All the provisions of the Uruguay Round Agreements have a bearing upon competition policy, since the international framework governing trade determines the extent of competition in the national markets. Apart from the fundamental provisions of GATT Articles I (MFN treatment), III (National Treatment) and X (Transparency), there are numerous specific WTO provisions which are relevant in varying degrees to competition2 • GATT Article VI and the WTO Agreement on Antidumping which involves concept of injury, treatment of price discrimination, public interest, etc; • GATT Article XVI and the WTO Agreement on Subsidies and Countervailing Measures such as concept of injury; • Agreement on TRIMs; requiring the elimination of deletion programme and local content requirements; • Agreement on TRIPs involving anti-competitive practices in contractual licenses, etc.
KEYWORDS: Uruguay agreement, WTO Agreement on Antidumping, GATT, anti dumping, competition policy.
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One of the most important developments of modern finance is the Capital Asset Pricing Model (CAPM) of Sharpe, Lintner and Mossin. Although the model has been the subject of several academic papers, it is still exposed to theoretical and empirical criticisms. The CAPM is based on Markowitz’s (1959) mean variance analysis. Markowitz demonstrated that rational investors would hold assets, which offer the highest possible return for a given level of risk, or conversely assets with the minimum level of risk for a specific level of return.
KEYWORDS: Capital asset pricing, CAP, equilibrium, single-period maximisers, empirical tests, asset pricing theory.
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An active area of investigation in finance literature is to explore the existence of a pattern in stock returns. A predictable pattern is evidence against market efficiency. Even if the pattern does not seem to affect the stock returns directly, it can provide useful clues to investors concerning their investment decision. One of the significant patterns identified is the day of the week effect which implies that stock returns are not distributed identically across the days. For example, in the U.S. capital market, rates of return on Mondays tend to be negative while those on Fridays tend to be high. Cross (1973), French (1980), Gibbons and Hess (1981), Keim and Stambagh (1984) and others consistently observed lowest returns on Mondays, termed as the ‘Monday effect’.
KEYWORDS: Equity markets, capital markets, stock returns, liberalisation, Pakistan, trading.
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In a world of multiple causes and effects, looking for black and white is turning a blind eye to limitless shades and colours created at diverse intersections. Any particular phenomenon is shaped by historical and cultural specifications interacting in a complex way. Putting these into neat categories across sharp divisions hampers the possibilities of knowledge that can be formulated at limitless points and interstices. Traditional Western philosophical thought was constructed around dualities and dichotomies that imposed “homogeneity and identity upon the heterogeneity of material” (BenHabib: 1992: 208). Post-structural epistemology involves attention to diversity, plurality and relations of power. It offers possibilities by opening spaces for voice/s, and provides a framework to position the ‘subjects’. According to Gaby Weiner, two aims of post-structuralism are:
KEYWORDS: Postmodernism, poststructualism, metanarratives, discourse formations.
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The power aspect in conceptualising importer-exporter interaction is very critical, but few studies are available concerning this issue in the context of export distribution channels. This article explores the power-related dimension of importer-exporter interaction. An effort has been made to discern the pattern of perceptual differences between a number of importer-exporter pairs. It has been found that broadly speaking, the importer exercises higher levels of power over the exporter rather than vice-versa. But the perceptual differences between the importer and exporter do not follow a systematic pattern. Research efforts have significant implications for the exporters’ community, generally in developed and particularly in developing countries such as Pakistan.
KEYWORDS: Power, behavioural concepts, distribution channels, behavioural paradigms, power framework, developing country.
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Traditionally, five year plans suggest an indicative set of policies to achieve medium-term targets. Operarionalisation of these policies, however, takes place through annual plans and budgets, formulation of trade and monetary policies and fiscal measures deemed necessary and announced during the course of a year, the so-called mini-budgets. In recent years, while five year plans have increasingly been seen as analytical frameworks for consistency rather than tight blueprints for disciline, there have been demands, especially from the private sector, that economic policies should be announced for a medium term. Underlying this shift of emphasis are the profound changes that have occurred in economic organisation and management in the country as well as the broad sweep of the forces of rapid globalisation. Of the total fixed investment in Pakistan today, over 60 per cent originates in the private sector. Only a decade ago, the private sector share was well below 50 per cent. Similarly, foreign investment used to be an insignificant component of foreign inflows. It stood at over a billion dollars for three years in a row in the nineties. The degree of openness of the economy has also increased significantly. Exports and imports alone constitute one-third of the GDP. The impact of liberalised financial flows is in addition.
KEYWORDS: Policy continuity, five year plan, Pakistan, investment, governance, institutions.
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This article is an attempt to explain why poverty has persisted to a great extent in Pakistan, despite sustained growth of national income, and to review two publications dealing with poverty and social development, “Social Development in Pakistan: Annual Review 1999, Social Development in Economic Crisis”, published by the Social Policy and Development Centre, (SDP) and “Human Development in South Asia, 1999: The Crisis of Governance”, published by the Mahbub ul Haq Human Development Centre (HD).
KEYWORDS: Pakistan, poverty, policy, neo-classical theory, labour, income distribution.
JEL: N/A.