Toseef Azid

The relationship between international trade openness and economic growth in the developing economies: Some new dimensions

Purpose - – This paper aims to establish a relationship between trade openness and economic growth in the context of the developing countries. This study has proposed a new measure of trade openness to the literature, as the available measures are flawed. Design/methodology/approach - – Empirical analyses are carried out with the help of panel econometric techniques. Findings - – The main finding of the paper is that the relationship between trade openness and economic growth is positive and statistically significant for developing countries. Besides trade openness, other determinants of economic growth such as investment and labour force are also significantly related with economic growth and carry expected coefficients. Further, it is found that frequent fluctuations in prices are detrimental to long-run economic growth. Practical implications - – Therefore, the developing countries are suggested to speed up the process of trade liberalization and also pay favourable attention to other determinants of economic growth to achieve high economic growth. Originality/value - – The authors have used a new measure of trade openness apart from the conventional trade volume measure of trade openness.

Malnutrition in primary school‐age children: A case of urban and slum areas of Bahawalpur, Pakistan

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to highlight the determinants of malnutrition of primary school-age (five to ten years) children in urban and slum areas. The ultimate objective is to frame policy proposals for childrens nutritional welfare. Design/methodology/approach - In this empirical study, logit model is applied to 882 observations of primary data. The composite index of anthropometric failure (CIAF) is constructed to use an indicator of malnutrition. Findings - The probability for anthropometric failure increases by age, birth-order, female sex and activity of the child (child labor or home-care activity) other than schooling. The parents education, specifically mothers education, can play an important role for childs nutritional status. Malnutrition is positively related with congestion in the household (number of household members per room), while provision of electricity, safe drinking water and underground drainage turns out to be negatively affecting childrens malnutrition. The children living in slums are more likely to experience anthropometric failure. Research limitations/implications - From the policy perspective awareness about gender equity of child, adult education, growth of household income specifically of slum areas and improvement in living conditions (through public health works program) may contribute to enhance childrens nutritional status. Practical implications - The slums need targeted policy for children welfare regarding their nutrition in the form of provision of public utilities and income support. Originality/value - From the methodological point of view, CIAF has been estimated as a measure of malnutrition. The findings of study may support academicians, policy makers and social activists for human development programs.

Does ethico‐moral coalition complement to economic coalition?: A response in the periphery of Islamic economics

Purpose - To reason whether the ethical–moral cum economic coalition among the different sets of economy is more efficient with objectives of Islamic Shariah. Design/methodology/approach - This is a theoretical paper based on the modified model of layers of economic coalition which was initially developed by W. Leontief and P.N. Mathur and tries to evaluate the impact of ethical–moral cum economic coalition among different sets of an economy within the framework of Islamic political economy system. Findings - This study suggests that endogenoising the ethical–moral cum economic coalitions will comparatively enhance the efficiency level of the economy, and will also increase the social welfare level. Practical implications - A dynamic cum marginal input–output table can be constructed on the basis of this framework. Originality/value - This research is beneficial to the researchers, policy makers and social scientists for the enhancement of the level of social welfare through this coalition.

Determinants of food security in rural areas of Pakistan

Abstract: Out of 120 districts of Pakistan (for rural areas) only 40 are food secure while 80 (67 percent) are food insecure. Within these food insecure districts, 38 (46 percent) are extremely food insecure. The matter of food security in rural areas is of immense nature and needs to be probed. A number of factors are responsible for the situation. The current paper examines the determinants of three aspects of food security in rural areas of Pakistan, i.e. food availability, accessibility and absorption. For the purpose a series of models is applied on district level data of rural areas of Pakistan. The production of wheat, rice, maize, pulses, oilseeds, poultry meat and fish at the district level is found to affect food availability positively. All the district except of Sindh are more probable to be food insecure in availability. In the food accessibility electrification and adult literacy emerged as the factors having negative effect. Child immunization, safe drinking water and number of hospitals have shown positive effect on food absorption.

Knowledge-induced technological change: A study involving the automobile innovation in Malaysia with layers of techniques

Purpose – To apply the Tawhidi epistemology in the automobile industry as the paradigm of the Islamic socio-scientific order in terms of its inherent knowledge-centered worldview. Design/methodology/approach – The concepts of unity and unification of knowledge in a system-wide sense are analytically developed in the framework of shuratic process or equivalently as the interactive, integrative and evolutionary process-oriented methodology (IIE). Findings – The analytical conceptualization is derived in the light of Quranic rules (ahkam) and recommended that policies, programs and instruments would jointly promote the development of mutual profitability and address the social milieu as well. Research limitations/implications – Tawhidi unification methodology of extensive participation and linkage can be applied widely. Originality/value – Certain policy recommendations in the light of the shariah precepts of this case study can be made.

Labor force participation of married women in Punjab (Pakistan)

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to highlight the factors that influence the decision of married women (in the age group of 16-60 years) to participate in labor force activities. Design/methodology/approach - This is an empirical study employing the non-linear maximum likelihood probability (probit) function on primary data (3,911 observations). Findings - Besides other variables it has been observed that poverty remains an important determinant of female labor participation. Research limitations/implications - On the basis of this paper, a socio-economic policy can be formulated for a developing country like Pakistan. Practical implications - A development policy (especially considering the gender aspects) can be formulated on the basis of this research for the enhancement of human resource development for a developing and an orthodox economy like Pakistan. Originality/value - This paper is beneficial to researchers, policy makers, and social scientists for the enhancement of the level of social welfare and equity through its findings.

Price behaviour, vintage capital and Islamic economy

Purpose - To find out the behaviour of firms with objectives of Islamic Design/methodology/approach - This is a theoretical paper based on the modified model of layers of techniques which was initially developed by Professors W. Leontief and P. N. Mathur and tries to evaluate the impact of entrance of new techniques on obsolescence in the ethical-moral cum economic framework of Islamic political economy system. Findings - This study suggests wastage of the resources because of their economic obsolescence and on the cost of future generation is not allowed in the system of Islam and ultimately decrease the social welfare level. Research limitations/implications - A dynamic cum marginal input-output table can be constructed on the basis of this framework and formulate the socio-economic policy. Originality/value - This research is beneficial to the researchers, policy makers and social scientists for the enhancement of the level of social welfare through this model.

Efficiency, effectiveness and performance profile of Islamic and conventional banks in Pakistan

Purpose - – Although there exists a huge pile of literature on the performance of banking sector, a gap exists in developing countries like Pakistan where only limited work has been previously done to evaluate the performance of banking sector. In fact, most of the previous studies are based on traditional ratio analysis. Other studies not only have applied modern techniques of frontier approach like data envelopment analysis (DEA) but also are limited to the measurement and comparison of efficiency scores of various groups of banks. The purpose of this study is to find out the determinant of variation in the performance of banks. Design/methodology/approach - – This study computes various elements of performance, including efficiency and effectiveness, and finds out the factors of variation in each component of performance by using the Tobit regression. Findings - – Overall performance of Islamic banks was influenced positively by age, capitalization, size, non-markup expenditure, minimum capital requirement and gross domestic product (GDP) growth rate, whereas profitability, concentration and inflation had a negative relationship. Research limitations/implications - – Islamic financial institutions are in their infancy stage. With the passage of time, one can find the exact trend in the performance and efficiency of these institutions. Practical implications - – This study guides the investors in the process of their decision-making. Social implications - – Society can also take the advantage of the moral steps which are taken by these institutions. Originality/value - – This is an original study.

Rising food prices, poverty and its challenges: the case study of Pakistan

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to highlight how rising food prices influence the degree of poverty. Design/methodology/approach - This is an empirical study employing the simple regression analysis. Findings - Besides other variables it has been observed that poverty remains an important determinant of a country like Pakistan. Research limitations/implications - On the basis of this study a socio-economic policy can be formulated for a developing country like Pakistan. Practical implications - A development policy (especially considering the urban and rural population) can be formulated on the basis of this research for the provision of basic needs for a developing and an orthodox economy like Pakistan. Originality/value - This research is beneficial to researchers, policy makers and social scientists for the enhancement of the level of social welfare and poverty alleviation through its findings.

Democracy and Economic Growth in Pakistan

It is experiential from growth literature that nations which have democratic regime be inclined higher level of economic growth. Due to significance of democracy for economic prosperity, up till know too much research work have been done on this hot issue, even though study regarding the nature of relationships between targeted variables in Pakistan still has research thrust. Exploration of that either democracy robustly and significantly affect the pace of economic growth in Pakistan is still in research pipeline. In this study to appraise the possibilities of relationships between democracy and economic growth in Pakistan, ARDL estimation technique is performed on annually observed democracy index and growth deputy. We use 38 annual observations for analysis. Index of democracy is developed by adopting the methodology designed by Alliance for Reforms and Democracy in Asia (ARDA). Results demonstrate that democracy played noteworthy task in the game of economic prosperity in Pakistan.