Nadeem A. Burney

Socioeconomic development and electricity consumption A cross-country analysis using the random coefficient method

This paper analyses the relationship between electricity consumption and socioeconomic variables by estimating the electricity consumption function on the basis of single year cross-country data, and using OLS and random coefficient (RC) methods. The latter method yields both mean response as well as country-specific coefficients. While electricity consumption is found to rise with socioeconomic development, it is found to be inelastic with respect to changes in all the variables. The estimated country-specific coefficients with respect to per capita GNP and share of industry in GDP are found not to vary across countries, indicating that the impact of these variables on electricity consumption is similar across countries. On the other hand, the impact of other variables (years of schooling, GDP growth, urbanization and population density) is found to vary substantially across countries.

Wagner's hypothesis: evidence from Kuwait using cointegration tests

This paper investigates the relationship between public expenditure and a number of socioeconomic variables, including the level of income, in Kuwait. A general form of the public expenditure function is formulated and recent developments in time series econometrics, including unit roots and cointegration tests, and an error-correction model are used. Given the characteristics of the economy, alternative measures for each variables are used. The analysis in the paper is based on time-series data covering the period from 1969/70 to 1994/95. In general, the findings lend little support to the existence of long-run equilibrium relationship between public expenditure and the socioeconomic variables, and the evidence does not lend support to the validity of Wagners law in Kuwait.

Determinants of child school enrolment: evidence from LDCs using choice‐theoretic approach

It has been argued that failure to enlist participation in education in developing countries cannot be attributed exclusively to insufficiency of the schools. To the extent that child schooling reflects parental capacity to invest in human capital formation, there is a need to reckon with the factors bearing on the parents′ decision regarding child schooling. As an illustrative example, examines the impact of household income, household size, ownership of assets, parents′ education, parents′ socio‐economic status, area literacy level and presence of school in the area on the schooling of an individual child in Pakistan.

Factor substitution, and economies of scale and utilisation in Kuwait's crude oil industry

Abstract The cost structure of the crude oil industry in Kuwait has been examined, with specific focus on factor substitution, and economies of scale and utilisation. This has been done by estimating translog cost functions, both long-run and short-run, using time-series data covering the period from 1976 to 1996. The results indicate that the implied production structure is non-homothetic, and the pattern of scale effect is labour saving, but capital and material using. The evidence also supports the presence of an induced exogenous technical change, which is non-neutral (labour and capital using, and material saving). The elasticity of substitution between capital and labour is positive, implying that the two inputs are substitute. The results also indicate the existence of diseconomies of scale in the production of crude oil, but no economies or diseconomies of utilisation.

Energy conservation in electricity generation: A case study of the electricity and water industry in Kuwait

This paper has examined possibilities of energy conservation in the generation of electricity and water in Kuwait. This has been done through analysing the underlying production structure by employing a translog flexible cost function and using series data. The results show that, in the absence of changes in factor prices, fuel intensity of electricity and water is expected to increase with increase in output. Furthermore, capital and fuel are found to be substitutes. Overall, the evidence suggests that energy conservation can be achieved by using fuel prices as instruments. This is likely to induce demand for new capital and hence promote productivity gains.

The efficiency of public schools: the case of Kuwait

This paper investigates the technical, and allocative efficiencies of public schools in Kuwait over four levels of schooling (kindergartens, primary, intermediate and secondary) and two periods (1999/2000 and 2004/2005) using data envelopment analysis. Mean pure technical efficiency varies between 0.695 and 0.852 across all levels of education; the majority of schools at kindergarten, primary and intermediate levels are operating at a point where returns to scale are increasing, and there are considerable cost efficiencies to be gained. In a second-stage analysis of the determinants of efficiency, teacher salary and the proportion of teaching staff who are Kuwaiti are highly significant in explaining school efficiency at all levels. The former has a positive effect and the latter a negative effect. All-girls schools have significantly higher efficiency than all-boys schools. There is limited evidence that geographical location affects efficiency, and this may be a consequence of differences between regions in terms of affluence or density of population.

The efficiency of the public education system in Kuwait

Abstract Based on a cross-country comparative analysis, the efficiency of public education in Kuwait has been examined. The analysis indicates that compared to countries with comparable incomes, the overall level of public expenditure on education in Kuwait is not excessive. While the returns to investment in education are reasonably high and are comparable to those in other countries, internal inefficiencies exist within the public education system. Some of the specific inefficiencies are low spending on textbooks and teaching materials, short length of the school year, a low student–teacher ratio, and a high repetition rate.

Wagner’s law and public expenditure growth in Kuwait

This paper examines the relationship between public expenditure and a number of socio-economic variables, including the level of income, in Kuwait. The paper derives a general form of the public expenditure function, which is estimated using the ordinary least squares method. Given the characteristics of the economy, alternative measures for each variable are used. The analysis in the paper is based on time-series data covering the period 1969/70-94/95. The findings do not lend support to the validity of Wagner’s law in Kuwait. Some of the main factors that were found to have contributed to the growth in public expenditure are the economic structure, the degree of economic openness and financial development.

Economies of scale and utilization in electricity generation in Kuwait

Cost structure of electricity generation in Kuwait has been examined, with specific focus on the economies of scale and utilization. This has been done by estimating a translog variable-cost function using time-series data covering the period from 1965 to 1990. The results indicate the existence of diseconomies of scale in the generation of electricity, but no economies or diseconomies of utilization.

The demand for medical care services: evidence from Kuwait based on households’ out-of-pocket expenses

ABSTRACT This article used a data set containing information on 1267 households from Kuwait to investigate the determinants of demand for medical care services by examining households’ out-of-pocket expenses. To deal with the problems associated with households’ health expenditure data, a two-part model (TPM) was estimated. Given Kuwait’s demographic composition, the model was estimated for full sample, nationals only and expatriates only. Prior to estimating the model, tests were conducted to select a transformation that reduces problems associated with heteroscedasticity and non-normality of the errors. In addition, tests were performed to determine if differences in the estimated coefficients across population groups were statistically significant.