bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
The Role of Organizational Support in Mediating Work Performance: A Case Study of UBL
Authors: Ahmed Faisal , Cheema Farooq-E-Azam
Published: February 2019

The managerial thought concerning human relation with organization argues that employees’ performance is directly proportional to the improvement in their employment relationship. Social exchange theorist (Eisenberger  et al., 1997) studied organizational support to explain positive impacts on employee’s work place attitudes and  behaviors in their role performance, turnover intentions and withdrawal behaviors. In order to explore this  phenomenon this case study was conducted in a local bank i.e. UBL in a service industry. This report presents a qualitative research describing the role of organizational support and its constructive effects on the employee’s  performance. Intentionally this study was delimited to focus only four contributing factors of organizational  support i-e Fairness, Supervisor Support, Organizational Reward and Job Conditions to explain how do they  mediate and improve the employee’s performance in UBL. Primary and Secondary Data has been gathered  through questionnaires and interviews. Survey results have shown a strong opinion about the role of supervisor  support, rewards, job condition and fairness that can contribute in increasing employee’s performance in UBL.
Determinants of Capital Structure: A Case of Listed Energy Sector Companies in Pakistan
Authors: Ghani Kashif , Bukhari Syed Husnain
Published: February 2019

This study is aimed at determining the capital structure of listed energy sector companies in Pakistan, with a view to finding out the impact of four variables, i.e. tangibility, size, growth and profitability of the firms on their leverage. The sample included data for 20 companies for the period spanning 2004 to 2008. Our results show that all these factors affect the leverage of a firm in some degree. We found that tangibility and size have positive association with leverage which supports the predictions of Static Tradeoff Theory. On the other hand, profitability was found to have negative relationship with a firm‟s level of debt, a finding that supports the viewpoint presented by Pecking Order Theory. Growth had positive relationship with leverage thus supporting the simple version of Pecking Order Theory.
Impact of Taxation on Information Processing of Financial Services Business Location Decisions
Authors: Rani Iram , Memon Mohammad Salih , Laghari Minhoon Khan
Published: February 2019

Question on the goodness of taxation system has been raised many times in the past by many researchers. In this study response research was carried out to find the effects of taxation on economy. Purpose of this research is to add a new dimension in the taxation literature by investigating the relationship between tax system variables and variable like location decision, information process and key decision makers. Relationship between these variables is tested by using data collected from financial service providers functioning especially in Sindh province. The main objective of the research was to know that "How do firms undertake information processing prior to making their decisions?" GLM (General Linear Modeling) was applied for checking the relationship between the variables, and research concluded that criteria for evaluating the extensive information process regarding selection of location must be improved and role of personnel involved in decision making on the basis of information must be significant. Moreover, this study provides evidence that some tax system variables are positively concerned with information processes, key decision makers, and location decision making. It also shed light on the fact that high or moderate tax burden do not necessarily impact decision making pertaining to business location.
How Students Decide About Their Careers? A Case Study of Management Students of Textile Institute of Pakistan, Karachi
Authors: Kamran Saifuddin , Khalidi Manzoor
Published: February 2019

A young person of today is faced with an increasing number of options before taking a decision. This becomes especially difficult when the decision has to have implications on the whole future life of a person, such as the decision about what field to choose for studies, what career to opt for, or what institution to join for professional studies. The youth of our country has more opportunities and options before them than their predecessors had in their time. This excess of options spawns a complicated state of affairs for our adolescents. A person's decision-making method matures as time passes, because of the biological changes in the individual and the continuous learning process of the person. Usually, in Pakistan, our students lead a very protected and pampered life.They are not used to taking decisions for their lives. When it comes to joining a university, they go to the same sources of power, i.e. their parents, but in this situation parents are not that much of a help. We tested this situation to find out whether this analysis of ours is really true.
Monetary and Financial Statistics is a Major Tool for Analysis of an Economy: Evidence from Pakistan
Authors: Ali Azam
Published: February 2019

Proper dissemination and utilization of statistics is a basic requirement for high transparency in financial policies and efficient operation of financial markets, which have long been advocated by international organizations and central bank watchers (Hanke and Morgenstern 2001; Hanke; 2002). State Bank of Pakistan is playing a vital role in disseminating useful and important information in the form of monetary and financial statistics. It is observed that the public/researchers face difficulties in understanding the proper utilization of monetary and financial statistics in the analyses of their country's economy. This paper introduces the application technique of Monetary and Financial Statistics (MFS) in Pakistan under a theoretically sound framework. Findings discover how public/researchers can easily access the information available at web-sites of Financial Institutions. This paper also attempts, to explain the unique linkages of the monetary sector to the real sector economy.
Water Management: A Solution to Water Scarcity in Pakistan
Authors: Ahmad Bashir
Published: February 2019

With the increase in population of our country and changing geo-political landscape, the available water resources are fast depleting. We also understand that without water, there can be no life as we see in this physical world. The solution lies in judicious usage of water and realization to preserve, which ultimately leads to superior management of this essential resource. This paper addresses the issues pertaining to water required for agriculture, drinking as well as for other purposes. The measures recommended for preservation of irrigation water include cost effective maintenance of water channels under an integrated mechanism of public-private partnership and ownership through community participation. Similarly to resolve the issues related to drinking and general purpose water, a distinction between the two categories has been proposed for putting in practice under an integrated approach. For the purpose of enhancing storage capacity, instead of fighting on the construction of much awaited mega dams, the paper suggests construction of small dams and run of the water channels auto-spillover bunds. These measures, apart from being cost effective (i.e. affordable) shall have no political controversies. The concept is storage of water through spread over river beds and storage sites. The paper also suggests measures for creating awareness among our people to make judicious use of water.
Impact of Sports Celebrity Endorsements on the Purchase Intentions of Pakistani Youth
Authors: Baig Farah Naz , Siddiqui Kamran
Published: February 2019

To anybody interested in sports and marketing, the concept of celebrity endorsment is not a new one. In recent decades, sport marketing has emerged as an independent area where companies separate themselves from their competitors by developingassociations with the sporting heroes. In this study, the dynamics, as have emerged in the recent past, will be analyzed and implications for both sports and marketing evaluated. This study is an exploratory study and for this study data from 127 university students was collected. Data was collected with the help of surveys and was further analyzed with the help of a) descriptive statistics b) Confirmatory factor analysis c) Regression Analysis. The study focuses on the university students and limited geographical region of Pakistan for the purpose of data collection. The research concludes that celebrity endorsements could have an impact on the attitude towards the brand but it does not necessarily create motivations to purchase. This study provides deep insights for the marketers in terms of celebrity endorsements for their brands. The research will be a valuable addition in proliferation of knowledge on the subject area.
Pakistan Marble Industry Challenges: Opportunities for China in Pakistan
Authors: Mansoor Yasir , Syed Nadeem A.
Published: February 2019

The phrase world has now become a global village is rightly indicative of the fruitful effects and outcomes for entrepreneurs as far as their growth and profit margin are concerned. This study will analyze the marble industry of Pakistan with respect to China. What are the export potentials of Pakistani industry in China? Do we supply marble according to their need? Is our marble best in quality? Will our export increase in future to China? Is this industry has potentials in contributing to our economy and GDP to a larger extent? This variety of inquiry will be undertaken in this study. However, we believe that there are huge gaps between demand and supply of marble to China and these gaps badly affect our export and economy as well. It is true that our exports of marble to China are not according to our reserves i.e. 160 million tons and our export of marble to China is only $ 55 million. This is 3.6% of their total imports of marble. While conducting a forecasting analysis, it has been proven that the export of marble is increasing in past and also shows a growing trend in upcoming future. Some structured interviews have also been taken which demonstrate that our primary and secondary data are equivalent. We export most of our marble to China but still we cannot supply according to the demand because of various factors. In marble industry export, China is the major buyer and it gives a great boost to our economy. The export orders are receive mostly from China and 63% people strongly agree that exports of marble from Pakistan to China are not as much as it should have been but if we can sort out problems like tribal fights, lack of technological infrastructure, semi trained workers and simultaneously government policies need to be streamlined as they can facilitates entrepreneurs and hence export can be increased to a larger extent.
Evaluating Determinants of Organizational Commitment: A Comparative Analysis of Public and Private Sectors
Authors: Malik Kamran Ahmed , Khalidi Manzoor A.
Published: February 2019

This study was conducted to evaluate the determinants of organizational commitmentin public and private sectors organizations of Pakistan. Organizational commitment isa behavior that extends beyond the functions and conduct formally required of workersin an organization. Such behavior is indispensable because of its contribution to betterorganizational performance. In order to adapt to environment constraints, the executivesnow a days try to promote certain behaviors and aspects among employees thatultimately stimulates the commitment towards organization. Hence to function successfully,each organization is interested in exploiting factors that determine the organizationalcommitment of the employee. Although there have been numerous international studieson organizational commitment highlighting the key determinants of commitment towardsorganizations and how do they influence employee behaviour and conduct at theworkplace, yet such comprehensive studies in the local corporate context are limited.This is a pure quantitative research aimed at evaluating determinants of organizationalcommitment through survey. For this purpose, a questionnaire was designed and datawas collected from a sample of 150 people within public and private sector organizationsfrom banking industry. Nine hypotheses were developed and tested through Z-tests.Various other statistical techniques, including demographical analysis, reliability analysisand correlations were also employed for data analysis. The survey findings show strongcorrelations between various employee retention factors and the organizationalcommitment. The comparison of public and private sector in this regard reveals someinteresting findings. The research concludes with various ways of devising strategieswhich can induce organizational commitment among employees and increase productivity
Measuring Intelligence by Raven Standard Progressive Matrices Test: A PCA Approach
Authors: Ismat Shaista , Saghir Junaid
Published: February 2019

There are many ways to measure the intelligence, especially when it comes to measuring through multidimensional scaling. This study examines the nonverbal abilities of the individuals using nRaven Standard Progressive Matrices (RSPM) test. RSPM is a nonverbal culture fair test that identifies nonverbal reasoning abilities. It has 60 visually presented geometric-parallel-like problems based on five sets, having 12 items in each set. The tool was administered collectively (group-class) to a representative sample of 267 adolescents (both boys and girls) studying at higher education institutions in Pakistan. The sample was drawn from two public sector universities. The data was analyzed through descriptive statistics and principle component analysis (PCA) to extract nonverbal abilities. The results indicate that 25% participants have secured 60% or less tests scores, 50% participants have secured 73% or less tests scores, and 25% participants secured more than 81% tests scores. It is also found that participants have very sound intellectual capacity and nonverbal reasoning abilities which is generally identified as fluid intelligence and it is correlated with measures of abstract reasoning, puzzle solving, problem solving, learning and pattern recognition. Principle component analysis has revealed the grouping of the individuals and the common factor that affects the performance of the participants.
Internal Branding: A Comparative Analysis of Banking Sector in Pakistan
Authors: Kashif Shumaila , Jalbani Amanat Ali
Published: February 2019

With the growing consumerism and corporate competition, organizations, particularly banks are required to augment the sense of branding among their employees. In this view, this research study intends to extend understanding towards brand supporting behavior and assesses empirical relationship between brand supporting behavior and brand performance. Also, it evaluates internal branding process from perspective of employees to know attributes of organization that motivate them in living the brand or delivering the brand performance. A quantitative survey is conducted in banking sector and structural equation modeling is applied to assess the goodness of fit of model and to interpret causal relationships. To explore the factors of internal branding which drive performance of employees, in-depth interviews are also carried out. Attributes that motivate employees and contribute in building internal branding process are found as: work environment, employment, and internal communication. These factors can influence employees brand supporting behavior and internal branding process which in turn affect the delivery of brand promise. The results of this study provide practical insights about the internal branding dynamics of local market; and suggests that norms valued by the employees, need attention of top management to let employees relate those norms with the brand of the organization.
Influence of Lawn Exhibitions and Brand Outlets on Consumers Buying Behavior
Authors: Umbreen Ulita , Rashidi Muhammad Zaki
Published: February 2019

For past 6 years the textile industry is leveraging tremendously by raising the bar in terms of product development, brand building, placement, style and presentation to increase accessibility to luxury. In this context, this research is undertaken to analyze the influence of lawn exhibitions and brand outlets towards consumers buying behavior and preferences. This research further investigates the consumers’ responses to the current trends of pricing strategy of the lawn prints. It is descriptive in nature and a survey questionnaire is used which was consisted of 315 female consumers living in Karachi. The research focused on lawn exhibitions and brand outlets, shopping malls, beauty salons by taking the views of female consumers. The questionnaire was developed to find out about women living in Karachi whether they are influenced by the trend of branded lawn suits, promotions, exhibitions/brand outlets, styles and quality. The study’s conceptual framework included six independent variables which were considered key dimensions of consumer buying behavior; one moderating variable_ consumers demographics_ plays a vital role in buying decisions. The research also found a strong positive relationship between lawn exhibition, brand outlets and consumer buying behavior. Although the consumers buying patterns, choices, purchasing power and accessibility may differ among female consumers, all like to wear lawn prints for various reasons.
Status of Women in Pakistan: A Critical Analysis
Authors: Isran Samina , Isran Manzoor Ali
Published: February 2019

The status of women in Pakistan is worsening day by day and their living standard is also decreasing abysmally. Women in Pakistan do not only suffer from domestic inequalities in terms of the distribution of resources but their access to outside resources like education and employment is minimal and support from government or non-governmental organizations is nominal. Patriarchal structures embodied in kinship, religion, division of labour, violence and class hierarchy have further reinforced subordination of women and their dependence on men. The inability of state to fulfil basic needs of people has increased the number of poor women in the country. This study attempts to present an analysis on the plight of women and widening gender inequalities being reinforced by patriarchal set up and norms in Pakistani society. The analysis is done in the light of two main analytical frameworks: Women in Development (WID) and Gender and Development (GAD). The methodology applied for the study is qualitative. The study concludes that until gender inequalities are removed, women would continue to suffer from subjugation in Pakistan; therefore, state should adopt more gender sensitive human development policies and ensure women’s representation and participation in all the crucial domains.
Indo-Pak Trade: Apprehensions and Opportunities for Pharmaceutical Industry of Pakistan
Authors: Pirzada Wali Muhammad , Shaikh Riaz Ahmed
Published: February 2019

The long-standing bilateral conflicts between Pakistan and India and resultant massive defense spending have marred economic growth in Pakistan. But for last few years, there has been a great stress on building stronger economic ties between Pakistan and India. The proposed normalization of trade between two countries has stimulated heated debate in Pakistan. The policy of normalization of relations and liberalization of trade with India got a mixed response from different quarters in Pakistan. It is welcomed by some political parties and industrial sector as a good opportunity whereas some have expressed their apprehensions and concerns. Pakistan’s pharmaceutical sector is in defiance of trade liberalization with India as the industry feels “serious threats” for Pakistan’s local market. However, Pakistan Medical Association (PMA) views normalization of trade as a “grand opportunity” for Pakistan that will benefit consumer, control price hike, raise standards of medicine and bring peace and stability in the region. Even a few pharmaceutical companies are hoping for joint ventures through which Pakistan can earn Food and Drug Administration (FDA), USA, approved plants that are essential to export medicines to the US, European Union (EU) and Japanese markets. Increased economic interdependence can reduce or restrain war and hard-line approach of military and political leadership in India and Pakistan.
Work/Life Balance: A Cadre/Gender-Wise Assessment of Commercial Bank Employees
Authors: Sultan Danish , Hanif Muhammad Nadeem
Published: February 2019

In Pakistan, where the competition is intense in almost all industries, professionals spend more time at work than official duty hours in order to survive the rapidly changing environment. This has resulted in numerous compromises on other important fronts like cutting off from family and friends. It is assumed that work/life imbalance prevails more in developing nations with immense work pressures. To keep up pace with the growing demands of organizations and increasing responsibilities, one often neglects any or all strands of socializing. This gives rise to an imbalance which erupts as work/life conflicts for an individual and affects one’s satisfaction in work and other activities. The purpose of this research is to determine the impact of work/life balance on employees of a commercial bank (in different branches) in Pakistan where men and women focus more on professional life and compromise on other dimensions of life which are: personal, family, and social. The survey included professionals working in public, private and foreign commercial bank branches. Five-point Likert scale was used to measure the three underlying constructs: ‘work/life balance’, ‘organizational support’ and ‘support from others’. Data was analyzed using basic and descriptive statistics, factor analysis, correlation and t-test. The results indicate that majority of professionals are not satisfied with the balance between their work and life since greater number of hours are spent at work than the official duty timings. Moreover, females reported to have greater ‘work/life balance’, ‘organizational support’ and ‘support from others’ as compared to males. Males showed a higher tendency of developing stress-related diseases which were a consequence of increasing workplace demands and responsibilities.
Impact of Integrated Marketing Communication on Consumers Purchase Decisions
Authors: Umbreen Ulita , Ali Tahir
Published: February 2019

The integrated marketing communication (IMC) is one of the important communication trend  adopted by advertising and business organizations during last decade. This research is  conducted to find out the impact of IMC practices on consumers’ purchase decisions in Pakistan. In this age of globalization, with the spread of advanced and updated technologies and increase in well-informed customers, it has become essential for the business market to be more efficient to make powerful impact on the target audience and market. In Pakistan, the business market has started progressing towards an integrated approach to achieving efficiency by synergy and this concept has become one of the most significant examples of development in the marketing discipline. This research highlights the importance of IMC activities with respect to influencing consumers’ purchase decisions. Through consumers feedback the research successfully found consumers preferences for IMC tools, activities, demographic profiles and buying behavior. The descriptive research design is adopted and interviews and questionnaires are used for data collection. Finally, the research concludes that consumers are becoming demanding as their demographic profiles and buying behavior are influenced by IMC activities which contribute in consumers' final purchase decisions.
Participants’ Knowledge about Exchange Traded Funds: An Evidence from Karachi Stock Exchange
Authors: Khan Arshad , Shakeel Syed Farhan
Published: February 2019

This study investigates and highlights the factors differentiating professional investors from retail investors, causing overall deficiency in overall investors’ knowledge about Exchange Traded Funds at Karachi Stock Exchange. Participants to the study are Authorized Participants, including brokers listed under the regulations of Karachi Stock Exchange Guarantee Ltd. Currently, out of 200 listed brokers 50% were conveniently selected as participants to this study. Likert scaled questionnaires were floated to have their responses. Mean response to all examined variables was more than 3 which lead us to the understanding that all participants were somehow agreed that there exist knowledge deficiency in Pakistan’s ETFs market. Among all factors ranging from SECP Regulations, KSE Regulations to Trading Strategies, on average the factor, Trading Strategies with highest mean response of 3.34 indicated that respondents were more confident about deficiency of knowledge in Trading Strategies at KSE and Authorized Participants or investors at KSE has to consistently develop and improve the existing level of knowledge. Participants’ consistency levels about knowledge deficiencies in all variables (i.e. overall investors' knowledge, SECP Regulations, KSE Regulations and Trading Strategies) have 10.53%, 10.37%, 13.21% and 15.56% coefficients of variations respectively. This shows that participants’ responses were more consistent about the deficiency in understanding SECP regulations followed by investors’ overall knowledge. Spearman’s Correlation coefficient for all independent variables at 5% significance level with P-value < 0.5 were (knowledge deficiency in SECP Regulations r =0.547 , deficiency in KSE Regulation r =0.533, knowledge deficiency in understanding ETFs Trading Strategies with r =0.536) found statistically significant. Hypotheses for significance influence of independent variable on dependent variable were also tested to support the findings.
Rise and Fall of Progressive Thought in Pakistan: An Appraisal of PTV Drama Tradition
Authors: Zubedi Bilal , Shaikh Riaz Ahmed
Published: February 2019

The progressive thought process initiated by the Progressive Writers’ Movement of South Asia encapsulates its very ideals of secular thought, politics of social realism, challenging the status quo and presenting a fight of ideas or intellectual discourse. This aiming to develop a consciousness within the people about their existential state being promulgated by writing, the modus operandi of the movement, is what this paper adopts as a tool to further assess the reflection of the socio-political discourse on progressive thought, on to television in Pakistan. The advent and position of progressive thought served as the very foundation of PTV drama content during its initial years of 1967-1977. Being the only television channel and owned by the state, its acceptance and that of progressive content found place in society naturally. Due to no private interests playing a role and more creative space provided by the democratic government of the 1970s, the initial decade came to be known as the golden era. Television reaching across geographies brings people on a uniform platform face to face with their lives, social problems and alternatives facilitating an interpretation of content, progressive content in the initial years of PTV. This paper aims to explore and analyze the same along with any effects it might have had for society in terms of building an alternative perspective to the one which existed. This being the entire purpose of the progressive tradition. However, since 1977 after a right-wing military takeover in Pakistan it is generally believed that the circumstances for the channel and some of its best content began to change coupled with the lack of intellectual rigour. Ultimately, this led to the decline of progressive traditions at PTV; a postulate deduced on the basis of findings ascertained through primary research on the matter forming the body of the paper.
Stock Price Reaction to Earnings Announcement: Case of an Emerging Market
Authors: Iqbal Javed , Farooqi Faraz Ahmed
Published: February 2019

Disclosure of financial statements by corporate firms is an important requirement of good corporate governance practice. This information is crucially important for rational decision making by investors who are willing to invest in stock of the firm based on fundamentals of the company. The speed with which this information is absorbed to stock prices is an important determinant of market efficiency. In a semi strong form efficient stock market the prices instantaneously and accurately adjust to new information. This paper conducts an event study analysis on an emerging market namely the Karachi Stock Exchange (KSE) by investigating the stock price reaction to public announcement of quarterly after tax profit by listed firms. By employing five year data on stock prices from January 2004 to August 2008 for 114 non financial firms it was found that information about earnings are quickly absorbed in prices before earning announcement is made so that there is no abnormal return post earnings announcement. Moreover the study provides evidence that there is a bigger element of surprise in bad news than in good news as the market reaction to bad news is stronger. A stronger reaction to bad news means that investor’s interpretation of earnings news is homogenous.
Perceived Behavioral Control and its Impact on Entrepreneurial Inclination of Engineering Graduates in Karachi: An Interpretative Study
Authors: Ansar Novera , Rahman Mustaghis ur
Published: February 2019

The theory of planned behaviour has three components namely: attitude, subjective norms and perceived behavioural control (PBC). Earlier, research studies suggested that a positive attitude is necessary to predict entrepreneurial behaviour; however, a number of studies now have concluded that perceived behavioural control has significant relationship with entrepreneurial intentions. Actual behavioural control such as family cooperation, availability of finances, necessary business skills and time is a non-motivational predictor of entrepreneurial behaviour and it is a good predictor of intentions to start one’s own business; perceived behavioural control, on the other hand, is found to have a positive and significant relationship with entrepreneurial inclination of the individuals. This is a quantitative study and explores students’ perception about their capability and inclination to start their own business. The study focuses on Bachelors of Engineering final year students. A total of four universities were selected from the ranking list of Higher education Commission Pakistan. Random sampling technique using web-based sample size calculator is used to select the sample of the students. The research instrument was based on the findings of the earlier research studies and Ajzen (2002) guidelines were used on developing a questionnaire to measure perceived behavioral control. Correlation analysis is applied to assess the relationship between perceived behavioural control and entrepreneurial inclination. The research study discovers thatengineers have high inclinations towards entrepreneurship even though quantitative analysis shows that PBC and entrepreneurial inclination are linked remotely and insignificantly. The regression analysis reveals that the model fit is only 10% between entrepreneurial inclination and PBC. Thus, there are other factors that seek to define entrepreneurial inclination of the engineering graduates and PBC does not play a significant role.
Economics of Austerity and Its Social Cost: A Critical Assessment of IMF Policies in Pakistan from 1988-2002
Authors: Isran Manzoor Ali , Isran Samina
Published: February 2019

The paper attempts to analyze the impact of the economics of austerity in the form of structural adjustment programmes singed by government with IMF during 1988-2002. To assess the impact of SAP on the vital macroeconomic indicators, the paper has adopted qualitative and quantitative research methodology while collecting data from different sources, including State Bank of Pakistan. This paper assesses the social impact of IMF conditionalities on health, education in addition to social consequences of privatization and withdrawal ofsubsidy. It has been deduced from the data that there has been major reduction on the expenditure on health and education as a result of cuts on healthcare and education as certain portions of the budget such as the defense, debt servicing and government salaries are fixed and the cut in the budget translates into cut in social sector expenditure which eventually impacted on health, education and other relevant sectors of the economy. This had have negative implications for the quality of services provided in education, curative health care and provision of medicines, largely due to protecting recurring budgets in the face of cutbacks. Education is an important sector of economy since it is a key component of the strategy for sustainable development and the best way to build a modern and coherent community. Cuts in educational expenditures had worst consequences for both the quality and quantity of education provided to students. Governments in the past had reacted by reducing education budget which resulted in decline in real education expenditure per student. Hence cut ineducation expenditure affects both the quality and quantity of education provided to the population by any government and can be linked directly to structural adjustment programs. The other area that produced negative social consequences during adjustment period is the privatization. Though IMF saw privatization as panacea to the economic woes of Pakistan, it failed to produce the desired results. From 1991 to 2006 the GOP privatized more than 160 public units at gross price of Rs. 395 billion and about 0.6 million workers were rendered jobless as a result of neo-liberal IMF (SAP) policies.
Empowering Women: Microfinance or Wage Employment
Authors: Akmal Shakila , Asif Lubna Ayub
Published: February 2019

Women empowerment is a focus of regional and global programs created towards women development in recent years. Economic empowerment seems to bear fruits for the interpersonal, social, legal and political areas as well. Microfinance programs and wage employment programs have served as two significant instruments to stimulate this process of positive change starting from individual/ interpersonal level and expanding to families and communities. This exploratory study attempts to compare microfinance with wage programs to see their effectiveness in Karachi. A total of 120 interview questionnaire was distributed among women respondents, two focus studies and five interviews with the policy makers provided insights to understand these programs. The study discovers that women who availed microfinance programs have shown low rate of economic and social development, whereas women who availed wage programs have shown higher level of economic and social development. Furthermore, findings have also supported the fact that absence of legal framework, infrastructure, training programs by microfinance institutions inhibit the growth of the women enterprise and support wage employment which ensure the fulfillment of basic needs at early level. The new dimensions of the study can be further investigated by increasing the sample size.
Monetary Transmission Mechanism in Pakistan: Credit Channel or Interest Rate Channel
Authors: Hussain Sayed Irshad
Published: February 2019

This study uses vector autoregressive approach to estimate the relative importance of credit and interest rate channels in the monetary transmission mechanism of Pakistan by covering the period from 1991-Q3 to 2012-Q2. The purpose of the study is to explore the role played by monetary policy shocksin economic fluctuations. The results based on variance decomposition analysis and impulse response function demonstrate that for the combine sample period covering from 1991-Q3 to 2012-Q2 both the credit and interest rate channels seem inef ective and it was dif icult to distinguish which channel is more important during this period in Pakistan's case. The sample period was then divided into two subsample periods and both the channels were observed in two subsample periods. However, credit channel was dominant in the first sample covering 1991-Q3 to 2000-Q4 and interest rate channel performs a much greater role in transmitting policy shocks in the second sample period of 2001-Q1 to 2012- Q2. Hence, it is concluded that the role of both transmission channels changed during the last two decades. The role of the credit channel in transmitting monetary shocks has considerably weakened since the early 2000s, whereas interest rate channel is more important during this period. These results have important implications for policy design, supporting a greater emphasis on financial prices than the quantity of credit in order to accomplish the targets of monetary policy in Pakistan.
Population and Poverty Nexus in Pakistan
Authors: Afzal Muhammad , Awais Samia
Published: February 2019

Pakistan has one of the highest population growth rates in the world. Rapid population growth is the bone of contention as well as the crux of the problems. 80 million people live below the poverty line. Macroeconomic instability, rising absolute and relative poverty and worsening income inequalities are the direct as well as indirect result of the high population growth. Population pressures are threatening land, forests and water resources. Improvement in operation and implementation of the family planning programme, increase in female literacy rate and enhancement of women social status can help reduce population growth and poverty. The demographic window argument is far-fetched and irrelevant to Pakistan. A redistribution of agriculture land through radical changes in land tenure coupled with corresponding changes in rural institutions that direct production are expected to help reduce poverty significantly and also improve socio-economic scene in the rural areas. A sound population policy coupled with political motivation can take care of rapid population growth and poverty.
CAPITAL STRUCTURE THEORIES AND LEVERAGE BEHAVIOUR OF PAKISTANI FIRMS
Authors: Sharif Saqib , Khan Muhammad Nadeem
Published: February 2019

This study examines the applicability of two competing capital structure theories; i.e., Pecking Order Theory (POT) and Trade-Off Theory (TOT). An extensive panel dataset of 293 non-financial firms listed on the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) for the period 2001 to 2013 is analyzed in three phases. First, we check the leverage behavior of all listed non-financial firms of Pakistan. Second, we test the applicability of capital structure theories for manufacturing and non-manufacturing firms; and third, the data is segregated into large and small firms based on asset size. Two different models are applied to investigate the corporate leverage behavior. First model suggests negative relationship of profitability, size, and growth with the firm’s leverage, which confirms that, on average, Pakistani firms follow pecking order theory (POT). In the second model leverage has positive and significant relationship with last year dividend, which shows firms with higher dividend payout ratios borrow more in subsequent year/(s). Overall, the financing behavior is in favor of POT for the non-financial Pakistani firms. Lastly, this study contributes to the existing literature by testing the applicability of two traditional theories on two major sectors, i.e., manufacturing and services sector; and also on small and large firms.
Can self control influence subjective well being in life? A study assessing the dynamics and association between the constructs
Authors: Khan Adnan , Qureshi Amina M.
Published: February 2019

The relationship between self-control and subjective wellbeing is an area of increasing interest for researchers in the field of positive psychology. Although numerous earlier studies have found evidence of a positive correlation between self control and several sub factors of well being such as life satisfaction, societal adjustment and social relationships, research investigating self control and well being as a distinct construct remains sparse. This study focused on researching the relationship and dynamics between self control and well being, assessing the findings with earlier studies in the area in view of the differences in society, culture and political dynamics of the location of the study and providing recommendations for enhancing self control in life. The study assessed 100 students and faculty members at an accredited university in Pakistan. Utilizing the longer version of the Ryff (1995) wellbeing scale and the full version of the Tangney, Braumeister, and Boone, (2004) self control scale, the study found a moderate correlation between self control and subjective well being, r= .583, p < 0.05. This was in line with prior studies in the field that also reported moderate to high positive associations between the two variables. The study concluded that self control positively affects well being, the results being similar and consistent across developed and developing countries and that there are specific strategies that can be utilized to enhance personal self control in life.
Impact of Downsizing on Employee Commitment and turnover intentions in Public and Private Sector: Moderating role of social support
Authors: Chaudhry Naveed Iqbal , Shah Irfana , Mahesar Hakim Ali , Tariq Usman
Published: February 2019

Due to economic crisis, organizations all over the world are adopting a number of different schemes to handle emerging problems. Downsizing or retrenchment of employees is frequently used by organizations when they face hardships at the marketplace. Under these circumstances, lack of commitment is the most crucial counter action which organizations have to face. This study intends to examine the impact of downsizing on organizational commitment and turnover intentions of surviving employees in the moderating role of social support. The target audience for this study was four public and private sector organizations located in Islamabad. The sample size consisted of 333 employees of upper and middle level management which were selected through simple random sampling. The result shows that downsizing is positively related to employee turnover intention and has significant negative impact on employee commitment. However, social support as a moderator enhanced employee commitment. This study will help the managers to comprehend when and how to apply downsizing so as not to harm the employee’s commitment. The study will further assist managers to implement downsizing and social support to achieve the objectives.
Major Determinants of Career Development: Employees’ Perception
Authors: Samim Basheer Ahmad
Published: February 2019

This study was conducted to identify the factors influencing employee’s career development within the organization. Based on the comprehensive literature review, the determinants of Career Development have been broadly classified into three categories: organizational, social and personal. Empirical investigation is conducted to test the influence on employee’s Career Development in the social settings of Pakistan’s banking sector in Islamabad and Rawalpindi. The organizational factors (Political Skills, Work Content, Affective Commitment and Leader-Member Exchange), the social factors (Family & Friends Support & Peer Support) and personal factors (Core-Self-Evaluation) along with four demographic traits (Gender, Age, Qualification and Experience) have been taken as independent variables. The relationship of these variables with Career Development is tested and explored. Research items are adopted from well-established previous studies. Convenient sample design is used to select the sample. General Linear Model is applied to test the hypothesized relationship among the variables. Study finds that Organizational factors and social factors like Family Support positively influence on the Career Development. Peer support is perceived to have inverse relation with career development. Core-Self-Evaluation is found insignificant with employee’s Career Development. Career Development perception is same across the levels of gender and across the levels of Age. Career Development perception is found highest with Experience category 5-10 years. This study provides a vision to employees about their Career Development process and motivates them to focus on important dimension of Career Development. This study enhances the existing body of knowledge by investigating Organizational; Social and Personal factors (Scale Predictors) with a combination of demographic traits (Qualitative Predictors). It supplements the Career Development practices by establishing a comprehensive framework on Career Development. This study highlights the importance of education and experience for the employees.
Regression models of sonographic parameters of the kidneys in practically healthy women of the ectomorphic somatotype depending on the peculiarities of body size
Authors: Ustymenko О. S.
Published: February 2019

The study of the constitutional features of organs in the healthy population makes it possible to find out the peculiarities of changes in their sizes in different pathologies. The purpose of the work is to construct and analyze the regression models of individual sonographic sizes of the kidneys in practically healthy women of the ectomorphic somatotype, depending on the features of anthropo-somatotypological parameters of the body. From the database of research center of the National Pirogov Memorial Medical University, Vinnytsya (within the framework of the agreement on scientific cooperation) were taken the primary sonographic parameters (length, width, front and rear size, area of the longitudinal and cross section of the kidneys and their sinuses, as well as the volume of the right and left kidneys) and anthropometric indices (according to V. V. Bunak in the modification of P. P. Shapаrenko) of practically healthy women-ectomorphs of the first mature age, who in the third generation live in the Podillia region of Ukraine. Regression models of individual sonographic sizes of the kidneys, depending on the features of anthropo-somatotypological parameters of the body, are constructed using the license package “Statistica 6.1”. In practically healthy women of the ectomorphic somatotype all 16 possible reliable regression models of sonographic parameters of the right and left kidneys, based on the anthropometric and somatotypological parameters with determination coefficient R2 from 0.607 to 0.973, were constructed. Constructed regression models of sonographic parameters of both kidneys in practically healthy women of the ectomorphic somatotype most often include body diameters (24.2% of the total number of indicators included in the models), circumferential body sizes (20.9%), cephalometric indices (19.8 %) and the thickness of skin and fat folds (14.3%). The regression models of sonographic parameters of the right kidney in women of the ectomorphic somatotype most often include diameters and circumferential body sizes (by 27.3% of the total number of indicators included to the models of right kidney) and cephalometric indices (18.2%). The regression models of the sonographic parameters of the left kidney in women of the ectomorphic somatotype most often include body diameters and cephalometric indices (by 21.3% of the total number of indices included to the models of the left kidney) and the circumferential body size and thickness of skin and fat folds (by 14.9%).