This study analyzes the impact of education, experience, and social capital on firm survival using two waves of a survey conducted in 2008 and 2017 for the electrical fittings cluster based in Sargodha, Pakistan. Estimating a probit model, we find that the entrepreneur’s education, experience, and social network are each positively correlated with firm survival. The interactions of education with both production and marketing experience are also significantly and positively related to firm survival while interactions of social capital with experience are not. Therefore, for the firms in this sector, education plays an important role directly as well as through production and marketing experience.
KEYWORDS: Education, experience, social capital, firm survival, Pakistan.
JEL: J24, L26, L69.

This study analyzes the impact of energy pricing policies on consumers’ welfare in rural and urban Pakistan. The study is based on pooled data from the Household Integrated Economic Survey for the period 1984/85 to 2011/12. We use the Almost Ideal Demand System to estimate parameters and price elasticities. The welfare analysis suggests that the rise in energy prices has been greater than the rise in the general consumer price index over this period. Therefore, consumers have incurred high expenditures in all years from 1984 to 2012, with a consistent welfare loss for all consumers with a decreasing trend. Additionally, the welfare loss to rural consumers is greater than that to urban consumers.
KEYWORDS: welfare, Pakistan, energy pricing, almost ideal demand system.
JEL: Q41, C1, D60.