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Evaluation of Rice Markets Integration in Bangladesh
Mohammad Ismail Hossain and Wim Verbeke
Published:July - Dec 2010
The liberalization of the agricultural sector in general and the rice
subsector in particular has been a major component of Bangladesh’s structural
adjustment program initiated in 1992. However, the government has continued
to intervene in the rice subsector. This paper examines whether the
regional/divisional rice markets have become spatially integrated following the
liberalization of the rice market. Wholesale weekly coarse rice prices at six
divisional levels over the period of January 2004 to November 2006 were used to
test the degree of market integration in Bangladesh using co-integration analysis
and a vector error correction model (VECM). The Johansen co-integration test
indicated that there are at least three co-integrating vectors implying that rice
markets in Bangladesh during the study period are moderately linked together
and therefore the long-run equilibrium is stable. The short-run market
integration as measured by the magnitude of market interdependence and the
speed of price transmission between the divisional markets has been weak.
KEYWORDS:
Market liberalization,
integration,
vector error correction model,
rice,
price transmission,
Bangladesh.
JEL:
Q11,
D40.
Published:Sept 2010
The Sixth Annual Conference on the Management of the Pakistan
Economy was hosted by the Center for Research in Economics and Business
(CREB) of the Lahore School of Economics from April 22nd to April 23rd,
2010 and the annual Special Edition of the Lahore Journal of Economics
contains the Papers and Proceedings of this conference. The objective of
the conference was to promote discussion on economic management and
strategic issues facing Pakistan today, because if the country can successfully
deal with key challenges, it can make the transition to a middle income
country by 2020. These challenges include addressing the recurrent energy
crises, overcoming the persistent poor government revenue mobilization
effort and bridging the growing regional disparities and lack of trust
between the four provinces.
KEYWORDS:
Pakistan,
Lahore School,
Annual Conference,
CREB,
Sixth,
economic management.
JEL:
N/A.
Provincial Rights and Responsibilities
Shahid Javed Burki
Published:Sept 2010
This article suggests that Pakistan requires a different development
paradigm. The analysis begins by giving a quick overview of some of the
larger economies of the region and assesses the divisions that have
developed between the people as a result of national strategies. The paper
goes on to present a brief history of the previous attempts at
decentralization in Pakistan and a discussion of how these were thwarted.
This is followed by a discussion of how decentralization can be successful
in Pakistan after the 18th Amendment and the 7th NFC Award.
KEYWORDS:
Development,
policy,
decentralization,
Pakistan.
JEL:
O20,
O23,
H77.
The Endemic Crisis of Federalism in Pakistan
Raza Ahmad
Published:Sept 2010
This paper looks at the issue of federalism in Pakistan. It begins
with an analysis of the conceptual paradigms of federalism and goes on to
examine the history of federalism in Pakistan. The paper goes on to discuss
the reasons for the failure to develop an organic federal covenant as well as
discuss how the 7th National Finance Commission (NFC) Award and the
18th Amendment may be indicative of a paradigm shift. The paper
concludes by presenting the way forward for federalism in Pakistan.
KEYWORDS:
Federalism,
governance,
Pakistan.
JEL:
H77,
O2.
Pakistan’s Energy Sector Issues: Energy Efficiency and Energy Environmental Links
Tariq Husain
Published:Sept 2010
This paper analyzes Pakistan’s energy sector issues and highlights (i)
the importance of the link between energy and the environment, and (ii)
the central importance of energy efficiency for high return demand-side
solutions to meet the country’s energy needs. The paper argues that energy
planning should integrate the external cost of energy use in deciding about
the composition of supply: coal, oil, gas, hydropower, renewable, nuclear,
and solar. By utilizing external cost estimates made by the European
Commission for Europe, and the US National Academy of Sciences, a total
cost (external + internal) ranking of primary energy sources for Pakistan is
estimated. This estimate is at the low end of the cost spectrum because
classic pollutants—sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, carbon monoxide—in
Pakistan are significantly higher than in Europe or the US. The paper also
discusses the experiences of China and OECD countries in increasing
energy-wide efficiency. A central lesson emerging from the analysis is that
Pakistan will have to significantly increase its energy-related research and
development expenditure in order to adequately address its energy sector
issues. A quadrupling from 0.25 % of gross domestic product is
recommended over a decade.
KEYWORDS:
Energy,
policy,
environment,
Pakistan.
JEL:
Q48,
Q47,
Q5.
Dynamics of Circular Debt in Pakistan and Its Resolution
Syed Sajid Ali and Sadia Badar
Published:Sept 2010
This paper examines the circular debt problem in the Pakistani
energy sector. After presenting the profile of the energy sector in Pakistan,
the paper explains why circular debt has emerged in the sector. Two
principal reasons are discussed for the circular debt problem: First,
consumer tariffs were insufficient to recover the rising costs of power
generation and the government (due to fiscal constraints) was not
compensating PEPCO for the resulting losses. Second, PEPCO has faced
significant problems in recovering dues from consumers. In order to resolve
the circular debt problem, sharp adjustments in power tariffs may be
required combined with the need by the government to explicitly recognize
the costs of power subsidies in the budget.
KEYWORDS:
Circular debt,
energy,
tariff,
subsidy,
Pakistan.
JEL:
Q43,
H62,
Q48.
A Panel Data Analysis of Electricity Demand in Pakistan
Azam Amjad Chaudhry
Published:Sept 2010
This paper looks at the economy-wide demand and the firm level
demand for electricity in Pakistan. The economy wide estimation of
electricity demand uses panel data from 63 countries from 1998-2008, and
finds that the elasticity of demand for electricity with respect to per capita
income is approximately 0.69, which implies that a 1% increase in per
capita income will lead to a 0.69% increase in the demand for electricity.
The firm level analysis uses firm level data from the World Bank’s
Enterprise Survey for Pakistan and finds that the price elasticity of demand
for electricity across all firms is approximately -0.57, which implies that a
1% increase in electricity prices will lead to a 0.57% decrease in electricity
demand across firms. Across sectors, the textile sector has the highest price
elasticity of demand (-0.81) while the price elasticity of demand for firms in
the electricity and electronics sector is the smallest (-0.31). Finally, firm
level data is also used to estimate production functions in order to estimate
the impact of electricity shortages on manufacturing output.
KEYWORDS:
Electricity,
demand,
industrial,
price elasticity,
Pakistan.
JEL:
Q41,
E01,
E39.
Estimating Residential Electricity Demand Responses in Pakistan’s Punjab
Theresa Chaudhry
Published:Sept 2010
In this paper, we aim to understand residential electricity demand
responses to changes in income, in order to assist policymakers in
managing demand for electricity and evaluating tariff increases associated
with proposed projects for increasing supply, while minimizing the impact
on poverty.
KEYWORDS:
Electricity,
demand,
residential,
Pakistan.
JEL:
Q41,
D12,
E39.
Why is it so Difficult to Implement a GST in Pakistan?
Ehtisham Ahmad
Published:Sept 2010
This paper discusses the efforts by the Government of Pakistan to
implement a General Sales Tax (GST). First, a history of Pakistani tax
reform efforts is presented along with the reforms recommended by the
National Taxation Reforms Commission. After this, the design and
implementation of the GST is discussed followed by an analysis of the
political economy and provincial issues that arise in the process of
implementing the GST. Finally, the paper discusses various proposals
regarding the determination of the base for the GST. The paper concludes
that the splitting of the GST by sectors, given the perspective that the
1930’s style sales tax, is not sensible, and the Pakistani formulation is more
unstable than the assignment of the GST on goods.
KEYWORDS:
Tax,
reforms,
GST,
Pakistan.
JEL:
H29.
Can Pakistan Get Out of the Low Tax-to-GDP Trap?
Aisha Ghaus Pasha
Published:Sept 2010
This paper explores how Pakistan can get out of the low-tax-to-GDP
trap and come close to achieving its revenue targets. Examining the trend
factors influencing the trend in total and individual tax-to-GDP ratios over
a period of twenty years, the paper concludes that partially successful
and/or inappropriate tax reforms have put Pakistan in this trap. While
highlighting that a period of economic slowdown may not be the best time
to make a big push on resource mobilization, the paper presents a strategy
which aims at not only enhancing tax revenues but also making the
taxation structure more progressive, broad based and balanced.
KEYWORDS:
Tax,
structure,
reform,
Pakistan.
JEL:
H71,
H2.