, this paper employs synthetic panel technique and uses repeated cross-sections household survey dataset (Household Integrated and Economic Survey (HIES)) of Pakistan for 2010–11 and 2015–16, to derive poverty bounds for Pakistan. The findings of the paper suggest that 17% of population still remains in poverty in 2015–16 as they were in 2010–11. They don't move in or out of poverty. In the same periods 19% population affected by poverty. The 2.5% poor's of 2010–11 moves out of poverty in 2015–16. This constitutes the first attempt to provide an insight into poverty dynamics in Pakistan using the available survey data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aims an investigating the impact of the agricultural sector on the economic growth of Pakistan. Johansen co-integration was used to show the long-run relation between livestock, fisheries, major crops, minor crops, gross capital formation, and economic growth in Pakistan. The data were taken from the Pakistan Economic Surveys for the period 1987-2017. The Vector-Correction Model results show that in the short run livestock and fisheries have a negative and insignificant effect on growth. The significant negative value of the Vector Error Correction Model coefficients shows that the parameters will do adjustment and return to equilibrium in the long run. The co-integration results showed a positive link between sub-sectors of agriculture and economic growth. The study is crucial for policy makers regarding the promotion of agricultural sector. The agriculture sector is very important for the growth of Pakistan’s economy, but it has not been given due importance. The study recommends the formulation of suitable policies to promote the livestock and fisheries sector in Pakistan to raise the sources of foreign revenue. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper panel analysis is being carried on original Relative Income Hypothesis (RIH) and its other modifications over the time span of 1998 to 2015. To furnish reliable and appropriate estimation, Households Integrated Economic Surveys (HIES) based consumption and income variables have been gone through various stages of data filtering. The findings of Feasible Generalized Least Squares (FGLS) significantly validate the relevance of three types of ratchet effects (income, consumption and habit) in provinces. Average Propensity to Consume is highest for Baluchi's households followed respectively by Pashtuns, Punjabi, and Sindhi. The selection of constant slop model implies that province-wise there is no difference in magnitudes of ratchet effect obtained from various versions of RIH. All provinces make adjustments in long run to their consumption in response to income fluctuations. Estimated marginal consumption propensities are according to economic theory that shows smooth consumption path in short run as well in the long run. Polices should be formulated to switch consumer mind set from consumption oriented to saving oriented with the help of appropriate tool of fiscal and monetary policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Household Integrated Economic Surveys (HIES) of the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) reveal a low level of income inequality in Pakistan. However, this is due to large sampling and non-sampling errors. Appropriate adjustments for the size and inequality in income from different sources reveal that inequality is much higher. The Gini coefficient rises by over 30 per cent and a new measure of inequality, the Pashum ratio, by 42 per cent. Numerous policy implications are derived from the findings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: This study's main objective was to examine the progress of provinces towards UHC using several tracer indicators (six for health service coverage and two for financial protection) from 2001 to 2014 and to assess inequities within provinces due to place of residence and economic status. Methods: For elaborate tracking, inequities were assessed for each indicator based on average annual rates of change and percentage changes in the gap between sub-population groups. For policy makers, spider radar graphs were generated to demonstrate UHC status in 2014, and a composite UHC index was created to show trends from 2001-14. Four Household Integrated Economic Survey data sets (2001-02, 2004-05, 2010-11, 2013-14), each with a sample size of about 15,000 households, were used for the analysis. Results: Overall, all four provinces made progress in their UHC index values over the study period. Coverage for most of treatment indicators remained below 70% and inequities existed among sub-population groups. Coverage of financial protection indicators remained above 90% for all the provinces across study duration and no substantial differences were found between and within provinces. Conclusion: Simultaneous monitoring of both dimensions of UHC enabled the authors to comment on the holistic picture of UHC status and data blind spots, and to avoid inappropriate interpretations about a single dimension. Higher level of financial protection with limited health services coverage was most likely due to non-utilization of health services and/or unmet health needs. The findings will likely serve as a baseline for tracking progress towards UHC at the sub-national level in the country. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The dynamics of poverty have become a controversial issue and one of the most common socio-economic problems in global economies, especially in developing economies as a whole. As per the importance of precise dilemma, the current study examines single as well as multidimensional poverty in the agro-climatic zones of Punjab, Pakistan, for the last 8 years from 2011–2012 to 2018–2019 by utilizing four available latest HIES (Household Integrated Economic Survey) datasets taken from the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS). This study uses a couple of indexing methods, namely FGT (1984) and Alkire and Foster (2007). Temporal analysis of the first measure of poverty demonstrates that with a shorter (longer) time gap, poverty presents a hybrid (declining) trend in the uni-dimensional spectrum in the province of Punjab and its agro-climatic zones. While population decomposition for uni-dimensional poverty validates that residences of cotton-wheat Punjab and lower intensity Punjab is the major contributor to overall province poverty. Thus, to diminish poverty in a single-dimensional context, it is the need of time to take emergency steps like uplift economic growth, lessen income inequalities, and create job opportunities by the government for the improvement of the living standard of the residences of the overall province with special consideration on both these most affected zones. Similarly, calculations of the second measure of multidimensional poverty reveal that poverty also presents a hybrid (declining) trend with a shorter (longer) span of time in the overall province and all agro-climatic zones with the exception of the wheat-rice zone. However, dimensional decomposition for multidimensional poverty index demarcates that education and health are the major contributors to MDP, and declining the households' deprivation in both these dimensions is relatively helpful to nippy fall in poverty in the study area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The objective of this study is to analyze household demand system for Pakistan by estimating various elasticities of demand. This study combines nine different rounds of Household Integrated Economic Survey data to estimate Almost Ideal Demand System (AIDS). Household level data are supplemented with rich price information available for all the twelve months of the nine years. This approach yields efficient estimates of income and price elasticities, which are non-linear combinations of the parameters of AIDS. Standard errors for all the elasticity estimates are computed on the basis of Monte-Carlo simulations. The results show that household demand responses to income changes are similar between rural and urban households, while the response to price changes differ considerably. On average, rural households are found to be more responsive to price changes than the urban households. The study recommends that on equity grounds transport and communication and miscellaneous non-food goods and housing can be taxed more heavily as compared to other goods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study analyzes to which extent the distribution of consumption is affected by the relative wage movement among birth cohorts and education groups. Our empirical design is based on a synthetic panel constructed using repeated cross-sectional data from "Household Integrated Economic Survey of Pakistan." We limit our analysis to persons aged between 26 to 50 years at the time of survey. To see the evolution of change in income and consumption we measured growth by taking 6, 8- and 10-years' difference respectively. The findings ascertained there is limited risk-sharing across cohorteducation groups in Pakistan, but the measured extent of risk-sharing increases over longer horizons. Furthermore, we observe relatively higher consumption smoothing among the less educated people over the period of ten years. In the university education group, results reveal less consumption smoothing in the shorter, six- and eight-year time periods. The study concludes that the relative risk-sharing over a decade is better in Pakistan than the shorter growth horizon. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the recent times agriculture sector has been considered as one of the most affected sectors by climate change. Climatic factors that have direct influence on agricultural productivity are: rise in temperature, heavy rainfall, precipitation, floods and drought etc. This paper has empirically examined the effect of climatic variations on cotton productivity in Pakistan. In order to evaluate the climate change, three climatic variables (rainfall, max. temp and min temp) and three non-climatic variables (technology, fertilizer and area) had been used for analysis. Historical climate data from 1981-2015, was collected from Pakistan Meteorological Department, while data of Technology, fertilizer and cotton area has been gathered from Pakistan Economic Survey. ARDL bound testing econometric approach was employed to gauge the empirical estimates. The outcomes of cointegration shows that all climate variables have statistically substantial effect on cotton productivity in Pakistan. Both rain-fall and maximum temperature have positive effects while minimum temperature has negative effects on cotton production. Furthermore, both fertilizer and area have positive impact on cotton production. long run cointegrating relationship holds among climate change variables and cotton productivity. mitigating negative impressions of climate change requires strategies focusing on the adaptation of climate resistant cultivars. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dynamics of poverty has become a debatable issue and has emerged as one of the most common socioeconomic challenge across the developing world. The present research examines the issue of poverty in the multidimensional spectrum across the agro-climatic zones in Punjab Province of Pakistan on the basis of Pakistan Social and Living Standard Management (PSLM)/Household Integrated Economic Survey (HIES) data (1998–1999 to 2013–2014). The study employed Alkire and Foster methodology and analyzed that the dynamics of multidimensional poverty across agro-climatic zones exhibits mixed trends. Overall estimates designate a significant decline over the decade, whereas slower declining pace was mainly attributed to the wider deprivation of different socioeconomic spheres of well-being. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Agriculture is one of the major sectors of the economy of Pakistan. It contributes 42.3 percent of the labour force and 18.9 percent to GDP of the country. Since its inception, Pakistan's economy is planning to achieve agricultural-led growth to promote economic stability in the country. The present study is an attempt to examine and analyse the nexus of various sub-sectors of agriculture and their contribution to agricultural growth in the country. Data on key variables such as agricultural growth, institutional credit, agro-based industries, Livestock and mechanised inputs are taken from State Bank of Pakistan, World Development Indicators Databases and various issues of Economic Survey of Pakistan for the period 1980-2018. Ordinary least square technique is used to estimate the model. The result shows that Institutional credit is playing a significant role in achieving agricultural growth in the country. The other variables of the model like agro-based industries, livestock, mechanised inputs and agricultural exports have shown a positive impact on agricultural growth and ultimately on the overall GDP growth of the economy. The government needs to allocate more funds for institutional credit, encourage agro-based industries, use of updated technology in the agriculture sector, provide advanced techniques to livestock-related farmers and to promote agricultural exports for foreign exchange earnings to achieve the ultimate goal of agricultural growth in Pakistan. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose The Government of Pakistan has allocated a substantial proportion of agricultural credit to subsistence farmers. The purpose of this paper is to analyze farmers’ access to credit and its adequacy in the light of current agricultural credit policy of Pakistan.Design/methodology/approach The study has used both secondary and primary data for analysis. Secondary data were collected from the annual reports of Pakistan Economic Survey and State Bank of Pakistan. Primary data were collected from 168 subsistence farmers through households’ survey. Farmers’ credit access and credit adequacy were measured using credit access ratio and credit adequacy ratio, respectively. The Student’s t-test and analysis of variance were used to assess the differences in credit access and adequacy among farmers’ groups (i.e. upper, medium and lower subsistence farmers). Tobit regression model was employed to determine the factors influencing credit adequacy among farmers.Findings The empirical results revealed that the amount of credit provided to subsistence farmers was less than stated in the national agricultural credit policy. Upper subsistence farmers had more access to credit than lower and medium subsistence farmers. Lower subsistence farmers had above average access to informal sources of credit, and had below average access to formal sources. The findings also revealed that lower subsistence and medium subsistence farmers had the highest credit inadequacy of funds for investment in agriculture. The results of the Tobit regression revealed that age, education, experience, household size, total landholding of farmer and proportion of own land influenced the agricultural credit adequacy.Practical implications Most of the credit was distributed among the upper subsistence farmers. Lower subsistence farmers were still largely dependent on informal credit for farm production activities. The Government of Pakistan performed poor in the implementation of agricultural credit policy, and has failed to help subsistence farmers in their access to formal credit. It is needed to revamp the agricultural credit policy and facilitate credit acquisition by subsistence farmers, particularly for tenant farmers. It is important that the Government may classify the subsistence farmers into subgroups, and reallocate the funds accordingly. This study has lessons and implications for agricultural finance initiatives in developing countries.Originality/value Previous studies have focused primarily on access to agricultural credit. However, this study has adopted a holistic approach by using secondary and primary data to assess the farmers’ access to credit and adequacy. In addition, limited literature is available to explore the farmers’ accessibility and adequacy of agricultural credit. Furthermore, this study has focused exclusively on the farmers who are living in the flood-prone areas of Pakistan. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A clear and systematic methodology for poverty measurement is lacking for Pakistan which results in differing poverty estimates with divergent patterns and trends. This paper measures poverty in Pakistan by establishing a clear and systematic methodology and demonstrates poverty comparisons. Using the data from Household Integrated Economic Survey 2011-12, over 41.18% population in Pakistan is estimated to be below the poverty line. Poverty is found significantly higher in the rural areas as compared with the urban areas at the national level as well as in all the provinces. Though incidence of poverty appears to be highest in Balochistan, majority of poor are found in Punjab. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The increased socioeconomic inequality in catastrophic health expenditure (CHE) disproportionately affects disadvantaged populations, subjecting them to financial hardships, limiting their access to healthcare, and exacerbating their vulnerability to morbidity. Objectives: This study examines changes in socioeconomic inequality related to CHE and analyzes the contributing factors responsible for these changes in Pakistan between 2010-11 and 2018-19. Methods: This paper extracted the data on out-of-pocket health expenditures from the National Health Accounts for 2009-10 and 2017-18. Sociodemographic information was gathered from the Household Integrated Economic Surveys of 2010-11 and 2018-19. CHE was calculated using budget share and the ability-to-pay approaches. To assess socioeconomic inequality in CHE in 2010-11 and 2018-19, both generalized and standard concentration indices were used, and Wagstaff inequality decomposition analysis was employed to explore the causes of socioeconomic inequality in each year. Further, an Oaxaca-type decomposition was applied to assess changes in socioeconomic inequality in CHE over time. Results: The concentration index reveals that socioeconomic inequality in CHE decreased in 2018-19 compared to 2010-11 in Pakistan. Despite the reduction in inequality, CHE was concentrated among the poor in Pakistan in 2010-11 and 2018-19. The inequality decomposition analysis revealed that wealth status was the main cause of inequality in CHE over time. The upper wealth quantiles indicated a positive contribution, whereas lower quantiles showed a negative contribution to inequality in CHE. Furthermore, urban residence contributed to pro-rich inequality, whereas employed household heads, private healthcare provider, and inpatient healthcare utilization contributed to pro-poor inequality. A noticeable decline in socioeconomic inequality in CHE was observed between 2010 and 2018. However, inequality remained predominantly concentrated among the lower socio-economic strata. Conclusion: These results underscore the need to improve the outreach of subsidized healthcare and expand social safety nets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines the economic consequences of political instability in Pakistan, focusing on its effects on fiscal policy and investor confidence. Pakistan’s history of political turbulence has repeatedly disrupted economic growth, leading to fiscal imbalances, public debt, and diminished investor confidence. Political events often result in short-term fiscal decisions that have long-lasting negative impacts on the economy. The research employs a qualitative approach, analysing secondary data from government reports, economic surveys, and investor sentiment studies to assess the relationship between political instability, fiscal policy, and investment trends. The study finds that political instability contributes to rising budget deficits, inflation, and exchange rate volatility, while also undermining both domestic and foreign investor confidence. Frequent policy reversals and uncertainty further exacerbate economic challenges. To mitigate these effects, the study suggests adopting resilient fiscal frameworks, enhancing transparency in economic governance, and leveraging support from international institutions like the IMF and World Bank during times of political instability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The object of this study is to examine the determinants of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) and its impact on the economy of Pakistan over the period from 1993 to 2012. Two Regression Models have been developed, one; to verify the impact of various variables on the inflow of FDI and the other; to check of effect of FDI on economic growth in Pakistan. The Annual Data of various variables have been collected through various sources like Economic Survey of Pakistan, Economic and Business Review, State Bank of Pakistan and World Bank Indicator. In the 1st Model, the Trade Openness (TO) Gross Domestic Product (GDP), Current Account Balance (CAB), and Foreign Remittances (FREM) shows the insignificant impact on FDI inflow in Pakistan. The 2nd Model comprises, the GDP was dependent variable and the independent variables were Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) Trade Openness (TO)), Labour Force (L. Force) and Domestic Investment (DI). All the independent variables show the insignificant impact on GDP with positive and negative sign of correlation. It has been suggested that Government of Pakistan should take serious measure to improve the economy of Pakistan and improve the policies for foreign investors. The E-views and SPSS software have been used to analyse the data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study estimated quantity, expenditure and quality elasticities for five vegetables namely potato, onion, tomato, cabbage & cauliflower and peas, mostly consumed in Pakistan. A comparison of quality elasticity between urban and rural households is provided using Household Integrated Economic Survey (HIES) data from Pakistan Social and Standards Living Measurement (PSLM) 2010-11. The elasticities of interest were obtained via log-log inverse (LLI) functional form of Engel equation. The quantity and expenditure elasticities remained less than unity with reasonable difference in magnitude across urban and rural households. Quantity and expenditure elasticities of all the vegetables were higher for rural households than urban. Quality elasticities for the products under study were calculated as the difference between the expenditure and the corresponding quantity elasticities. Overall, the quality elasticities turned out to be positive (except tomato) with an estimated value of 0.0328, 0.019, 0.0712 and 0.1115 for potato, onion, cabbage & cauliflower and peas respectively implying that households in Pakistan purchase higher quality vegetables as their income rises. To be more specific, the quality elasticities for potato, cabbage & cauliflower and peas were lower for rural households compared to urban ones, suggesting that urban households are spending relatively more on vegetables quality (except onion and tomato). Hence, from the policy point of view, evidence of positive demand for quality vegetables would facilitate devising food policy for the development of food markets in terms of market segmentation and quality improvements in Pakistan. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Small and Medium Enterprise Sector can be termed as a revenue generation and employment creation in developing economies. The sector is highly cost effective as compared to large scale industries. After independence, Pakistan started with a very weak share of 34 industrial units. During the last six decades economic managers, realizing importance of the small and medium enterprises as a real source for the improvement of economy, formulated various policies for the development of the sector with basic emphasis on the optimal utilization of domestic raw material. In light of those policies, financial and technical institutions were established to provide advisory services and to assist in obtaining credit, training and basic facilities for the development of small and medium enterprises, however, the sectoral contribution of Small and Medium Enterprise Sector in the gross domestic product is not appreciable as against large scale industry, which reveal that the specific needs for the promotion of small and medium enterprises have not been answered in appropriate manner. Consequently, small and medium enterprises of Pakistan are unable to take part in the growing markets of the world. According to the Economic Survey of Pakistan, 2013 the sector constitutes over 90 percent of business in Pakistan and being highly labor intensive, provide employment up to 83 percent work force of the non agricultural labor, contributes 40 percent towards the country's gross domestic product, accounts for 35 percent of the value added in the manufacturing industry and generates 25 percent of manufacturing sector export earnings. The purpose of this paper is to highlight role of the measures and programs in respect of financial, managerial and technical assistance were launched by the economic managers and planners of Pakistan for the improvement of Pakistan's Small and Medium Enterprises. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study is an attempt to investigate the empirical linkages among economic growth and financial liberalization in Pakistan during 1972-2010 by using annual time series data. ADF unit root test is used to check the stationary of variables. Long run relationship is confirmed through Johansen co-integration test. VECM is employed to check short run dynamics among variables. The main data sources are various publications of state bank of Pakistan, economic survey of Pakistan and SBP annual reports. The empirical results show that there exists a positive relationship between financial liberalization and economic growth. Deposit rate has positive impact on economic growth while lending rate has negative impact on economic growth which is according to financial liberalization theory. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The national savings and credit to private sector played important role in economic growth and development of Pakistan. The impact of savings and credit to private sector on economic growth in Pakistan was evaluated in the present study. The time series data for the period of 1973 to 2007 was used to evaluate the impact of savings and credit on economic growth. The data was obtained from various issues of Economic Survey of Pakistan, Federal Bureau of Statistics and State Bank of Pakistan. Augmented Dickey Fuller (ADF) tests were used to check the stationarity of the variables. The long term coefficients were estimated using ARDL approach. The error correction model (ECM) was used for the short run analysis. The results showed that increase in real gross domestic product was 5.59 percent due to one percent increase in credit to private sector. The estimated coefficient of national saving was 1.015 showed that increase in real gross domestic product was 1.015 percent due to one percent increase in national savings. In the short run, the coefficient of credit to private sector was 5.7 and significant. In this way, the credit to private sector has significant impact upon economic growth in the long run but also in the short run. Therefore, government is suggested to formulate the appropriate policies to enhance the savings and credit in the country. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The learning system in Pakistan is very challenging because of gender inequality in Pakistan. In Pakistan, females are striving to make money mostly via opening beauty parlor at home, working at training center, tutoring or coaching on small take-home pay at private schools, manufacturing bangles at quarters, sewing at home and working in countryside etc. The main aim of this paper is to study the impact of feminine learning in the changing paradigms of Pakistan. Female learning is helpful to reduce poverty. The aim of this paper is to show the impact of learning skills on overall society. Learning is the key element to acquire valuable high paid job. In our country because of lack of great number of learning centers, females are unable to learn skills and participate in social sector to support society and family. In this study, data were collected with the help of primary and secondary data. In this study, 100 respondents were selected from Hyderabad who are females and five open ended questions were asked to collect the data. The secondary data was also collected via Economic Survey of Pakistan, Statistical Survey of Pakistan and from different books, newspapers etc to support study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study was conducted in district Swabi in 2010, where the data was collected through survey in three villages namely, Swabi, Zaida and Topi. In total, 225 respondents were interviewed to examine the determinants of child labor in the study area. The result of the study shows that seventy -three percent children belong to nuclear families. This implies that the parents of those children who belong to nuclear families are relatively poor. It also found that mainstream eighty-six percent of the working children are illiterate. It is evident from the study that only thirty-seven percent of the household monthly income is above Rs. 6000 per month. More than half (fifty-five percent) children are not getting any pocket money out of their earnings. On the whole sixty-three percent of working children want to become Ustad. About fifty-two percent of the working children have to work for nine to ten hours on daily basis. The study recommends that the government should introduce income- generating activities for the enhancement of poor people's income. Population growth needs to be controlled. Ignorance and illiteracy should be removed through introduction of education facilities. A campaign should be organized everywhere to make people aware of the adverse effects of child labor. The implementation of labor laws concerning child labor should be taken well care of. Education should be made compulsory and free for all at least up to middle level. Family planning recommendations should be followed to overcome the problem of expansion in family size and hence child labor. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Solving inequality of health human resource (HHR) is one of the motives of Pakistan health policies, however, there is still exists a massive quantity of HHR inequality in almost every district of Pakistan. The main goal of this research is to scrutinize the disparity in allocation of human health resources among 114 regions of Pakistan from the year 2012 to 2016 and to expose the foundations and aspects of HHR inequality.Methods: The data regarding this research has been obtained from Pakistan Statistical Bureau from the year 2012 to 2016. The statistics had also been collected from United Nation Development Program (UNDP) Pakistan 2017, Pakistan economic surveys, Ministry of finance Islamabad, Pakistan, Pakistan Social and Living standards Measurement (PSLM) Surveys from 2012 to 2016. The information incorporates district wise; the number of specialists and medical caretakers those are doctors and nurses, number of hospitals, number of beds, number of dispensaries, number of beds in dispensaries, urbanization, total estimated GNI per capita, infant mortality rate, geographical area, and population size. The concentration index is used to compute the extent of disparity in allocation of human health resources and decomposition analysis is also carried out to enumerate the contribution of each variable towards total inequality. Furthermore, the horizontal concentration was used to measure the participation of the need variable.Results: 7. The consequent Concentration Indexes (CI) of the doctors and nurses for the year 2016 are 0.60 (95% CI= 0.42, 0.78) and 0.67 (95% CI= 0.42, 0.92) respectively. Decomposition of the concentration indexes exposed that the monetary status accounts are the leading percentage contributor in doctors disparity (77.5, 44.9, 30.6, - 11.6% and 13%) and population size (- 20.7,-10.5%, 4.6, 49.8, 19.7%). Furthermore, the monetary status formulates the superior contribution HHR disparity from nurses inequality (104.5, 75.1, 59.2, - 54.3%, - 40.1%), and population size (- 53.7, - 53.6%, - 36.3, 83.8, 65.3%). Moreover, after the identification of the need variable the Horizontal Concentration Index (HCI) values of doctors from the year 2012 to 2016 are 0.62, 0.64, 0.63, 0.62 and 0.61 and HCI of the nurses are 0.69, 0.70, 0.69, 0.68 and 0.67.Conclusion: The pro-rich disparity in allocation of HHR has been scrutinized from the year 2012 to 2016 among 114 districts of Pakistan. The hard concern of HHR disparity should be concentrated by the complete procedures from a multidisciplinary approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study in hand provides analysis of Pakistan's comparative and competitive advantage in production of top three fruits, namely mango, citrus and dates by using Revealed Comparative Advantage, Revealed Symmetric Comparative Advantage, Relative Export Advantage Index and Log of Relative Export Advantage Index. For this purpose, time series data has been collected for the period 2001-2018 from Food and Agricultural Organization Statistics, International Trade Centre map, and World Banks' World Integrated Trade Solutions, Trade Development Authorities of Pakistan, and Pakistan's Economic Surveys. It was found that Pakistan comparative advantage in production of all three fruits as values of the Revealed Comparative Advantage were greater than one and Revealed Symmetric Comparative Advantage values remained positive throughout the study period. Despite having comparative advantage, results of Relative Export Advantage Index and log of Relative Export Advantage Index revealed that Pakistan do not have export competitiveness and competitive advantage in case mango, citrus and dates. Value of Relative Export Advantage Index is less than one which illustrates that Pakistan is having competitive disadvantage of Pakistan in case of production of mango, citrus and dates throughout the study period. In a similar token results of log of Relative Export Advantage Index in all years under consideration, reveals competitive disadvantage of Pakistan as value of this index remained negative in case of all the three fruits. If value of Revealed Comparative Advantage is compared in case of these three fruits, dates have higher value of the index, hence comparatively higher comparative advantage than other two fruits. Pakistan should focus on improvement of quality of its top three important fruits in order to increase international competitiveness and retain the comparative advantage in production of mango, citrus and dates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The research aims to assess the effect of CPEC on reversing the brain drain of Pakistan’s human capital. The research study is based on secondary data by using research articles, economic surveys, Bureau of Immigration and Overseas Employment etc. CPEC being a multibillion-dollar “Game Changer” can enhance the socio-commerce dimensions by reversing the brain drain of human capital of the country. It can only be possible by devising a viable strategic plan by the government for “Diaspora engagement policies”. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sustainability in cotton production is inevitable because producing more cotton means more employment, economic acceleration, and industrial expansion. India, China, the United States, Brazil, and Pakistan contribute 74% of worldwide cotton production. Pakistan is contributing only 5%, despite the high potential of cotton. The average yield of cotton in Pakistan is stagnant at 570.99 kg hm−2, whereas it entails the highest cost of production among all other crops. The yield obtained in Pakistan is less than the potential, profitability is drastically lessening, and farmers are abandoning cotton for alternative kharif crops. Some traditional quantitative studies have unveiled different factors that affect cotton production. However, an in-depth qualitative study has never been conducted in Pakistan to explore the root causes of growing cotton crop failure. Following Moustakas's traditional phenomenological guidelines, this phenomenological study was conducted in the district of Rahim Yar Khan in the core cotton zone of Punjab province. A total of 10 interviews were conducted with purposively selected cotton growers based on a criterion: (i) having more than 10 years of cotton growing experience, (ii) being a cotton grower, and (iii) having at least 10 years of formal schooling. Interviews were conducted face to face on an interview guide. One interview lasted 45–50 min, and responses were recorded and analyzed using a thematic analysis approach. A total of 6 themes emerged from the collected data, including (i) climate change, (ii) varietal problems, (iii) pesticide usage, (iv) sense of institutional services, (v) attitude of farmers and (vi) soil health and environment. These six merging themes contributed to cotton crop failure and yield decline. The deep exploration further summarized that researchers, extensionists, and farmers need to seriously consider variety, sowing time, and the environment to revive cotton crops. The detailed recommendations and policy guidelines are presented in this paper, highlighting the cotton sector's research, development and investment areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research investigates the complex interaction between liquidity and volatility while considering Economic Policy Uncertainty (EPU) as a moderating factor. Using a comprehensive dataset that incorporates various liquidity measures such as market resilience, depth, and breadth, the study examines how changes in liquidity impact volatility in four Asian incipient economies: China, Pakistan, India, and South Korea. By utilizing sophisticated econometric techniques, particularly the System Generalized Method of Moment (GMM), the findings demonstrate a statistically significant inverse relationship between liquidity and volatility. These findings imply that, within the Asian context, lower levels of volatility are correlated with higher market liquidity. By incorporating EPU into the model, the research acknowledges the significant role of economic factors in shaping market dynamics. Stakeholders, decision-makers, and investors can gain valuable insights from this analysis of variables influencing market stability in Asian emerging economies. The study's outcomes can guide policymakers in formulating strategies that promote market stability and improve market microstructure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The labor force is a crucial factor in conducting economic activities, especially in labor-surplus countries like Pakistan. In this study, we explore the impact of labor force participation (LF) on economic growth (EG), with an emphasis on how this impact depends on the levels of health and education expenditures. We analyze time series data from Pakistan spanning from 1980 to 2022, using ARDL (Autoregressive Distributed Lag), ECM (Error Correction Model) and Granger causality techniques for empirical analysis. The ARDL results indicate that LF significantly boosts EG, both in the short and long run. Furthermore, the estimations reveal that better facilities for health and education strengthen the positive effects of LF on EG. This suggests a complementary relationship between health, education, and LF in driving EG. Moreover, our findings highlight the temporal significance of health and education: Health plays a more crucial role in the short run, while education's impact is more substantial in the long run. Furthermore, the Granger causality results indicate that LF, health, and education significantly contribute to EG. It is advisable for the government to prioritize investments in the health and education sectors. This approach can empower individuals to actively and effectively participate in economic activities, eventually contributing to the overall economic output of the nation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The objective of the study is to explore the relationship between country governance practices along with political stability and Economic policy uncertainty, and stock market performance of two different economies, Pakistan and Kurdistan region of Iraq. To meet our objectives, we used the 25 years past data from 1996 to 2021. Data is collected from the DataStream database. The regression analysis is used as the method of estimation for linear and moderation effect. Our results show that regulatory quality, rules of law and political stability has significant positive relationship with stock market performance of Pakistan, but all the governance indicators have significant positive relationship with stock market performance of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. Moreover, political stability has significant moderating impact between the governance practices and the performance of the stock markets of both economies indicating that the governance practices perform well with the political stability that leads to rise in the stock market indices of selected countries. Economic policy uncertainty has significant negative moderation impact due to creating the risk in both economies that decrease the performance of the stock markets of the selected economies. Finally, our study advocated some implications for the investors to increase their confidence on the stock of high political stability and low economic policy uncertainty economies. Government can take significant measures to control the uncertainty of the policy and portfolio managers can adjust their risk on the ground of the political stability and efficient governance practices countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Islamic banking has undergone significant adaption since its inception. This study aims to investigate why and how Islamic banks adapt their services, using participatory financing as evidence. Design/methodology/approach: A qualitative study is designed, using working capital financing and commodity operations financing in Pakistan as analytical units. The data for each analytical unit is analyzed using a qualitative content analysis, while the findings are synthesized using a cross-case synthesis method. Findings: Findings suggest that participatory financing has undergone extensive adaptation in the Islamic banking industry of Pakistan, in the wake of resolving constraints to participatory financing and increasing its viability. Consequently, participatory finance has emerged as an attractive and viable option in Pakistan. These findings suggest that unlike in the past, where Islamic banks used to buffer themselves from the environment and ignore the market demands, they have learned to respond effectively to the market demands and the challenges posed by the environment. Research limitations/implications: Findings suggest that the adaptation strategy is more effective than the migration strategy, because it enables the financial service systems to reduce the underlying risks by avoiding emergent threats and eradicating the inherent weaknesses. Originality/value: The extant literature provides a generalized view on the adaptation process that Islamic banks undergo to comply with their environment. However, it is limited in terms of conceptualizing the adaptations and innovations in their products and the underlying structural variations. The present study fills this gap. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Education system has importance in the development of any country. Without better education no country can make progress. The main objective of the study is to review the problems of education system in Pakistan. For this paper literature regarding problems of education system in Pakistan was critically analyzed. It was find out that major issues faced by our educational system were gender inequality, insufficient educational budget, outdated curriculum, poor examination system, Internal and external influence on education system, lack of quality teachers, political interference, The lack of faculty training and development, dropout ratio, lack of uniformity in education system, Education without Direction and failure to achieve millennium developmental goals. It was recommended that should take steps to decrease gender inequality. Sufficient budget should be allocated for educational purpose. Steps should be taken to minimize drop out. Internal and external interferences should be avoided to improve quality of education. Curriculum should be updated according to needs of people. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Financial inclusion and digital finance go side by side and help enhance agricultural activities; however, the magnitude of digital financial services varies across countries. In line with this argument, this study aims to examine whether financial inclusion enhances agricultural participation and decompose the significance of the difference in determinants of agricultural participation between financially included – not financially included households and digital finance – no digital finance households. Design/methodology/approach: This study uses Pakistan's household integrated economic survey 2018/19 to test hypotheses. The logit model is used to examine the effect of financial inclusion on agriculture participation. Moreover, this study employs a nonlinear Fairlie Oaxaca Blinder technique to investigate the difference in determinants of agricultural participation. Findings: This study reports that financial inclusion positively influences agricultural participation, meaning households may have access to financial services and participate in agricultural activities. The results suggest that the likelihood of participating in agriculture in households with mobiles and smartphones is higher. Moreover, household size, income, age, gender, education, urban, remittances from abroad, fertilizer, pesticides, wheat, cotton, sugarcane, fruits and vegetables are the significant determinants of agricultural participation. To distinguish the financially included – not financially included households' gap, this study employs a nonlinear Fairlie Oaxaca Blinder decomposition and finds that differences in fertilizer explain the substantial gap in agricultural participation. Likewise, this study tests the digital finance – no digital finance gap and finds that the difference in fertilizer is a significant contributor, describing a considerable gap in agricultural participation. Research limitations/implications: Empirically identified that various factors cause agricultural participation including financial inclusion and digital finance. Regarding the research limitation, this study only considers a developing country to analyze the findings. However, for future research, scholars may consider some other countries to compare the results and identify their differences. Practical implications: The accessibility of fertilizer can reduce the agricultural participation gap. However, increased income level, education and cotton and sugar production can also overcome the differences in agriculture participation between digital finance and no digital finance households. Originality/value: This is the first study to decompose the difference in determinants of agricultural participation between financially and not financially included households. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study focuses on forecasting the production and yield of food crops in Pakistan. Utilizing the "Autoregressive Integrated Moving Average" (ARIMA) model and data from 1948 to 2011. The data was obtained from Ministry of Food and Agriculture, Islamabad and various Economic Surveys of Pakistan. The result predicts that wheat (production and yield) forecast for 2029-30 to be about 37188 thousand tons and 3454 kg ha-1, respectively. The rice (production and yield) forecast for 2029-30 will be about 7176 thousand tons and 2630 kg ha-1, respectively. The maize (production and yield) forecast for 2029-30 will be about 5784 thousand tons and 6088 kg ha-1, respectively. In short, the production growth rate of wheat, rice and maize was higher in 2012. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Historically, the agriculture sector served as the fundamental engine of growth. In Pakistan, the agricultural sector contributes about 19% of the gross domestic product (GDP). There are nine agro-climatic zones in Pakistan. The cotton-wheat zone is the poorest among them. Cotton is an important cash crop, yet the largest producing zone ranks amongst the poorest zones of the country. This study aimed to calculate the economics of cotton production. The specific objectives were to a) estimate the cost of production of the cotton crop in the study area, b) measure the profitability of farmers, c) estimate domestic terms of trade and d) suggest policy implications. Primary data from 200 cotton farmers of district Vehari of province Punjab, Pakistan were collected. Profitability was calculated using the most common economic analytical techniques i.e., profit, benefit-cost ratio (BCR), and input-output ratios. Results showed that there was a slight difference in cost of production and profit margins and benefit-cost ratios of the small, medium and large farmers that were not statistically significant. Overall, the BCR remained 1.136 which showed a decline over the time when compared to the previous studies. The results of domestic terms of trade analyses confirmed these results and explained that the domestic terms of trade have deteriorated over time. This underlines the importance of correcting imbalances in the prices (received and paid). Hence, there is a dire need to correct the imperfections in both input and output markets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of the study is to investigate the impact of capital structure, firm size, and profitability on tax avoidance and to examine the tax planning strategies implied in the oil and gas industry of Pakistan. Owing to its rapid expansion and enormous profits, the oil industry is a symbol of blue-chip businesses. One way it supports the economy is by increasing the nation's tax income. An analysis of the tax planning techniques suggested in this industry is essential for efficient legislation and departmental evaluation. In this research, the explanatory research method is implied, and only firm-specific factors are considered for analysis. The effect of capital structure, firm size, and profitability on corporate tax avoidance is examined by the Ordinary least squares (OLS) regression model. As per the results, capital structure has a negative association whereas firm size and profitability have a positive association with tax avoidance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper explores the impact of the green–blue revolution on environmental sustainability proxied by production-based carbon emission and agro-environmental footprint in Pakistan between 1976 and 2020. The basic objective of this study is to evaluate and compare the impact of green–blue revolution on sustainable environment in different quantiles. Johansen co-integration test with trace and max eigenvalues determines the long-run relationship between green–blue revolution and environmental degradation in Pakistan. Using median quantile regression analysis, we find that agricultural machinery, pesticides, and aquaculture production are positive and significant factors of production-based carbon emissions with 0.49, 0.1, and 0.09 coefficient values, respectively, while fertilizers, agricultural credit, and HYV (high yield variety) seeds are not major determinants of production-based carbon emission. At the same time, high variety seeds and fertilizers enhance the agro-environmental footprint in Pakistan with 0.23 and 0.28 coefficients, respectively, by applying median quantile regression. Similarly, agricultural machinery, pesticides, agricultural credit, and aquaculture production are not the major determinants of agro-environmental footprint by using median quantile regression. However, the response of exogenous variables varies from quantile to quantile in the case of both environmental proxies. These results discuss implications for fruitful and effective policies and recommendations for a sustainable environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research article addresses the question “What are the impacts of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on the economy of Pakistan”. Here a matter of concern is whether the IMF program has an overall positive impact on the growth of the economy of Pakistan or has just increased the debt burden. Positive impacts include solving the issue of balance of payment, stabilizing the foreign exchange reservoirs, bringing improvement in its exports, and providing money for imports. The negative impacts included the devaluation of Pakistani currency, increased burden of foreign debt, increased excise duties, discouraged investment, and dictate Pakistan in controlling the stock exchange. A qualitative research approach is utilized to examine the impacts of the IMF on the economy of Pakistan. It has been observed from the study that IMF has both positive and negative impacts on the economy of Pakistan. This study explores and analyses in detail the impacts of IMF loans on economic stabilization processes in Pakistan. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pakistan is among the most protectionist economies of the world and highly protective trade regimes thus calls for an investigation of the determinants of this protectionism. The current study intends to examine the macroeconomic determinants of protectionism in the case of Pakistan employing the Granger Causality test and Impulse Response Function covering a time period from 1988-2018. The results of the Granger Causality test reveal that unemployment & GDP Granger cause the tariff rate and there exists a unidirectional relationship between these two variables with the tariff rate. Contrary to this, the tariff rate is granger caused by the trade balance. Terms of the trade is found to have a bidirectional association with the tariff rate, while there is no evidence of a causal relationship between the tariff rate and inflation. The results of Impulse Response functions reveal that an increase in unemployment and a higher TOT, both are found to be positively associated with an increased level of protectionism. However, a higher level of GDP or economic growth leads to reduce the protectionism thereby reducing the tariff rate. The results of the study are quite pertinent in identifying the core factors inducing a high level of protectionism in Pakistan. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]