Asma Hyder

Negative economic shocks and child schooling: Evidence from Rural Malawi.

This study investigates the impacts of negative economic shocks on child schooling in households of rural Malawi, one of the poorest countries in sub-Saharan Africa. Both individually-reported and community-level shocks are investigated. There is evidence that community-level shocks negatively impact the school enrolment of children. The point estimates suggest that this effect is larger when shocks and school enrolment are reported by men as compared with women. However, we cannot conclude with statistical confidence that the impact of idiosyncratic shocks is larger when reported by males than when reported by females. Similarly, although the point estimates suggest that the impact of community-level shocks on the school enrolment of children is larger than that of idiosyncratic shocks, we cannot conclude with statistical significance that the impacts of community-level and idiosyncratic shocks are different.

Schooling is Associated Not Only with Long-Run Wages, but Also with Wage Risks and Disability Risks: The Pakistani Experience

Many studies document significantly positive associations between schooling attainment and wages in developing countries. But when individuals enter occupations subsequent to completing their schooling, they not only face an expected work-life path of wages, but a number of other occupational characteristics, including wage risks and disability risks, for which there may be compensating wage differentials. This study examines the relations between schooling on one hand and mean wages and these two types of risks on the other hand, based on 77,685 individuals from the wage-earning population as recorded in six Labor Force Surveys of Pakistan. The results suggest that schooling is positively associated with mean total wages and wage rates, but has different associations with these two types of risks: Disability risks decline as schooling increases but wage risks, and even more, wage rate risks increase as schooling increases. The schooling-wage risks relation, but not the schooling-disability risks relation,is consistent with there being compensating differentials.

Impact of Training on Earnings: Evidence from Pakistani Industries

Training and skills development play a vital role in individual’s productive capacity and are integral part of Human Resource Development (HRD). This study aims to examine the role of training in determination of wages. By utilizing the cross-sectional data from Labor Force Survey 2005-06, results have shown that training is not significant in the determination of wages, which shows the poor quality of training in the overall economy. Results were obtained by Ordinary Least Square (OLS) technique. However, schooling and other demographic variables have expected signs and magnitudes. The recommendations of the study based on empirical findings are toward technical education and vocational training institutions; they should ideally have to devise their technical education and vocational training exactly according to the requirements of industry. Empirical results also emphasize to improve the quality of training.

International trade openness and gender gaps in Pakistani labor force participation rates over 57 years

The extent of openness to international trade may alter incentives differentially by gender for labor force participation, particularly in economies in which gender differentials in human capital investments such as schooling are large and in which norms about gender behaviors are strong. This paper uses historical census data since 1951 and two recent Labor Force Surveys to investigate the impact of international trade openness on gender differences in labor force participation rates in broad occupational categories in Pakistan. The method used controls for average gender differences in these occupational categories and the unobserved factors that affect male and female labor force participation rates equally. The estimates indicate that increased international trade significantly reduces the gap between male and female labor force participation on average across all occupations. However, if responses are allowed to vary across seven broad occupational categories, the estimates suggest that the significant relative increases in female labor force participation are concentrated in agriculture and other primary occupations.

The Effects of Relocation on Wages: A Decomposition Analysis

This article estimates the wage differentials between the natives and the relocated workers. Nationwide Pakistan Labor Force Survey 2005–06 has been used with a total sample of 10,401 working individuals. Two wage equations are estimated for those living in that area since birth or those who relocated during the last 10 years or so. Oaxaca-Binder methodology has been used for decomposition analysis. This decomposition analysis further helps to investigate the ‘treatment’ and ‘endowment effect’. The overall decomposition results are in favour of native workers.