Muhammad Zakaria

Trade openness and income inequality in China and the SAARC Region

The paper empirically examines the effects of trade liberalisation on income inequality in China and the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation countries. Panel data analysis is conducted for the period of 1973 to 2012. The results show that liberal trade policies have increased income inequality in these countries. These results are robust to alternative liberalisation measures. The control variables used have differing effects on income distribution. Per capita income has an increasing effect on income inequality, while education, financial development, financial openness, democracy, and government size are shown to reduce income inequality. These outcomes can be expected to have important policy implications for the use of trade liberalisation in these countries.

A Household Level Analysis of the Pakistan–Malaysia Free Trade Agreement

Pakistan and Malaysia have a significant bilateral economic relationship. The Pakistan–Malaysia Free Trade Agreement (FTA) was signed in 2007, and was implemented in 2008. Pakistan’s volatile exports to Malaysia never achieved a sustainable period of growth. Trade balance has not achieved significant changes even after 9 years of implementation of the agreement. With this backdrop, this study first quantifies the current FTA between Pakistan and Malaysia and then suggests changes that could be made to improve the outcome for Pakistan. A new global economic trade model is adapted to include more detailed information on Pakistan’s labor and household groups into the Global Trade Analysis Project (GTAP) database. This allows for a more detailed analysis of the impact of the FTA on Pakistan at the household level. The results show that there is win–win scenario for both Pakistan and Malaysia if both are able to renegotiate the current FTA to get the same tariff concession as awarded to each other’s trading partners.

Trade Openness, Malnourishment and Income Inequality in South Asia

The paper empirically examines the effects of trade liberalization on undernourishment and income inequality in South Asian countries ( SAC s). For empirical analysis data is collected for the period 1972-2013 for five South Asian countries which include Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. Panel fixed effect technique is used to estimate the model. The estimated results reveal that undernourishment has decreased while income inequality has increased in the region after liberalization. Economic development has reduced both undernourishment and income inequality. The results also endorse the role of agriculture factors in reducing undernourishment and the role of education, urban bias, and political democratization in reducing income inequality in SAC s. These results are robust to alternative equation specifications and openness measures. The results provide some important policy implications. It is suggested that South Asian countries have to cope with the problem of malnourishment with high agriculture development and economic growth.

Effects of globalization on women in Pakistan

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to analyse empirically the impact of trade openness on womens development in Pakistan. Design/methodology/approach - Using cointegration analysis the paper empirically analyses the impact of trade openness on womens development in Pakistan applying annual time-series data for the period 1981 to 2007. Findings - The results show a significant positive long-term relationship between trade openness and womens development in Pakistan. The results also show significant positive influence of foreign direct investment and private sector credit on womens development and significant negative effect of private investment on womens development in Pakistan. Significant negative coefficient of error term in error correction model indicates that convergence holds in the model. Research limitations/implications - There is need to know the transmission mechanisms or channel variables through which trade openness and globalization affect womens development in Pakistan. This is left as an exercise for future research. Practical implications - Since openness positively affects womens development, government may continue the policy of trade reforms in the country. Further, government should continue to enhance the role of the private sector and financial deepening to integrate women in the development process in Pakistan. Social implications - The paper contributes to the literature on the subject and will initiate debate on the issue so that further research can be deepened in this area. Originality/value - This paper is first study on the topic in Pakistan.