Advances in World Economics

Institutional Quality and Environmental Deficit: An Insight from BRICS Countries

2022-06-11T18:39:26+00:00

This study examines the impact of institutional quality on the environmental deficit in BRICS countries. In this study, environmental deficit is depicted by the presence of carbon dioxide whereas economic growth (EG), foreign direct investment (FDI), trade openness (TO), urbanization, energy consumption (EC), and institutional quality index are used as explanatory variables. Panel data is used for the period between 1995-2017. The data on all the determinants of carbon emissions is collected from World Development Indicators (WDI) while data on the institutional quality index is collected from Worldwide Governance Indicators (WGI). For the empirical analysis, Auto Regressive Distributive Lag Model (ARDL) and pair-wise Granger Causality test (GC) are used. Further, co-variance analysis is also performed to check the possible correlation among the variables. The results indicate that the environment worsens off in the initial stages of economic growth and once a certain level is attained, it starts to improve. So, the findings validate the Environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) hypothesis in BRICS countries. The results of the Granger Causality test revealed the bidirectional causality from trade openness and foreign direct investment to carbon emissions while no Granger Causality exists between institutional quality and carbon emissions. The study suggests that BRICS countries should focus on sound institutional frameworks to attain high economic growth without deteriorating the environment.

Impact of ICT Investment and Diffusion on Economic Growth: A Case Study of Pakistan

2022-06-12T20:43:56+00:00

Technological advancements are crucial to the growth of any economy's potential. This, however , is not a straightforward undertaking. Economic growth has historically been accelerated or slowed depending on whether new technology is transferred, developed, or fails to achieve its full potential. It is particularly true that information and communications technology (ICT) impacts the production processes of businesses, which in turn has an effect on the overall production processes of businesses themselves. Because of this, empirical inquiry is necessary to confirm the existence of such a link. Instead of measuring ICT investments directly, the imports and exports of information and communications technology (ICT) are used to measure ICT spread. Internet and mobile cellular subscriptions are used as proxy for ICT diffusion. The results demonstrate that the diffusion of information and communications technologies has a major and positive impact on economic development. However, when it comes to the impact of ICT investments on economic development in Pakistan, there has been a slew of contradictory findings. In other words, exports have a positive impact on the economy, but imports have a negative impact on it. All factors have a substantial influence on the growth of the economy.

Tax Gap Determinants in Pakistan

2022-06-14T04:18:12+00:00

This study discusses the factors affecting the revenue generation in Pakistan. Time series data is used from the period between 1996 to 2020. Total tax to GDP ratio is taken as dependent variable and agriculture and manufacturing sectors to define the tax base, inflation, per capita income and trade openness as economic variables. Corruption and government effectiveness are taken as social variables. ADF and ARDL techniques were applied in this study and bound test and long-run cointegration were measured among variables. Results reflect strong nexus among all economic variables with tax revenue in short-run. Tax base is also highly significant with tax collection. Only corruption appears insignificant in short-run. In long- run only corruption and inflation show insignificant relationship with total tax to GDP ratio. Findings suggests that government should take measures to increase the tax base and improve the tax system that is itself a hurdle in tax compliance.

Impact of Inflation on Economic Growth in Pakistan

2022-06-14T04:27:26+00:00

This study examines the relation between inflation and economic growth of Pakistan and to explore if there is a long or short- term relationship between the both. For this purpose, the study used annual data of the period between 1973 to 2014 collected from the World Bank for Pakistan. In this study, GDP is taken as dependent variable, inflation as an independent variable and population as a control variable. To check relationship among the variables, different econometric techniques such as augmented dickey fuller and Philips Perron tests of unit root were applied to check whether the data is stationary or nonstationary and to find the order of integration of the variables. Also, an ARDL approach of co-integration on the variables of GDP, inflation and population was used in order to check the relation among variables. The obtained results show a long-run relationship between inflation and economic growth in Pakistan.

Livestock Sector and Food Security Situation in Rural Punjab of Pakistan

2022-06-14T04:35:28+00:00

Livestock is an important component of the pastoral economy and performs a compassionate role in plummeting hunger and food insecurity. The past empirical literature has focused on the effect of the livestock sector on different aspects of food safety and food security. This study examines the contribution of the livestock sector to the nutritional security and welfare of rural households in Punjab province of Pakistan. Primary data were collected from 350 households using a simple random sampling technique. Nutritional security in nutrients (both, micro and macro) was premeditated on the basis of weekly food intake. In the second stage, binary logistic regression was employed to analyze the role of livestock in nutritional security. The results showed that around 35 percent of the sample households were found food insecure. It was found that the food security situation is greatly improved by the level of education and ownership of livestock. A one- unit increase in both parameters increases the probability of a household becoming food secure by 0.179 percent and 1.9 percent, respectively. Monthly income is also found as an important parameter in this regard. Furthermore, increasing family size and family structure play a negative role on food security.