Abstract This study shows that the impact of different dimensions of institutional quality on economic performance is not the same across all four different stages of development. Using data by ICRG, the institutional quality dimensions studied are: (i) Democracy, (ii) Rule of Law, (iii) Bureaucratic Quality, (iv) Government Stability, and (v) Control of Corruption for four different stages of which include: (i) High Income, (ii) Upper Middle Income, (iii) Lower Middle Income and (iv) Low Income countries. Two empirical specifications have been estimated where one uses the entire unbalanced panel dataset more...

AbstractThis study using the VAR methodology explores the impact of aggregate public investment, physical investment (infrastructure and energy) and social sector investment (education and health) on private investment, output and employment. This study using disaggregated data from nine sectors of the Pakistani economy indicates these public investments have crowding in effect in 49 cases, while in 21 cases there is crowding out, labor absorption effect in 34 cases, while in 36 cases labor substitutions and finally positive output effect in 52 cases, while in 18 cases output effects are negative. more...

AbstractThis paper contributes to the literature on the subjective wellbeing (SWB) by providing empirical evidence regarding the correlates of SWB in the context of Pakistan. Instead of using single measure of life satisfaction or happiness to represent the level of SWB, a composite index with four different aspects; overall life satisfaction, happiness, financial satisfaction and subjective health status is developed for Pakistan using World Value Survey 2012 data. Differences in selfreported evaluation of current wellbeing are statistically explored through sociodemographic and behavioral characteristics of respondents. more...

AbstractThis study provides a summary of characteristics of Pakistani firms by focusing on various factors that shape the business environment. The World Bank's Enterprise Surveys (ES) provide a unique source of information, especially in developing countries that can be used to understand the heterogeneity in terms of dynamism and constraints of private firms. Firm level information are also useful to formulate the appropriate macro policies at national or sectoral levels. Findings of this research are entirely based on the ES database. more...

AbstractAugmentation of investment is a primary goal for any government. To attain that objective it can resort to either tax or direct expenditures. In order to analyze which is a more efficient method in the case of Pakistan, the current study uses data from the country's Manufacturing Sector. The time series data set since 1972 to 2013 is used. Bounds testing approach to cointegration used in the structure of Autoregressive Distributed Lag is employed for understanding the behavior of the different variables, applying Neo-Classical Investment theory. The results show the importance of tax expenditure policy, in the short run, through the cost of capital, as a determinant to boost private investment in the economy, under circumstances of low inflation. On the other hand, in high inflation periods, the direct expenditure is found to be more potent. more...

AbstractThe objective of this paper is to explore the relationship between mothers' socioeconomic empowerment and malnutrition of children under age five in the context of Pakistan. At the first step, a composite empowerment index is developed by incorporating various characteristics of mothers; such as educational attainment, labor force participation, involvement in household decisions, asset ownership, freedom of movement and perceptions regarding domestic violence. Instead of using additive methods or assigning subjective weights to more...

AbstractThis study examines the determinants of productivity among manufacturing firms in Pakistan using firm level data gathered in the World Bank Enterprise Survey of 2007. The research econometrically investigates the impact of various structural, organizational and technological characteristics of firms on the level of Total Factor Productivity (TFP). Findings of The study suggest that factors which enhance the firms' performance and level of productivity include; foreign ownership, use of information and communication technology, schooling of production workers, presence of labor welfare programs, access to international market and use of innovative production process. In contrast, unionization of workforce and power outages are negatively associated with TFP. more...

AbstractRising spatial disparities in socioeconomic development is a major concern in developing economies. Regional inequality is a dimension of overall inequality, but it has added significance when spatial and regional divisions align with political and ethnic tensions to undermine social and political stability. more...

AbstractThe paper statistically evaluates the trends in private returns to education in Pakistan for the period 1990-91 to 2012-13. The data of 16 nationally representative Labor Force Surveys during this period are utilized to estimate the standard Mincerian Earning Functions with some modifications. more...

AbstractDespite the common historical, legal and cultural heritage, South Asia still remains as one of the least integrated regions of the world. The political tension and rivalry between the two major countries of the region - India and Pakistan - stands out as the main explanatory variable. In last one year, there have been some healthy developments in relaxing this constraint and resuming better trading relations. more...