The core purpose of the study is to analyze the effects of the energy problems on the competitiveness and performance of major selected Pakistani industries. The data used for the study is from the years 1999 to 2015. The industries used in the research are Leather, Textile, Tobacco, Pharmaceutical, and Sugar. The Balassa Index is firstly used to compute the competitiveness of the above-mentioned industries and reveals that except tobacco industries all other industries sustain a comparative advantage even before and during the crisis regime. Secondly, a GMM estimation is done to analyze the effect of energy problems on the performance of the companies. The conclusion of the paper suggests that the supply of energy has a crucial role in enhancing the net return and competitiveness of the industrial sector in Pakistan.

The aim of the study is to collect first-hand information from the corporate practitioners regarding the “why” “how” “when” and “where” of corporate social responsibility (CSR hereafter) by conducting an interview session with the companies listed on the Pakistan Stock exchange. It was observed that the involvement in CSR is beneficial for firm performance and affected by external forces (institutional forces) and internal features (firms resources). In addition, the priority of stakeholders and the urgency of CSR dimensions (CSRs pyramid) are well understood in the context of Pakistan too.

There is a close link between operations strategies and firm performance. Thus, it is paramount to find out what competitive priorities are adhered to by small and medium enterprises when it comes to operational decision making. The sample is drawn from 244 manufacturing small and medium enterprises (SMEs) operational in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), Pakistan. Consistent with the research objective, Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) is employed to reveal the preference of SMEs in adopting competitive priorities. The results show that the most preferred competitive priority is cost followed by quality and flexibility with delivery priority the least sought-after operations strategy. The paper adds value to a finer and richer understanding of operations strategies in SMEs context and provides insights to practitioners and managers to effectively enhance their firm performance by pursuing right operations strategies.

You will arrive at a destination after 10, 20 or 30 years from now, but where? Thats is the critical inquiry/question. And the answer could be of two-fold; a well-defined destination, or an ill-defined (chaotic) destination. Its obvious, that definitely everyone would like to arrive at a well-defined one. The same rule applies to the mega project of CPEC. No doubt, CPEC is a great and mega project with the volume greater than any project launched in Pakistan since 1947. It seems to benefit Pakistan and China from various perspectives, thats why its named as a game-changer but the point of concern is for whose. This question needs to be answered not only comprehensively but also partially especially by Pakistani side of leadership and strategists. This is essential for the future survival of Pakistan as a country and Pakistanis as a nation. The current research analyzes the grey areas of concern from the Pakistani perspective by putting the four factual checks; strategic, economic, cultural and security on the mega project of CPEC. The paper further, in detail presents a solution-oriented strategic point of view with appropriate recommendations to be adopted in order to cultivate the fruits of the project effectively and efficiently.

The current study explores the role of public spending and credit disbursement in the agricultural production of Pakistan during the period 2000 to 2016. In this study, Agriculture Production Growth (APG) is the dependent variable while real GDP, government expenditure, labor force participation and agricultural credit are the independent variables. The stationarity of the data has been investigated through the ADF test. Following this, hypotheses were tested through the ordinary least squares method. In addition, the robustness of the results is ascertained by conducting an LM test and CUSUM stability tests. The findings showed that government expenditure and agriculture credit put expansionary effects on agricultural production in Pakistan. It is suggested that the government should increase expenditures in the agriculture sector for the development of agricultural sector production and economic development of the country.

A Marxist understanding of the ills of capitalism is applicable to 21st -century capitalism. Motivated by surpluses, capitalism become global in its endeavour of outsourcing production and capital labour substitution. As a result, the capitalist core established an exploitative relationship with the developing and under-developed third world countries. In order to protect their interests and to keep the antagonistic feelings below the threshold, the bourgeoisie elite utilized every tool available to strengthen their control over the resources, maintained their hegemony and absorb counter-hegemonic ideas. The article is an attempt to understand the Marxist interpretation of capitalism and debate in its relevance to 21st -century international politics. With the help of the Iraq war, the article concludes that Marxism and Marxist inspired theoretical interpretation is the best lens to explain the operation of capitalism at the world stage.

Since the beginning of diplomatic ties in 1951, China-Pakistan has enjoyed long-lasting, stable and friendly relations and considered to be an irreplaceable “all-weather friend” as well. In any hard and troubled time, both countries support each other. Pakistan could have got more benefit from China in the last several decades; however, the CPEC under Chinas “BRI” provides a very shining opportunity for the economic development of Pakistan. Balochistan is geographically the largest and population-wise the smallest province. With its precious mineral resources, deep sea and a vast coast with fantastic climate Balochistan has been ignored; consequently, a significant portion of the youth opted for alternative way, engaging themselves in such activities which brought uncertainty and trouble in the province. Of course, the primary cause of such a condition is economic deprivation, joblessness and most importantly political power which has not been given to them.

In this paper, we examine the neighborhood especially Indian strategies for the region. The political philosophies and regional strategies related to developing economies in the region need synergy and strategically positive and constructive in nature. Their philosophy to rule and their foreign policy is different from all the other leadership. Indian Current Ruling Party seems involved in different terrorist activities, such Gujarat attack on Muslims and the incident of the Samjhota express. Indian Current Ruling Partys begins wrongdoing on the innocent Kashmiri, its forces also use pellet guns on Kashmiri Muslims. Indian economic strategy is to invest on Chahbahar Port and wish to side stop the economic mega project of CPEC. Indian influence increased in Afghanistan against Pakistan with the boycott of SAARC conference scheduled in Pakistan. The international community has found that Indian current political leadership is as one of the most influential negative political personality among the world leaders.

This study investigates the business cycle characteristics for Pakistan using three sets of variables namely expenditure components of GDP, nominal variables and real variables. The findings reveal that the volatility of expenditure components are greater than GDP during the full sample of 1973 to 2015. Whereas, in the Pre-SAP and Post-SAP periods i.e. 1973-1988 and 1989-2015, real variables and nominal variables show more volatility than GDP. And, in terms of co-movement, expenditure components of GDP showed strong pro-cyclicality and relationship with GDP against other sets of variables. Moreover, the nominal variables show positive persistence and the business cycles caused by it, lasting for a long time against real variables and expenditure components of GDP. Furthermore, the results show that the correlation between CPI and GDP across all periods is counter cyclical. The stability test results show that business cycles features remained stable during two time periods.