This study attempts to evaluate exporters’ perceptions of the problems they face in exploiting their full competitive potential in the international market. Using firm-level survey data, we find that a shortage of skilled labor, the energy crisis, institutional rigidities, market imperfections, and weaknesses in physical infrastructure are the key impediments to achieving export competitiveness. Policies geared toward improving the quality of skilled labor, resolving the energy crisis, and reducing transaction costs by improving the institutional and physical infrastructure are key to expanding Pakistan’s exports on a sustained basis.
KEYWORDS: Pakistan, export competitiveness, exporting procedures, certifications.
JEL: F13.

This paper identifies the main impediments to investment and industrial productivity in Punjab, which have led to a decline in growth. This is done by analyzing the impediments and constraints to productivity and investment using the World Bank’s 2007 Investment Climate Assessment (ICA) data at the level of Punjab’s seven main industrial zones. This is followed by an analysis of a pilot survey of 100 firms conducted in the Lahore district. Almost 71 percent of the firms surveyed declared electricity to be the most important constraint and macroeconomic stability was ranked as the second-most important constraint. An inadequate workforce, access to raw materials, and corruption were ranked third, fourth, and fifth, respectively.
KEYWORDS: Industry, constraint, Pakistan.
JEL: O10.

In this paper we analyze which factors affect new firm entry and the scale of new firms in the export clusters of Punjab. Our analysis looks at local conditions (such as the degree of concentration in an industry, the employment of firms of that industry already located in a region, the employment of firms of all industries located in that region) and international conditions (such as the real exchange rates of Pakistan’s major trading partners and tariff rates). The results show that more export sector firms will enter highly concentrated industries and that firm entry increases significantly as a result of a depreciation in the trade-weighted real exchange rate, while the impact of changes in trade partner tariffs is not significant.
KEYWORDS: Firm, export clusters, entry, Pakistan.
JEL: F14, D22.

Competitiveness has become a mantra and organizing framework for much government policymaking in Pakistan and beyond. Rarely does anyone question the concept and use of the competitiveness paradigm itself. Krugman (1994) argues that this ”obsession with competitiveness is both wrong and dangerous.” This article draws from Krugman’s work and examines the use (or abuse) of the concept of competitiveness in the context of contemporary Pakistan. We focus on three recent and influential reports on competitiveness in Pakistan by the Asian Development Bank, World Bank, and Competitiveness Support Fund, and agree with Krugman’s negative view.
KEYWORDS: Competitiveness, policy, Pakistan.
JEL: E60.

This article argues that a new growth vent in Pakistan requires tapping into external lucrative markets in a manner that will create multiple entre-ports for growth. Such a growth vent will enable the country to achieve a sustained growth path that is not as susceptible to the political vicissitudes of one mega-growth node. This will be good for regional equity within the country and will also bring new energy to the Indus Basin market. Sustained welfare improvements in this type of regional hub can occur when it transitions from being a transportation hub for goods and energy into a manufacturing hub that creates high-productivity, high-wage jobs in multiple regional growth nodes.
KEYWORDS: Regional hub, trade, GDP, Pakistan.
JEL: F43.

While Pakistani trade with India could give a boost to Pakistan’s economy, there are other neighbors with whom trade could be equally important. We look at this aspect of regional trade and show that promoting trade with the rest of Pakistan’s neighbors could have a significant positive impact on the country’s growth. We show that Pakistan’s trade with these neighbors has grown rapidly over the last 10 years and at present they constitute the largest market for Pakistani exports. We also explain how these exports are not only important in terms of absolute value, they have also contributed to the development of new export products. The overall impact on Pakistan’s economy could well be to raise the trend growth rate for the next decade or so by 2 to 3 percentage points above the historical trend growth rate of 5 percent per annum.
KEYWORDS: Exports, regional trade, Pakistan, China, UAE, Central Asia, Afghanistan.
JEL: F13.

This article analyzes the volume and pattern of India–Pakistan trade given the extent of trade complementarity between the two countries and, in the presence of a restricted positive list of imports from India, the tariff regime and nontariff barriers in the two countries. The study also assesses the impact on bilateral trade of granting most-favored nation status to India, the removal of some of the impediments to trade, and the implementation of the final phase of import tariff reduction under the South Asian Free Trade Agreement. Finally, the article highlights emerging opportunities and possible threats to the process of trade normalization between the two countries.
KEYWORDS: exports, tariffs, non-tariff barriers, Pakistan, India.
JEL: F19.

Bilateralism arises as a “second-best” option when countries seek benefits beyond those of regional approaches to free trade and those of unilateral liberalization. In spite of the regional initiatives for free trade in South Asia along with policy reforms in individual countries, Sri Lanka entered into bilateral free trade agreements (FTAs) with India (2000) and Pakistan (2005). In a situation where trade within the South Asian region has been sluggish despite higher economic growth, trade liberalization, and regional initiatives for integration and cooperation, this article examines from the Sri Lankan point of view whether the bilateral FTAs have resulted in above-normal trade performance. The analysis suggests that better performance in bilateral trade cannot be attributed exclusively to the success of the FTAs any more than weak performance can be attributed to their shortcomings. Apart from this, merchandise trade does not appear to have performed in isolation as the extent of overall bilateral connectivity set the groundwork for greater integration. The article confirms that bilateral FTAs that seek reciprocity in integration and cooperation are indeed a “second-best” option, compared to the potential trade performance associated with unilateral liberalization in trading partner countries.
KEYWORDS: Bilateralism, trade agreements, Pakistan.
JEL: F14, F15, F13, F53.

This article discusses how the 7th National Finance Commission award and the 18th Amendment to the Constitution have strengthened the autonomy of the federating units in Pakistan. The former has empowered the provinces by increasing their access to financial resources, but there is the danger that it may increase the consolidated fiscal deficit unless both the federal and provincial governments increase their fiscal efforts and rationalize their expenditures. The 18th Amendment has the potential to change the structure of governance, but has been implemented in such a way that effective decentralization has been at least partially rolled back. For devolution to work in Pakistan, financing and the delivery of devolved services will have to be more effectively organized and managed.
KEYWORDS: Fiscal, devolution, 18th amendment, Pakistan.
JEL: O16.

This article describes the local government system established in the 2001 Devolution Plan and its evolution over the period 2002-07, with a focus on two essential public services, education and health. We believe that the devolution of service delivery functions, delegation of financial powers, decentralization of authority, and deconcentration of executive powers, can, together, lead to better accountability of results and, hence, to improved public service delivery to the poor and marginalized. The Devolution Plan made inroads toward these goals, particularly in education, but their achievement was incomplete due to a number of factors, among those incomplete fiscal decentralization, limited targeting of backward areas, and centralizing tendencies of the provincial departments and civil service. Recommendations are offered on how to further develop the local government system more generally, with an eye towards increasing accountability and improving coordination both across local governments and between tiers. For this, complementary reforms to simplify business processes and revamp human resource management policies are needed; introducing a district level civil service is among the suggested changes. The article concludes with detailed recommendations on improving the decentralized delivery of education and health services.
KEYWORDS: Devolution, decentralization, service delivery, health, education.
JEL: H75.