Narrow Results

This study examines the reliability of Altman’s $Z$-score model to predict the financial failure of the ICT sector in Pakistan. Data for 11 PSE-listed (Pakistan Stock Exchange) ICT companies were collected through Altman’s $Z$-score model in the period 2013–2018. The innovative Altman $Z$-bankruptcy forecast technique has been used for the analysis. Results show that the four companies, Pakistan International Airlines Corp. Ltd., TRG Pakistan Ltd., World call Telecom Ltd. and Media Times Ltd. were in the distress zone; Pakistan Telecommunication Co. Ltd. was in the gray zone; and the remaining six companies (i.e., Hum Network Ltd., Nestle Technologies Ltd., Pakistan Int., Container Terminal Ltd., Pak Datacom Ltd., Pakistan National Shipping Corp. and Tele card Ltd.) were able to meet the safe zone criteria. On the other hand, the $Z$-score analysis suggests that seven ICT companies would not go bankrupt, while the remaining four companies failed financially and would not maintain businesses in the future. Furthermore, according to the innovative outcome analysis, X3-EBIT/TA has a significant positive relationship with X1-WC/TA and X4-TE/TL and X2-RETA has a significant positive association with X1-WC/TA and a negative association with X4-TE/TL.

This study examines the correlation between oil price fluctuation and absolute business development in Pakistan. Our study focusses on three economic sectors, agriculture and livestock, manufacturing and electricity production and transportation from 1980 to 2018 using the autoregressive distributed lag, with linear regression to evaluate the (time series or panel) data (please elaborate the frequency of data as well either it is daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly or yearly data). Our findings reveal negative impact of oil price on the economic development overall, and manufacturing, electricity production and livestock sectors individually; while, there is positive relationship observed with communication and transport sectors. There is need for policymaker’s attention on highly oil-dependent sectors to run their operations. Empirical findings suggest a 30% shortage of oil supply responsible for the highest fluctuated structure of oil pricing, which suddenly increases the projected welfare loss through a 40% reduction in gross domestic product. This study suggests that the country should maintain a minimum 100-day strategic petroleum reserves to hedge any adverse effect of oil price fluctuation on economic and social welfare losses.

This study investigates the relationship between financial liberalization, democratic institutions, and income inequality in Pakistan by using a two-state Markov switching (MS) methodology for the period 1972–2017. The dynamic factor modelling approach is used to construct the financial liberalization index. The impact of the Global Financial Crisis (GFC) of 2007–2008 on financial liberalization–institutions–inequality nexus was checked using the Chow breakpoint test. The result reveals no significant effect of GFC on Pakistan’s economy. Results from the MS model divulge that financial liberalization lessens income inequality in the high-income inequality regime as well as in the low-income inequality regime. The result further discloses that democratic institutions enhance income inequality in high-income inequality regimes while reduce income inequality in the low-inequality regime. While studying the joint role of democratic institutions and financial liberalization, it is observed that the weak role of democratic institutions offsets the benefits of financial liberalization in the high-income inequality regime; however, institutions and financial liberalization are supportive in reducing income inequality in the low-inequality regime. Besides, the results also confirm the existence of Kuznets hypothesis in Pakistan. Therefore, there is a need for further reforms to revamp institutions to reduce income inequality in Pakistan.

We test whether an effective board affects firm value (FV) in Pakistan and whether stock liquidity (LIQ) mediates this relationship. To test this conjecture, we introduce an effective board index (EBI) using board size, board independence, board diversity and CEO duality. By employing the fixed effect model, we find that an effective board reduces agency costs and thus increases FV. An effective board may signal investors positively regarding reduced information asymmetry, thereby increasing stock LIQ. Furthermore, stock LIQ partially mediates the relationship between the effective board and FV. However, only Amihud illiquidity mediates this relationship, which suggests the stock liquidity’s estimation matters.

This research quantifies the female students of the rural area of Bagh (Azad Jammu and Kashmir, Pakistan) regarding library users’ satisfaction through LibQUAL’s 22 core items. This study focusses on the three dimensions of LibQUAL namely the affect of service (AS), information control (IC) and library as place (LP). A total of 280 usable questionnaires were collected from the Gen-Z cohort through random stratified sampling. Path coefficient and t-test analysis extensively assessed the major differences between satisfaction and the available services. Notably, the IC dimension significantly lags behind Gen-Z students’ expectations, as evidenced by 100% disagreement. The results highlight the significance of investing in electronic resources and remote access facilities. This study significantly contributes to SDG5 on gender equality. First, it enriches the existing LibQUAL literature. Second, it expands the understanding of female library users’ expectations. Finally, this study introduces the rural background as a significant factor associated with the three dimensions of library services.

In a small open economy, the retail sector adds value with a lag to existing production and uses existing domestic production as an input. Therefore, demand side dynamics depend on the wholesale prices of the domestic goods, the prices of the imported goods, the nominal exchange rate, the level of indirect taxes, the marginal cost of retail production and interest rates. Hence, this mechanism provides a theoretical basis for causality from wholesale prices to consumer prices. Being motivated by this causal transmission mechanism, this paper tries to examine the causal relationship between wholesale prices and consumer prices in a small developing economy like Pakistan. Empirical methodology uses recently developed tests for the existence of a long-run relationship between wholesale prices and consumer prices. Typically, in applied analysis, testing for the existence of cointegration and causality can only be carried out once the time series properties of the data have been established. For example, tests for cointegration require the variables to be integrated to the same order, typically I(1), prior to estimation. By eliminating the need for unit root pre-testing, the tests applied here considerably simplify the inference procedure. They also reduce the potential for distortions in the inference due to the unknown properties of the testing sequence. Our findings include robust evidence that, for Pakistan, there is a bidirectional causality between wholesale prices and consumer prices. Feedback impact shows that influences from the wholesale price index (WPI) to the consumers' price index (CPI) is stronger or dominating as compared to feedback from CPI to WPI supporting the Cushing-McGarvey (1990) hypothesis.

Literature on differential impacts of monetary policy across regions discusses several factors which may be responsible for asymmetrical effects of monetary policy. As far as Pakistan is concerned, limited evidence is available for both mechanism and impact of monetary policy. In this study, we examine asymmetries in responses of real output of provinces to central bank’s monetary policy in Pakistan. We also attempt to explore the potential sources of these asymmetries. The Structural Vector Autoregression (SVAR) model is employed to examine each province’s response to unanticipated monetary policy shocks. The generalized impulse response functions from SVAR reveal that monetary policy has varied effects across the provinces. In two regions — Punjab and Sindh — monetary policy shocks cause variations in provincial outputs in similar ways. These responses are also comparable to the response of national output to changes in monetary policy but with considerable differences in magnitudes. While other provinces Khyber Pakhtunkhawa (KPK) and Balochistan show less sensitivity to unanticipated change in monetary policy. The less sensitive regions exhibit dissimilar responses both in timings and magnitudes. These dissimilarities in regional responses draw attention to devise an effective national monetary policy that might consider the cross-provincial differences in responses to central monetary policy in Pakistan.

Using stochastic frontier analysis, the paper measures the technical efficiency of cement industry of Pakistan. For this purpose, technical efficiency is calculated for 16 cement industries using panel data for the period 2000–2016. Two models are estimated to measure the technical efficiency of cement industry, i.e., the industrial model and the macro-model. In the former model, only industry related variables are used, while in the latter model macroeconomic variables are also used as input variables besides industrial variables. The results indicate that all industrial variables, i.e., capital, labor, raw material, repair and maintenance, energy inputs and advertisement have positive effect on production of cement industry measured by net sales. In macro-model, gross domestic product (GDP) growth and exchange rate have significant positive effect on production. It is found that one percent increase in economic growth will increase cement production by 0.061%. Similarly, one percent devaluation in exchange rate will bring 0.855% increase in cement production. The results show that there is 48.4% efficiency in cement industry of Pakistan, which indicates that cement industry in Pakistan is inefficient by 51.6%. It implies that there is a need to improve the efficiency of cement industry. Further, macroeconomic variables should be incorporated while examining the efficiency of cement industry in Pakistan.

In this study, we examine the asymmetric effects of terrorism and economic growth in Pakistan over the period 1970–2016, while considering the role of capital per worker and structural breaks. We use the non-linear ARDL approach to establish the long-run association and to estimate the short-run and long-run effects accordingly. The results indicate the presence of asymmetries in both long and short run. Moreover, 1% decrease in terrorism results in an increase of per capita income by 0.02% in the long run and 0.001% in the short run. Assuming symmetry, the long run capital share is 0.47. In asymmetric relation, a 1% increase in capital share increases output by 0.55%, whereas a 1% decrease in capital stock decreases output by 0.26%. The break effects show that the years 1993 and 2004 have negative effects on growth. The vector error correction model-based causality results indicate a unidirectional causality from terrorism to per capita income. Overall, the results highlight that terrorism is growth retarding.

This paper examines the effect of capital inflows on fiscal deficit in an emerging economy of Pakistan. To obtain this objective, a fiscal deficit model is estimated using annual data for the period 1984–2017. The model is estimated using Generalized Method of Moments (GMM) technique. Three measures of capital inflow variables are taken, i.e., remittances, foreign direct investment (FDI) and foreign debt. The findings reveal that capital inflows increase fiscal deficit in the country. The findings show that 1% increase in remittances will increase fiscal deficit by 0.312%, while 1% increase in FDI will deteriorate budget deficit by 0.250%. Similarly, 1% increase in foreign debt will worsen fiscal balance by 0.073%. Remittances and FDI have more effect on fiscal deficit compared to foreign debt. It implies that both remittances and foreign debt deteriorate fiscal balance in the country more than foreign debt. The study suggests that remittances, FDI and foreign debt should be used for productive purposes as they will help in improving fiscal balance in the country.

Participatory financing schemes, including Musharakah and Mudarabah, are theoretically claimed to be the ideal modes of Islamic financing, but their practice is restrained by several factors. That is why Islamic banks have a consistent tendency to avoid participatory financing on the assets side throughout the world. However, recently this trend has started changing in Pakistan and Indonesia where the share of participatory finance has raised significantly in the financing portfolio of Islamic banks. The present paper explores this recent spur of participatory finance in Pakistan in terms of its domains of applications and the responsible factors. The findings lead to a novel posteriori framework which shows that the shift toward participatory financing is primarily characterized by increase in working capital financing and commodity operations financing through Musharakah mode Islamic banks. Moreover, five factors contribute to the spur of participatory financing including: (i) introducing varieties in Musharakah, (ii) enhanced applicability, (iii) high volume projects, (iv) government interventions, and (v) regulator’s role. The framework can significantly advance understanding with respect to the implementation theory of participation financing within Islamic banking and related Shariah compliance and regulation.

Pakistan liberalized its trade in different regimes and the recent trade reforms is CPEC project which is expected to reduce wages inequality of skilled and unskilled labor. This study forecasts wages inequality as a result of trade openness in Pakistan by using artificial neural network approach for the period 1991–2017. The empirical outcomes revealed that trade liberalization is influential factor for reducing wages inequality in Pakistan, and the forecasting results for 2019–2026 show a dynamic trend of wages inequality in the response to trade liberalization; however, in many of the years, the positive implication has been witnessed for the inequality.

Pakistan is a country which is facing chronic trade deficit since its independence and currency devaluation have always remained an effective strategy to bridge this gap between imports and exports. Previous studies which assessed the influence of changes in exchange rate on Pakistan’s trade balance followed a symmetric or linear approach. However, in this study we adopt an asymmetric approach, according to which appreciations and depreciations have asymmetric effects on the trade balance of Pakistan. Using commodity trade data of 28 (2-digits) industries that trade between Pakistan and United Kingdom, we find pattern of the J-curve in nine industries when a linear model was estimated. However, when we estimated a nonlinear model, the concept of asymmetric J-curve was supported in 14 industries. The largest industry (clothing) which engages in 36.5% of the trade was found to benefit from rupee depreciation.

This article attempts to understand the developments in policy making and financing for Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) of Bangladesh and Pakistan. From 1947–1971, Bangladesh was a part of Pakistan, as East Pakistan, while the remaining current Pakistan, is referred as West Pakistan. However, in 1971 a political turmoil resulted in a separation of two parts into two different nations. Since then, both have taken different routes to develop their economies along with heavy reliance on SMEs. This paper explores the key differences in financing and policy for SMEs in Bangladesh and Pakistan with a comparative study based on literature, empirical case studies and analysis of government policies and regulations, trying to identify some main takeaways from Bangladesh and Pakistan’s market for entrepreneurs, investors and policy makers.

Free Vaccine for Meningococcus Bacterial Infection.

Chinese Pharmaceutical Companies to Invest in Pakistan.

China Mulls Fighting Iron Deficiency with Fortified Flour.

China Destoys Contaminated Imported Meat.

Northern Ireland and Hong Kong to Collaborate in Biotech.

Hong Kong Cleans Up Poultry Markets to Halt Bird Flu Virus.

Japanese Consumers to Get Information on Beef.

Some Agricultural Statistics in Korea.

Malaysia and Thailand to Boost Scientific Collaboration.

Singapore Expects More Biomedical Investments in 2002.

Simple Test Kit for Cancer to Hit Shelves Soon.

Singapore Offers Online Medical Services.

Second Heart Center Set Up in Singapore.

Taiwan Industrial Parks Offer 40 Percent Rental Discount.

Thai Government Urged to Strengthen Economic Ties with China.

This article is about biotech as an India-Pakistan Peace Initiative.

This study intends to explore the impact of oscillations in the exchange rate on commodity-wise trade flows between Pakistan and its major trading partner China, while employing the annual data for 1982–2017. Applying the ARDL bounds testing approach, this study confirms that 94% of the selected exporting and 86% of the chosen importing industries possess “cointegration”. Further, the findings reveal that 81%, in the short run, and 52%, in the long run, of exporting industries respond to the volatile exchange rate. Moreover, the volatility affects 77%, in the short run, while 65%, in the long term, of the importing industries. Fascinatingly, the findings also indicate that a major shareholder exporting industry coded as 651 (“Textile yarn and thread” with 57% share) gets benefitted from the volatile exchange rate.

This study aims to assess the trade potential of Pakistan in terms of destinations and products against 101 potential trading partners while applying the gravity model and the trade potential index. The findings indicate that Pakistan’s trade/export potential is maximum with the countries which are not its traditional trading partners. On the other hand, “manufactured goods”, “misc manufactured articles” and “food groups” are the products where maximum trade/export potential exists. Results indicate that Pakistan should not only adopt proactive measures to tap non-traditional partners but it is equally important to strengthen the level of trade with its traditional trading partners.

Advancement in technologies has moved organisations from the traditional methods of strategic and tactical formulations to knowledge-based fabricated methods and strategies. Nowadays, knowledge management became an important success reason for the formulation of any strategy of every company. This knowledge dependent trend is not only dominant in developed economies and their firms, but also has attracted and motivated businesses operating in developing countries. Aiming on the degree of knowledge management influence, this study primarily tried to look at the effects of knowledge sharing (KS) on knowledge learning (KL) and organisational learning (OL), and to see the effect of OL on organisational learning culture (OLC) influencing the business performance. A research survey was conducted and obtained 214 (71%) valid responses from the sample of 500 respondents of the sales departments of six telecommunication companies. The Model fit Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) results show a positive effect of KS on KL and OL; however, KL effect on OL is insignificant. Consequently, the data did not support the effect of OL on OLC. However, OLC positively influenced organisational performance (OP). The results may guide the telecommunication companies to improve their knowledge management activities for better performance. The discussion and conclusions, managerial implications, and future research recommendations are presented at the end.

This study explores the general perspectives of library and information science (LIS) professionals on knowledge management in the university libraries of Pakistan. The study specifically examines the perceptions, understandings, role and responsibilities of Pakistani LIS professionals toward knowledge management. A questionnaire was used as an instrument to evaluate the perceptions, understandings, role and responsibilities of LIS professionals toward knowledge management. The questionnaires were administered to subject librarians who were included in the sample at the universities of Rawalpindi and Islamabad. Generalising the findings of this study over the population of LIS community in Pakistan reveals that knowledge management is for the improvement of library services and productive purposes. Accordingly, the Pakistani LIS professionals use knowledge management practices for the improvement of their respective library service. The LIS community is also very familiar with the term “knowledge management”. It succeeded mainly to generalise that majority of the LIS professionals mentioned that they have used knowledge management in their libraries.