Journal of Development Policy Research and Practice (JoDPRP)

Analysis of the Indus Delta in Light of International and National Environmental Laws: Implications for 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 and is one of the world’s largest arid deltas, of immense ecological value. However, 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 legal provisions, such as 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1960, the Indus delta remains vulnerable due to weak law enforcement, insufficient institutional coordination, and outdated legal mechanisms. By using a doctrinal research methodology, the study highlights the disconnect between legal protections and ground realities, particularly in relation to newly adopted Article 9A, which recognises 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, modernising Pakistan’s water and environmental laws, creating an independent Indus Delta Protection Authority, enhancing monitoring and effective accountability, and increasing 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

Conflict of Interest: The authors declare no conflict of interest.
Acknowledgement: The views and opinions are those of the authors and do not represent the views of any institution.
AI Declaration/Use of Generative AI: No AI tools were used in this study.
Funding: No
Article History
Submitted: 7 Oct. 2025; Last Revised: 27 Sep. 2026; Accepted: 10 Oct. 2026

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 they are listed as vulnerable by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and their numbers continue to decline. The most frequently cited drivers are poaching, climate change and human-snow leopard conflict (HSC). While these pressures are known from the literature, the particular role of conventional agricultural methods as a root cause of this decline, is rarely studied. This is important for a country like Pakistan where agriculture accounts for a large share of rural livelihoods. Closer inspection of conventional agricultural methods reveals habitat degradation, prey depletion and intensifying human-wildlife conflict as direct consequences. This is most apparent in Gilgit-Baltistan where large-scale agricultural and livestock activity has resulted in increased predation incidents on livestock and, in turn, led to a rise in retaliatory killings. These pressures have been acknowledged in previous research, but agricultural methods are seldom viewed as a key driver, rather than a contextual detail. This paper investigates 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). The survey results are indicative, not representative. A majority of the respondents (62.5%) tend towards technocentrism, favouring technological interventions to balance agricultural productivity and conservation goals. 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: Q13, Q15, Q18, Q54

Conflict of Interest: The authors declare no conflict of interest.
Acknowledgement/Informed Consent: Primary data for this study were collected through a voluntary, anonymous online survey distributed via social media. No personally identifiable or sensitive information was collected from respondents. Given the low-risk, non-invasive nature of the survey instrument, formal institutional ethical clearance was not sought. Participants’ informed consent was implied through their voluntary decision to respond.
AI Declaration/Use of Generative AI: No AI tools were used in this study.
Funding: No
Article History
Submitted: 13 Nov. 2026; Last Revised: 13 July 2026; Accepted: 7 Oct. 2026

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 126 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 Organization 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 neutralises 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

Conflict of Interest: The authors declare no conflict of interest.
Acknowledgement: The views and opinions are those of the authors and do not represent the views of any institution.
AI Declaration/Use of Generative AI: No AI tools were used in this study.
Funding: No
Article History
Submitted: 16 Jan 2026; Last Revised: 25 July 2026; Accepted: 7 Oct. 2026

Governance, Public Expenditure and Sustainable Development: Evidence from Developed Economies

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

It is generally agreed that achieving sustainable development depends on good governance and the effective allocation of funds. But from the perspective of high income countries, prior empirical research has so far focused on the impact of governance on ecological sustainability, and studies on the role of public spending in achieving sustainable development are largely lacking. Thus, this paper aims to examine the nexus of governance, public spending, and sustainable development in the case of high income economies. The appropriate econometric methodology for panel data analysis has been selected based on endogeneity, in addition to a small T and a large N. The data contains a panel of 34 countries for 17 years (2006-2022), where N=34 is larger than T=17. For this purpose, the panel Generalised Method of Moments (GMM) is a suitable methodology for analysis. The empirical findings show a positive and significant impact of governance and public spending on sustainable development. The outcomes 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. It suggests that high income countries should focus on eliminating expenditure trends directed towards political elites and unproductive subsidies, all of which undermine the effectiveness of the governance structure. Governments should strengthen auditing and regulatory institutions to ensure efficient, transparent and accountable use of public funds.

JEL Classification Codes: O16, P35, Q01

Conflict of Interest: The authors declare no conflict of interest.
Acknowledgement: The views and opinions are those of the authors and do not represent the views of any institution.
AI Declaration/Use of Generative AI: No AI tools were used in this study.
Funding: No
Article History
Submitted: 9 June 2026; Last Revised: 22 Aug. 2026; Accepted: 15 Sep. 2026

Gulf Corridor and Macroeconomic Vulnerability: A Scenario-Based Stress Test

2026-10-03T06:48:57+00:00

This study explores how a hypothetical Gulf-centred geopolitical crisis may affect Pakistan’s macroeconomic fragility, as well as that of Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, India, the Philippines and Bhutan. The paper brings together remittance exposure from Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries, energy import, shipping, export demand, foreign exchange, inflation, reserve, policy rate, and growth channels in a bounded Macroeconomic Vulnerability Index. Governance-fiscal fragility is conceptualised as an amplifier that separates direct exposure from state absorptive capacity. Under the reported asymmetric shocks, Pakistan has the highest adjusted vulnerability, followed by Sri Lanka; Bangladesh and India are in the middle, while the Philippines and Bhutan have the lowest vulnerability scores. The paper introduces a policy-oriented stress-testing framework of remittance-energy-logistics vulnerability. These comparative results remain conditional on the assumed shocks and calibration. The study is not meant for forecasting but for assessing the extent of vulnerability under hypothetical geopolitical shocks.

JEL Classification Codes: F24; F51; F41; C63; H63

Conflict of Interest: The authors declare no conflict of interest.
Acknowledgement: The views and opinions are those of the authors and do not represent the views of any institution.
AI Declaration/Use of Generative AI: No AI tools were used in this study.
Funding: No
Article History
Submitted: 15 June 2026; Last Revised: 15 Oct. 2026; Accepted: 26 Oct. 2026

Turning Crisis into Opportunity: Rooftop Solar Expansion for Energy Security and Sustainable Development in Pakistan

2026-09-29T12:15:25+00:00

Pakistan’s power sector is facing a combined crisis of high electricity tariffs, circular debt, underutilised generation capacity, transmission and distribution losses, and continued exposure to imported oil, LNG and coal. Recent geopolitical conflict shows that energy-importing economies remain vulnerable to international fuel price volatility and supply uncertainty. This paper develops an analytical policy framework to examine whether rooftop and distributed solar can reduce Pakistan’s exposure to future geopolitical fuel shocks while supporting sustainable development. The paper constructs a Multi-Criteria Policy Index (MCPI) to rank policy options for rooftop solar expansion. Under baseline assumptions, the paper shows that one additional gigawatt of distributed solar may generate around 1.49 TWh annually, which could avoid about USD 125 million in RLNG import expenditure. The analysis shows that rooftop solar can reduce dependence on international fuel markets, but its full benefit depends on inclusive finance, stable net-metering reform, smart meters, battery storage, DISCO modernisation, vendor certification and progressive tariff design. The paper recommends treating rooftop solar as a national energy security hedge rather than only a private consumer investment.

JEL Classification Codes: Q41, Q42, Q48, Q56, O13, D12

Conflict of Interest: The authors declare no conflict of interest.
Acknowledgement: The views and opinions are those of the authors and do not represent the views of any institution.
AI Declaration/Use of Generative AI: No AI tools were used in this study.
Funding: No
Article History
Submitted: 15 June 2026; Last Revised: 14 Oct. 2026; Accepted: 26 Oct. 2026

Weaponisation of Energy: Economic Vulnerability and Policy Responses in Developing Economies in the Context of the US-Iran Conflict

2026-09-26T07:59:09+00:00

This study investigates the economic vulnerability of developing economies due to the weaponisation of energy that can stem from the US–Iran conflict and outlines policies to enhance resilience. It applies document analysis and thematic analysis to 27 unique institutional, policy and academic documents. Four themes were developed: (1) energy as a geopolitical instrument; (2) inflation and economic vulnerability; (3) dependency on energy and economic vulnerability; and (4) policy responses and economic resilience. The analysis indicates that energy weaponisation affects developing economies beyond energy prices alone, through exchange rates, import bills, fiscal space, supply chains and investor confidence. Such impacts are especially strong in energy-importing countries with small foreign-exchange reserves, low institutional capacity and limited fiscal space. The examples of Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh illustrate the interaction of external energy shocks with domestic macroeconomic vulnerabilities. The study also indicates that short-term subsidies and emergency interventions do not mitigate structural exposure. Investment in renewables, energy diversification, regional cooperation and stronger institutions are thus complementary measures that address structural exposure, while strategic reserves only cushion short-term supply disruptions.

JEL Classification Codes: E31; F51; O19; Q41; Q43; Q48

Conflict of Interest: The authors declare no conflict of interest.
Acknowledgement: The views and opinions are those of the authors and do not represent the views of any institution.
AI Declaration/Use of Generative AI: No AI tools were used in this study.
Funding: No
Article History
Submitted: 7 June 2026; Last Revised: 8 Oct. 2026; Accepted: 26 Oct. 2026

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

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

Sector rotation theory suggests that the performance of different sectors relative to the overall market varies across economic cycles. To enhance risk-adjusted returns, investors reallocate capital between cyclical and defensive sectors during different phases of the business cycle. The unique behaviour and diversification characteristics of sectoral movements help investors achieve their risk diversification objectives. The objective of this study is to determine which sectoral category offers better risk-adjusted returns. The study was conducted in three stages. First, sectoral equity indices were constructed using a float-adjusted market capitalisation-weighted index methodology. Second, sectors were classified as defensive or cyclical based on the sensitivity of their returns to changes in the market portfolio, using evidence derived from the constructed sectoral indices. Third, risk-adjusted performance measures, including the Sharpe ratio, Sortino ratio, Treynor ratio, M-squared (M2) and Jensen’s alpha, were calculated and compared. The study covered the period from 1 January 2009 to 31 December 2023. Twenty sectoral indices were constructed, of which seven were classified as defensive and 13 as cyclical. The findings indicate that defensive sectors outperform cyclical sectors on a risk-adjusted basis. Furthermore, defensive sectors appear less exposed to market volatility, making them relatively safer and more stable investment options. In contrast, cyclical sectors offer the potential for higher returns but are accompanied by greater risk. These results remain consistent across all risk-adjusted measures employed in the study. The findings provide valuable insights for investors, policymakers and regulators seeking to make informed investment decisions.

JEL Classification Codes: G11, G12, E32, C43, G18

Conflict of Interest: The authors declare no conflict of interest.
Acknowledgement: The views and opinions are those of the authors and do not represent the views of any institution.
AI Declaration/Use of Generative AI: No AI tools were used in this study.
Funding: No
Article History
Submitted: 20 June 2025; Last Revised: 8 May 2026; Accepted: 15 Sep. 2026

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

Conflict of Interest: The authors declare no conflict of interest.
Acknowledgement: The views and opinions are those of the authors and do not represent the views of any institution.
AI Declaration/Use of Generative AI: During the preparation of this work, the author(s) used Quillbot to refine the language. Following the use of this tool/service, the author(s) reviewed and revised the manuscript as necessary and take full responsibility for the final published work.
Funding: No
Article History
Submitted: 7 Dec. 2026; Last Revised: 11 July 2026; Accepted: 15 Sep. 2026

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 analyse the relationship between the firm’s performance, revenue growth, and size, on one hand, and the firm’s environmental, social and governance (ESG) scores, on the other. Second, it seeks to determine whether this relationship between firm performance and ESG risk scores is moderated by the presence of a female chief executive officer (CEO), on a sample of 426 S&P 500 firms. The study uses descriptive statistics, correlation, and ordinary least squares (OLS) regression with Python. The results indicate that ESG risk scores have a strong positive association with firm performance; and 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 emphasises 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

Conflict of Interest: The authors declare no conflict of interest.
Acknowledgement: The views and opinions are those of the authors and do not represent the views of any institution.
AI Declaration/Use of Generative AI: No AI tools were used in this study.
Funding: No
Article History
Submitted: 9 Dec. 2025; Last Revised: 30 July 2026; Accepted: 15 Sep. 2026

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, F14, F62, H25, O24

Conflict of Interest: The authors declare no conflict of interest.
Acknowledgement: The views and opinions are those of the authors and do not represent the views of any institution.
AI Declaration/Use of Generative AI: No AI tools were used in this study. The research design, analysis, interpretation, arguments, and conclusions are the authors’ own.
Funding: No
Article History
Submitted: 13 Jan. 2026; Last Revised: 30 Sep. 2026; Accepted: 16 Oct. 2026

Tax Reforms with Revenue Replacement: Economy-wide Effects of Food Tariff Liberalisation in Sri Lanka

2026-10-10T10:53:53+00:00

Despite the well-documented consumer benefit of import liberalisation in net-importing countries, many governments hesitate to pursue deeper tariff reforms due to concerns about declining government revenue. Consequently, domestic taxation is commonly viewed as a mechanism for replacement. This study examines the economy-wide effects of reforming food import tariffs in Sri Lanka along with domestic taxes using the Global Trade Analysis Project (GTAP) model and database. Two policy scenarios are analysed: (i) a reduction in food import tariffs (IMT) and (ii) a combined reform involving tariff reduction and a compensatory domestic output tax on food products (IMT+DMT) to maintain government revenue neutrality. Domestic output taxation is selected because it provides a direct means of examining whether lost tariff revenue can be replaced through taxation of domestic food production and how this alternative affects food prices, production incentives, and economic welfare. The results indicate positive net welfare gains under both scenarios. These gains are primarily driven by allocative efficiency improvements which outweigh the adverse terms-of-trade effects and savings–investment effects. Although the combined reform generates slightly higher overall welfare gains, it also produces more negative terms-of-trade and savings-investment effects. These findings suggest that compensatory domestic output taxation can maintain revenue objectives while preserving positive aggregate welfare outcomes; however, its implications for food prices, domestic production competitiveness, and the distribution of benefits require careful consideration in trade and fiscal reforms in Sri Lanka.
JEL Classification Codes: F13, H25, Q18, C68

Conflict of Interest: The authors declare no conflict of interest.
Acknowledgement: The views and opinions are those of the authors and do not represent the views of any institution.
AI Declaration/Use of Generative AI: No AI tools were used in this study.
Funding: No
Article History
Submitted: 24 Feb. 2026; Last Revised: 10 Oct. 2026; Accepted: 26 Oct. 2026

Reassessing Non-linearity in the Monetary Policy of Pakistan: Using Smooth Transition Regression Model

2026-09-24T08:51:38+00:00

This study examines whether monetary policy in Pakistan responds in the same way under different economic conditions or changes when the economy moves between weak and stronger activity. Quarterly data from 1995 to 2020 are analysed through an extended Taylor Rule and a Smooth Transition Regression framework. The results show two policy regimes. When the output gap is below the estimated threshold, inflation receives greater attention from the monetary authority. When the output gap is above the threshold, the response to output conditions becomes stronger. The findings indicate that the State Bank of Pakistan’s policy response is not fully symmetric and varies with the state of the economy.

JEL Classification Codes: E52, E58, C22

Conflict of Interest: The authors declare no conflict of interest.
Acknowledgement: The views and opinions are those of the authors and do not represent the views of any institution.
AI Declaration/Use of Generative AI: No AI tools were used in this study.
Funding: No
Article History
Submitted: 4 June 2026; Last Revised: 13 Oct. 2026; Accepted: 26 Oct. 2026