Who or what came first? Multi-species Migrations and the Question of Indigeneity in Pakistan

Who or what came first? Multi-species Migrations and the Question of Indigeneity in Pakistan

The CBER with the support of Hans Seidel Foundation Pakistan invited Dr. Philipp Zehmisch, Senior Academic Staff, Department of Anthropology South Asia Institute (SAI) at Heidelberg University to give a lecture on "Who or what came first? Multi-species Migrations and the Question of Indigeneity in Pakistan" Dr. Philipp Zehmisch research combines Political Anthropology, Subaltern, Borderland, and Migration Studies to understand the long-lasting legacies of the Partition of British India. He interacted with IBA faculty and students about Multi-species Migrations and the Question of Indigeneity in Pakistan.

The Political Economy of National Curriculum of Pakistan

The CBER was glad to invite Dr. Ayesha Razzaque, Deputy Chief of Party, University of Utah, and former Technical Advisor to the Ministry of Federal Education and Professional Training to talk about ‘The Political Economy of National Curriculum of Pakistan’. This interactive talk was attended by faculty and graduate students at the IBA Karachi.

Zotero 101: Getting Started

The CBER under the Research Skill Building Series conducted "Zotero 101: Getting Started" with Dr. Mushtaq Bilal, Assistant Professor at SESS IBA. The session was for academics and early researchers who struggle to format their citations and references manually. The workshop focused on building library, creating text citations and creating bibliographies in Zotero.

Publishing your First Journal Article with Dr. Mushtaq Bilal, Assistant Professor at SESS IBA

The CBER organized a special session on Publishing your First Journal Article with Dr. Mushtaq Bilal, Assistant Professor. The session was attended by undergrads, Early scholars, and faculty at the IBA.

The (CBER) at (IBA), Karachi organized a special webinar on Floods 2022: Situation, Response, Blind Spots, and Way Forward

September 01, 2020: The Centre for Business and Economic Research (CBER) at the Institute of Business Administration (IBA), Karachi organized a special webinar on "Title: Floods 2022: Situation, Response, Blind Spots, and Way Forward," in collaboration with Sindh Agriculture University, Tandojam. The webinar aimed to bring the best minds to enhance the understanding of recent floods in Pakistan and the magnitude of losses, assess the state of our disaster management capacity, human and other resources constraints, and agree on short-, medium- and long-term recommendations. The session was moderated by Director CBER IBA Karachi Dr. Junaid Alam Memon, who introduced the speakers to the audience. Attendees included members from the academia, corporate sector, media, the IBA faculty, students, and alumni. For more details see here 

The Director CBER, Dr Junaid Alam Memon presented a presentation on "Mid-term Evaluation of Climate Smart Agriculture Project"

The Director CBER, Dr Junaid Alam Memon presented a presentation on "Mid-term Evaluation of Climate Smart Agriculture Project", a quasi-experimental study carried in the backdrop of TRDP Project called “Strengthening food security resilience of small-holder farmers by adapting climate change through multi-level approaches of District Umerkot of Sindh Province in Pakistan”

This study was intended to monitor the project and its associated activities. This study touched base through detailed literature review including the earlier project reports and data to determine if and how project could bring positive change in Months of Adequate Household Food Provisioning (MAHFP) and Household Dietary Diversity Score (HDDS) of the project beneficiaries.

The Presentation can be accessed here.

The State of Pakistan's Economy: Struggling with Uncertainty | 2022-23

The state of Pakistan’s Economy: Struggling with Uncertainty | 2022-23, is third in the series and is compiled by the Centre for Business and Economic Research (CBER). It is a contribution by the SESS faculty and consists of 12 chapters. The book looks into different sections of the economy including budget performance, macroeconomic outlook, monetary policy, trends in business, food security, import composition, institutions, agriculture value chains and the way forward for Pakistan's economy. The book will be available in August 2022.

Guest Lecture on "Crony Globalization: Evidence from Muslim societies"

The CBER hosted a guest lecture by Faisal Z. Ahmed, Professor of Politics at the Princeton University on 21st Jan 2022. Prof. Faisal presented the findings of his study where they explored how less democratic regimes leverage economic globalization to entrench their rule. The findings of the study showed that the more hesitant and partial approach in many Muslim societies towards economic globalization may comprise a strategy of regime stability. To draw causal inferences, the study used a difference-in-differences research design that leveraged the timing of the World Trade Organization's (WTO) establishment in 1995. Using this plausibly exogenous (global) shock to trade liberalization, the study showed that Muslim societies have systematically lagged in relative terms (to non-Muslim countries) on measures of de jure globalization capturing various economic restrictions expressed through tariffs, hidden import barriers, taxes on international trade, and investment and capital account restrictions. The findings suggest that partial liberalization can be a strategy for regime stability in many Muslim societies.

The lecture was followed by lunch where the faculty and doctoral students had the opportunity to discuss the topic further.

The video of the lecture can be accessed here.

Development: Discourses and Critiques - 2nd Annual International Conference of School of Economics and Social Sciences, IBA Karachi

We are super excited to announce that we have received more than 300 paper submissions from all over the world for our 2nd International Conference. Thankful to all participants from across the globe. map of submissions

CALL FOR PAPERS - 2nd Annual International Conference at School of Economics and School Sciences at IBA Karachi

The School of Economics and Social Sciences (SESS), in collaboration with the Center for Business and Economics Research (CBER) at IBA Karachi opens the general submissions' call for papers for its 2nd international conference titled "Development: Discourses and Critiques" The theme for this year recognizes the diversity within Social Sciences and Humanities and the need to be critical of our sources of knowledge.

Following are the sub-themes of the conference


  • Economic growth, reforms, and innovation
  • Firms, productivity, and competitiveness
  • Labor, inequality, and Poverty
  • Agriculture, Food Security and Climate Change
  • Political Economy and Governance
  • Health and Socioeconomic Welfare
  • Human Behaviors and Social Psychology
  • Feminist and Decolonial Perspectives on Development
  • Literary, Visual, and Digital Worlds
  • Language, culture, and development

Click here for more details

The Climate Conference by CBER

The Center of Business and Economic Research (CBER) and the Hanns Seidel Foundation (HSF) Pakistan at the IBA Karachi organized a two day conference titled "Climate Change - Threats, Risks and Vulnerabilities" on 8th-9th October 2021. The aim of the conference was to create a conversation around climate change as a non-traditional security challenge as the changing climate and environmental degradation is increasingly and adversely affecting migration, deterioration of environmental conditions and resource constraints. Researchers from all parts of the world have projected an increase in frequency and severity of catastrophic environmental events, causing food and water scarcity, health and socio-economic issues in coming decades, hence making this discourse a highly important conversation.

The program included six panel discussions and four dairas (informal circles) on topics including ecology and the state, infrastructure, speciesism in intersectionality, scorching cities, political ecologies of Sindh's coastal areas' water, displacement, multispecies collaborative survival, entrepreneurship, fair trade, ethical practices and more. Several policy makers, academicians, development practitioners and students participated in this conference physically and virtually.

Click here for more details

Discussion on the State of the Economy and the Federal Budget 2021-22

On 18th June 2021, the CBER organized a session to discuss the state of the economy and the federal budget for the fiscal year 2021-22. Renowned economist, former advisor to the Prime Minister on Institutional Reforms and Austerity, and Ex Dean and Director IBA, Dr. Ishrat Hussain was the guest speaker. Dr. S. Akbar Zaidi moderated the session.

The session was based on the report written by faculty and researchers from the Economics department at IBA. The comprehensive report included sections on labor, government policies, agriculture, health, education, major industries, social protection, and youth

Click here for more details

Launch of State of the Economy and Budget Report 2021

On 15th September 2021 , the report on the State of the Economy and Federal Budget 2021, authored by faculty and researchers in the Economics department at IBA, was launched in the form of an eBook. Renowned economists including Dr. Mubarik Ahmad, Technical Specialist in Agricultural Policies, Professor Dr. Samina Khalil, Director Applied Economics Research Centre, and Dr. Waqar Masood, Special Assistant to PM on Revenue were invited to the launch.

The guests presented their views on the report. They commended the efforts of the faculty for presenting an accurate picture of Pakistan's economy. The engaging talk that ensued focused on the way forward for Pakistan on its road to economic progression.

Dr. Akbar Zaidi and Dr. Asma Hyder moderated the session.