iRASD Journal of Economics

Corporate Social Responsibility Disclosure and Firm’s Operational, Financial and Market Performance: A Study of Content Analysis of Firms Listed at Pakistan Stock Exchange

2023-02-02T04:07:08-05:00

Developing economies like Pakistan, still struggling to promote the emerging concept of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), so this research aims to investigate the impact of CSR Disclosure (CSRD) on a Firm’s Performance (FP). This study is based on conceptual aspects of CSRD and is different because FP is measured with three different types of proxies, i.e. operational, financial and market performance. The empirical results of this research show the positive and significant impact of CSRD on a firm’s operational and financial performance but insignificant in the case of market performance. It is further concluded that firms disclosing CSR have better operational and financial performance. This study is a pioneer to uplift the importance of CSRD in Pakistan and therefore an addition to existing literature, this paper also provides different new ways to assess the link between CSRD and FP.

Nexus of Electricity Demand, Circular Debt and Economic Progress: An Evidence from Pakistan

2023-02-12T13:05:56-05:00

In the context of Pakistan, this research examines circular debt and energy usage effects on per capita income. It uses quarterly data from 2005 to 2020 and an autoregressive distributed lag model to look at the link over the short- and long-term. According to the empirical study, whereas circular debt has a long-term significant negative association with per capita income, it has a significant positive link with per capita income in the short term. This demonstrates how using power contributes to economic expansion. Additionally, a rise in circular debt reduces per capita income in the near term, but the long-term convergence of the system to equilibrium is confirmed by the error correction term's considerable negative value. In addition, study shows that consistent provision of electricity with the help of new technologically advanced electricity plants would help in attaining high economic growth.

Skills and Employability of Graduates: The Role of Skills Development Programs in District Swat

2023-02-12T13:02:20-05:00

This study examined the impact of skills on the graduate`s employability, with the potential moderating role of employability skills development program activities. Primary data collected through a self-administered questionnaire from randomly selected 580 graduates (those graduates who have completed their graduation during 2017 - 2022) of district Swat, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan was used for the empirical analysis. Descriptive statistics, unpaired t-test analysis, and OLS regression analysis confirmed the hypothesis that skills have a significant positive impact on the graduate`s employability on employed, unemployed and combined group of graduates. The results also confirmed the potential moderating role of employability skills development program activities in the process. The specific employability components like personal qualities, core skills, initiative & enterprise, and attitude & work ethics are also found significantly related to the graduate`s employability. The findings of the study suggest that higher education institutions should properly plan for employability skills development program activities during graduation and ensure the participation of the students in such activities. The study also suggests that proper mechanisms should be implemented in higher education institutions to trace the skill development of the graduates during their graduation. Finally, it is suggested that the post-graduation employability skills development programs should be market-oriented and based on employer`s requirements.

Analyzing the Impact of IMF Policies on the Economic Health of the Pakistan

2023-02-12T13:01:04-05:00

The International Monetary Fund is called a lender of a last resort for those countries who are in need of emergency bail outs. Countries faced bankruptcies as they exhausted all of their options hence the option left for them is to approach the IMF. The International Monetary Fund was originally founded on the idea of helping countries who were to finance their debts. This would have provided stability in the financial market, improve growth and reduce poverty. The objective of this study was to analyze the impact of IMF policies on the economic health of the Pakistan. The results suggest that IMF programs have increased external debt to GDP ratio, which in return increased debt burden on the economy. IMF policies led to increase in taxes, which induce inflation and lower growth. The results further concluded that structural adjustment programs affected negatively to the domestic economy. Due to IMF, economy has to achieve stabilization, which leads decline in growth. The decline in fiscal deficits through increase in taxes and reduction in development expenditure led to increase in unemployment and social decline. The devaluation of the currency increases inflation in the economy whereas reduction subsidies increase costs in the rural economy. As most of the agricultural inputs required subsidies so they are mostly effected by reduction in subsidies. The IMF program also increases pressure on external debt, which leads to acquiring of further debt in order to pay the previous debt. This accumulation of debt increases external debt to GDP ratio and increases the sovereign risk of a country. To come out of vicious cycle perpetuated by IMF prescription, Pakistan needs alternate solutions including overhaul of its export policy to boost export; aggressive privatization to curtail expenditure; floating of international bonds to build up foreign exchange reserves and invest agriculture, livestock and dairy sectors for inclusive growth.

Impact of Exchange Rate, and Foreign Direct Investment on External Debt: Evidence from Pakistan Using ARDL Cointegration Approach

2023-03-01T09:19:33-05:00

Using time series data from Pakistan 1973 to 2021, this research examines the effect of exchange-rate, fiscal deficits, foreign direct investment and economic expansion on foreign debt. The auto regressive distributed lag model is used in the research to look into the co-integration analysis of variables and their existence. The study confirms the positive and significant relationship exist among the rate of exchange, foreign direct investment, the fiscal deficit, economic growth, and external debt in the long run. However, in the short run, the real effective exchange rate and fiscal deficit are negatively related to the external debt, whereas the economic growth is positively related to the external debt. The policy maker recommended that rises the exchange rate, the value of a domestic currency falls to some extent, which improves the foreign exchange in which loans must be returned.