Journal of Development Policy Research and Practice (JoDPRP)

Anti-Export Bias – The Case of Pakistan

2026-05-29T08:08:30+00:00

To investigate the cause of low export growth in Pakistan, this study estimates the anti-export bias for Pakistan’s economy through a bias index (i.e. export exchange rate (1+tariff rate)/ import exchange rate (1+subsidy rate)) from FY98 to FY21. We find an average anti-export bias of around 7 – 10 percent from FY08 to FY21. Our findings reinforce that tariffs, rather than export subsidies, warrant attention. Pakistan’s trade policy framework also suggests that both the rate and structure of tariffs are the root cause of the anti-export bias in Pakistan. Literature suggests that low, uniform or minimally dispersed import tariffs could be a solution to this problem. However, tariff reforms are not successful in isolation and must be complemented with enabling structural reforms in other sectors of the economy. Recent policy steps to ameliorate this bias is a welcome step but require further action in crafting a unified macroeconomic framework, along with meaningful analysis on a suitable tariff structure in Pakistan.

JEL Classification Codes: F13, F62, O24

Exploring Safer Investment Opportunities: A Comparative Analysis of Risk-Adjusted Performance in Defensive and Cyclical Sectors

2025-09-04T08:00:30+00:00

This study examines whether defensive and cyclical sectors differ systematically in risk-adjusted performance in an emerging equity market, using the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) as the empirical setting. Despite extensive evidence on sectoral heterogeneity and the low-volatility effect, comparative evidence on defensive and cyclical sectors in emerging markets remains limited. To address this gap, the study constructs sector-level equity indices using a float-adjusted market-capitalization-weighted methodology and daily data covering 20 PSX sectors from January 2009 to December 2023. Sectors are objectively classified according to their systematic market sensitivity: sectors with beta below one are categorized as defensive, whereas those with beta above one are categorized as cyclical. The resulting sample comprises seven defensive and thirteen cyclical sectors. Their performance is subsequently evaluated using Sharpe, Sortino, Treynor, M-squared, and Jensen’s alpha measures, capturing total, downside, systematic, and benchmark-adjusted risk. The findings reveal a clear and consistent performance differential between the two sector categories. Defensive sectors record substantially higher average Sharpe, Sortino, and Treynor ratios than cyclical sectors. Defensive sectors also generate positive average Jensen’s alpha and M-squared performance, whereas cyclical sectors exhibit negative values for both measures. The consistency of these results across alternative risk-adjusted measures strengthens the empirical evidence. The findings contribute to the emerging-market literature by demonstrating that sectoral defensive characteristics are associated with more favorable risk-adjusted performance in the PSX and provide evidence relevant to sector-based portfolio allocation and risk management.

Agricultural Practices, Livelihood Dependence and Snow Leopard Conservation in Northern Pakistan: An Evidence-Based Synthesis

2026-05-12T16:03:00+00:00

Pakistan has one of the largest populations of snow leopards in the world, but the species is listed as ‘vulnerable’ by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), and its population continues to decline. The most frequently cited drivers are poaching, climate change and human-snow leopard conflict (HSC). Although these threats are well documented in the literature, the role of conventional agricultural practices as an underlying driver of snow leopard decline remains comparatively underexplored. This gap is important for a country like Pakistan where agriculture and livestock production are a major source of rural livelihoods. Closer examination suggests that conventional agricultural practices can contribute to habitat degradation, depletion of natural prey and intensification of human-wildlife conflict. These pressures are especially evident in Gilgit-Baltistan, where expanding agricultural and livestock activity has increased interactions between pastoral communities and snow leopards, contributing to livestock predation and, in some cases, retaliatory killings. This paper examines the effects of agricultural activity on snow leopard habitat and conservation in the region. It draws on secondary literature and a small-scale exploratory Environmental Value System (EVS) survey (n=48). Given the limited sample size, the survey results are indicative rather than representative. The results show that a majority of the respondents (62.5%) favour technological interventions as a means of reconciling agricultural productivity with conservation objectives. The study contributes to a more holistic understanding of the indirect pathways through which agricultural systems shape snow leopard conservation outcomes in Pakistan and highlights the need for integrated, locally grounded conservation strategies.

JEL Classification Codes: Q15, Q18, Q54, Q13

Intellectual Property Rights and Creative Industries in Pakistan: Evidence from Copyright and Patent Protection

2026-04-21T10:39:53+00:00

Intellectual property (IP) rights play an important role in enhancing innovation, creativity, and knowledge-based economic growth. This study examines whether the protection of copyright and patents in Pakistan is associated, over the long run, with the performance of industries comprising the country’s creative economy. The paper combines doctrinal analysis of the Copyright Ordinance 1962, the Patents Ordinance 2000, and Pakistan’s obligations under the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) with an econometric assessment based on the Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) bounds testing approach, a methodology well suited to relatively small annual samples and to variables that settle into a stable pattern at different speeds. Model 1 in this paper examines the contribution of copyright-based export categories to Pakistan’s total export receipts between 2002 and 2021. Model 2 explores the determinants of resident patent registrations between 1990 and 2021, using exports, GDP growth, manufacturing and services, and the tax-to-GDP ratio. The bounds tests confirm that the relationships are stable over the long run rather than coincidental. The results further indicate that periodicals and printed books, printing and related machinery, embroidery, and wooden articles had a positive and statistical association with export levels. GDP growth, exports, and lagged manufacturing were also identified as significant determinants of resident registrations, whereas the contemporaneous manufacturing share, services, and the tax-to-GDP ratio were not statistically significant. The error-correction estimate suggests that about half of any disequilibrium is corrected within a year. The findings suggest that the effective enforcement of copyright and patent law in Pakistan is better understood as an instrument of industrial development rather than merely as the fulfilment of an external treaty obligation.

JEL Classification Codes: O34, O38, Z11, O53, O31, L82

Nexus between Governance, Public Spending and Sustainable Development: Evidence from Developed Countries

2026-06-22T20:22:02+00:00

Sustainable development is widely recognised as depending on effective governance and the efficient allocation of public resources. However, empirical research on developed countries has largely examined the relationship between governance and environmental sustainability, while the role of public spending in advancing sustainable development remains relatively underexplored. Thus, this paper examines the nexus between governance, public spending, and sustainable development in developed countries. The econometric methodology was selected by considering potential endogeneity and structure of the dataset characterised by a relatively small time dimension and a larger cross-sectional dimension. The dataset comprised of 34 countries observed over 17 years, from 2006 to 2022, such that N = 34 exceeds T = 17. Given these characteristics, the Generalized Method of Moments (GMM) estimator was employed as the primary estimation technique. Panel Three-Stage Least Squares (3SLS) was also used as a robustness check and to account for contemporaneous interdependence across equations. The findings show a positive and significant impact of governance and public spending on sustainable development; and indicate that governance and sustainable development have a significant impact on public spending. Public spending has a negative impact on governance, whereas sustainable development has a significant impact on governance. This suggests that developed countries should focus on eliminating expenditure trends that support political elites and unproductive subsidies. They should strengthen auditing mechanisms and regulatory institutions to improve the efficiency of public spending and reinforce governance structures.

JEL Classification Codes: O16, P35, Q01

Gender Diversity and Corporate Sustainability: Evidence from ESG Risk Scores of S&P 500 Firms

2026-05-24T08:37:09+00:00

This study aims to achieve two main goals. The first goal is to analyze the relationship between the firm's performance, revenue growth, and size, on one hand, and the firm's ESG scores, on the other. The first study explores the relationship between the firm's performance, revenue growth, and size on one hand and ESG scores on the other. Second, we seek to determine whether this relationship between firm performance and ESG risk scores is moderated by the presence of a female CEO, on a sample of 426 S&P 500 firms. The study uses descriptive statistics, correlation, and OLS regression with Python. The results indicate that ESG risk scores have a strong positive association with firm performance. The results also indicate that firms with better financial performance have better sustainability practices. Similarly, the relationship between firm performance and ESG risk score is significantly enhanced in the presence of a female CEO. However, the impact of a female CEO varies, suggesting that the effect of gender diversity on a firm's sustainability depends on firm-specific factors, including size and performance. These findings highlight that corporate sustainability emphasizes the value of increasing gender diversity and incorporating sustainability goals within corporations’ governance frameworks. Furthermore, this study proposes enhancing gender diversity and aligning the firm’s sustainability objectives more effectively with its overall goals to improve societal and corporate outcomes.

JEL Classification Codes: G3, G38, G39

Urbanisation, Economic Development, and Feminisation of Informal Employment

2026-05-08T06:09:42+00:00

The study builds upon the widely studied relationship between urbanisation and the proportion of females in informal employment by analysing a unique correlation across varying national income levels. To examine how this relationship changes non-linearly across different stages of economic development, denoted by the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP), the study applies a high-dimensional fixed effects model with interaction terms to a panel dataset of 177 countries, across a time period of 15 years, from 2010 to 2024. The study’s quantitative analysis on the secondary dataset sourced from the International Labour Organisation and the World Bank reveals that the effect of urbanisation on female informal employment is non-linear and conditional upon the level of economic development in a country. Moreover, the marginal effect of urbanisation on female informal employment decreases as GDP per capita increases, resulting in a U-shaped, non-monotonic transformation. Thus, the effect of urbanisation on female informal employment gradually neutralizes as the national income level increases. The nature of the study’s results calls for female-oriented labour policies to be context-driven rather than uniform, depending on the country’s level of economic development. Specifically, the study opens a path to investigating the differing requirements of the labour landscape across three categories of income levels and suggests policies to be tailored differently for each.

JEL Classification Codes: O17, O11, O18, J46

Analysis of Indus Delta in Light of International & National Environmental Laws and Implications in Pakistan

2026-07-07T11:38:33+00:00

The Indus Delta, where the Indus River enters the Arabian Sea, lies at the end of the Indus Basin, is one of the world's largest arid deltas of an immense ecological value. That said, the Indus Delta faces unprecedented environmental decline due to upstream water diversions, conventional agricultural practices, excessive water storage, and the adverse effects of climate change, all worsened by weak enforcement of environmental laws and obsolete water management policies. This research critically examines the effectiveness of environmental laws protecting the Indus Delta at national and international levels. Despite robust constitutional provisions, like the Pakistan Environmental Protection Act, 1997 (PEPA 1997), the Sindh Environmental Protection Act, 2014 (SEPA 2014), and treaties, including the Ramsar Convention, and the Indus Waters Treaty, 1960, the Indus delta remains vulnerable due to weak law enforcement, insufficient institutional coordination, and outdated legal mechanism. By using doctrinal research methodology, the study highlights disconnect between legal protections and ground realities, particularly in relation to newly adopted Article 9A which recognizes the right to a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment. The study recommends stronger law enforcement measures, guaranteeing fixed annual water flows to the Indus Delta, modernizing Pakistan's water and environmental laws, creating an independent Indus Delta Protection Authority, enhancing monitoring and effective accountability, and increasing a dedicated funding for environmental justice and Delta restoration. The study also adds to the growing discourse on environmental justice and water governance in Pakistan.

JEL Classification Codes: K320, K330