Stability of money demand function in Pakistan

This paper is an attempt to contribute to the ongoing debate: should central bank of Pakistan adopt inflation targeting or continue with the monetary targeting as a monetary policy strategy? A pre-requisite for monetary targeting strategy is a stable money demand function, which in turn requires stability in velocity. Instability in velocity on the other hand is believed to stem from the volatility of the interest rate. The paper explores the stability of velocity of money in Pakistan. The results show that the base and broad money velocities are independent of the interest rate fluctuations. It is also found that all the three velocities (with respect to M0, M1, and M2) have stable relationship with their determinants. These findings validate use of monetary aggregates as nominal anchor.monetary targeting, income velocity of money, money demand function

Poverty, Female Labour Force Participation, and Cottage Industry: A Case Study of Cloth Embroidery in Rural Multan

It is a well-known fact that cottage industries can play a significant role in the development of an economy like Pakistan. As it is observed that this industry is not required too much financing, imported and highly sophisticated technology. So the problems like deficit in public finance and balance of payments is not related with the growth and development of these industries. Simultaneously, high degree of female labour force participation in this sector has also been proved in the number of studies. Which seems to be helpful in the process of reduction of poverty especially in the rural areas. The Southern Punjab especially its rural areas are comparatively less prosperous than the other parts of Punjab. A number of female workers can be seen in the rural areas of Southern Punjab. The concentration of these workers is in few traditional areas and is characterised by the low technology and low production levels. These areas are typically those, which require skills that are basically the extension of household skills or which reflect a specific educational and employment experience of women. It has also been observed that women’s income of the rural areas of Southern Punjab are more likely than their male partners to go towards meeting their family’s basic needs. These women spent most of their business income on the households, food, clothing and education of their children rather than reinvesting it in their business.

Pro Poor Growth in Pakistan: An Assessment of the 1970s, 1980s, 1990s and 2000s

This study assesses the impact of economic growth on absolute poverty in Pakistan over the last four decades. The paper attempts to answer the question; is economic growth in Pakistan pro poor? In addition, an attempt is made to evaluate the distribution of income within the poor to determine the sensitivity of different income groups, below the poverty line, to economic growth. The assessments are conducted through Growth Incidence Curves, a calculation of the Rate of Pro-Poor Growth (RPPG) and the Ordinary Rate of Growth (ORG). it is found that the economic growth in Pakistan is not intrinsically pro poor. Although it was strongly pro poor in the 1980’s and pro poor in the 2000s, growth in the 1970s was neutral for poverty whereas growth in the 1990s was anti poor. The analysis shows that the first decile is most sensitive to economic growth and most vulnerable to economic shocks as well.Pro Poor Growth, Pakistan, Growth Incidence Curve

Skokie, the ACLU and the Endurance of Democratic Theory

ZnO nanorods (NRs) with high surface area to volume ratio and biocompatibility is used as an efficient photosensitizer carrier system and at the same time providing intrinsic white light needed to achieve cancer cell necrosis. In this letter, ZnO nanorods used for the treatment of breast cancer cell (T47D) are presented. To adjust the sample for intracellular experiments, we have grown the ZnO nanorods on the tip of borosilicate glass capillaries (0.5 mu m diameter) by aqueous chemical growth technique. The grown ZnO nanorods were conjugated using protoporphyrin dimethyl ester (PPDME), which absorbs the light emitted by the ZnO nanorods. Mechanism of cytotoxicity appears to involve the generation of singlet oxygen inside the cell. The novel findings of cell-localized toxicity indicate a potential application of PPDME-conjugated ZnO NRs in the necrosis of breast cancer cell within few minutes

Carotid cavernous fistula in a patient with coronary artery disease

Carotid cavernous fistulas are abnormal communications between the carotid and cavernous vasculature, with potential for serious neurological and ocular sequelae. There is considerable literature on the neuro-radiological management of carotico-cavernous fistula depending upon their flow status. The coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) for coronary artery disease (CAD) is a well established method of revascularization. However, the association of carotid cavernous fistula in presence of CAD is an infrequent occurrence. We present a case of coronary artery disease scheduled for bypass surgery, developed spontaneous bilateral carotid cavernous fistulas, highlighting a unique aspect of association between coronary and carotid disease

Testing uncovered interest rate parity using LIBOR

We test Uncovered Interest Parity (UIP) using LIBOR interest rates for a wide range of maturities. In contrast to other markets, LIBOR markets have minimal frictions which could lead to rejecting UIP. Using panel unit root test suggested by Palm, Smeekes, and Urbain (2010) and cointegration techniques by Westerlund (2007), we find that UIP holds for short-term maturities, when market-specific heterogeneity is controlled for. Furthermore, the estimation results show that the speed of adjustment to the long-run equilibrium is proportional to the maturity of the underlying instrument

Vertical workflows: Service orchestration across cloud & edge resources

Currently devices used for data capture often differ from those that are used to subsequently carry out analysis on such data. Many Internet of Things (IoT) applications today involve data capture from sensors that are close to the phenomenon being measured, with such data subsequently being transmitted to Cloud data centers for analysis and storage. Increasing availability of storage and processing devices closer to the data capture device, perhaps over a one-hop network connection or even directly connected to the IoT device itself, requires more efficient allocation of processing across such edge devices and data centers. We refer to these as "vertical workflows" – i.e. workflows which are enacted across resources that can vary in: (i) type and behaviour; (ii) processing and storage capacity; (iii) latency and security profiles. Understanding how a workflow pipeline can be enacted across these resource types is outlined, motivated through two scenarios. The overall objective considered is the completion of the workflow within some deadline constraint, but with flexibility on where data processing is carried out