There is a worldwide contemporary debate about the role of the hidden economy in achieving the goal of sustained and inclusive economic growth and development, especially in the context of its spillover effects on the formal economy. For this purpose, policy makers and academicians have made concerted efforts to estimate the size of the hidden economy and to analyze its causes, issues and implications on key macroeconomic variables. However, there is a consensus among the policy makers that a better macroeconomic policy formulation and its true implementation are subject to the proper management of the associated issues of the hidden economy with suitable policy measures. In Pakistan, it is generally assumed that the hidden economy contributes about 30% to 50% to the overall GDP. The purpose of this paper is to estimate more precisely the size of the hidden economy with the determination of its potential causes and implications. Five statistical and structural modeling approaches namely; simple monetary approach, modified monetary approach using dynamic ordinary least square (DOLS), multiple-indicators multiple-causes (MIMIC) approach, electricity consumption approach and labor market survey based approach are used to estimate the size of the hidden economy and to analyze the characteristic nature of its growth over the period. The study also investigates the potential determinants of the hidden economy and various interrelated socio-economic issues in perspective of achieving national goal of inclusive growth and development. Finally, policy implications are provided consistent with pervading facts of the hidden economy in Pakistan especially in the context of the 18 th Amendment and the 7 th NFC Award.JEL Classifications: C10, E26, D78, H20, H50, O53
The need for entrepreneurs for economic development has always been crucial in history because they are the leaders who invent innovative ideas that give spark to economic activities. They are responsible for the combination of factors of production by capital formation, creating employment opportunities, wealth distribution that facilitates development and growth. A well explained definition of entrepreneurship in the words of Wennekers and Thurik (1999) that successfully makes the functional roles of entrepreneurs is: “…the manifest ability and willingness of individuals, on their own, in teams within and outside existing organisations, to perceive and create new economic opportunities (new products, new production methods, new organisational schemes and new product-market combinations) and to introduce their ideas in the market, in the face of uncertainty and other obstacles, by making decisions on location, form and the use of resources and institutions.” (46–47) High and sustained economic growth is the fundamental objective of every developed or developing country’s governmental policy. Economic growth is a long term expansion of the productive potential of the economy. It generates employment in the economy and raises the living standards of the nation. Economic growth promotes business activities in private sector, increases company profits and enhances investor confidence.
Ergot alkaloids are novel pharmaceutical and therapeutic agents synthesized in this study using fungal species Penicillium citrinum. To get the maximum yield of ergot alkaloids a statistical process of response surface methodology was employed using surface culture fermentation technique. Initially, the strain of Penicillium was improved using physical (ultraviolet (UV) and chemical (ethyl methane sulfonate (EMS) treatments to get the maximum yield of ergot alkaloids through surface culture fermentation technique. After improving the strain, survival rate of colonies of Penicillium citrinum treated with UV and EMS was observed. Only 2.04% living colonies were observed after 150 min of exposure of Penicillium citrinum in UV light and 3.2% living colonies were observed after 20 min of the exposure in EMS. The mutated strains of Penicillium citrinum were screened for their production of ergot alkaloids and after fermentation experiments, maximum yield was obtained from PCUV-4 and PCEMS-1 strains. After strain improvement, Plackett–Burman design (PBD) and Box–Behnken design (BBD) of RSM were employed and 10-fold yield enhancement (35.60 mg/100 mL) of ergot alkaloids was achieved. This enhancement in yield of ergot alkaloids proved the positive impacts of RSM and UV on the yield of ergot alkaloids. The study provides a cost effective, economical and sustainable process to produce medically important ergot alkaloids which can be used in various pharmaceutical formulations to treat human diseases.
This research has been motivated by the fact that inter-city variation in prices and hence cost of living has implications for many aspects of development and public policy. This is true for all countries and especially for developing countries like Pakistan where one would expect differences in cost of living to be more pronounced (ceterus paribus) due to a relatively underdeveloped transport network and a lack of development of a national common market. A better understanding of the inter-city variation in prices indicates the extent to which markets within countries are integrated. A monitoring of the inter-city price index over time indicates whether the economy as a whole has become more or less integrated over time i.e. has there has been convergence or divergence within the local economy (which has also been one of the objectives of this research). Secondly, a quantification of inter-city variation in cost of living is essential to understand differentials in real incomes across the country. Such an understanding will yield fairer minimum wage legislation by the government and also wage remuneration packages by employers in both the public and private sectors operating in multiple cities thus leading to better equalisation of real wages across locations. As noted by Haworth and Rasmussen (1973) the pursuit of a uniform wage policy by the U.S. Post Office in the 1970s led to greater wage dissatisfaction among workers and labor strikes in areas where cost of living was relatively higher. Thirdly, allowing for cost of living differentials among cities will lead to better estimates of urban inequality and incidence of poverty. In this context it is particularly important to see if differences in cost of living mitigate or accentuate the difference in the magnitude of poverty between richer and poor jurisdictions. The estimation of cost of living differentials will also lead to much greater understanding of migration patterns within countries and the functioning of regional and interregional markets across the country which are directly related to cost of living, and real wages/incomes. For example, if the same minimum wage legislation is applicable to the whole country, it will lead to migration to those cities where cost of living is relative low and hence the real value of the minimum wages is high (ceterus paribus). This illustrates the important implications that uniform minimum wage legislation and welfare packages across the country have for migration patterns when cost of living differentials are significant.
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