 | Department of Economics |
PeopleResearch Themes
Industrial Policy
MPhil Theses
Social and Economic Networks: An Investigation of Retailer Networks in Lahore & their Impact on Enterprise Performance
Researcher: Amar Shuja (2016)
Abstract
A detailed study of a market in Lahore was conducted to create a map of the socioeconomic network of different retailers located in this particular area. The aim was to distinguish various ways in which these individual sellers were connected to one another, and then investigate how these network ties affected their economic lives. As opposed to developed economies where economic exchange is buttressed by formal market institutions, developing economies often depend on personal relationships between different economic actors for business transactions. This study looks at how networks allow entrepreneurs to navigate through a business environment that is troubled with sluggish and costly information transfer, prohibitive terms of credit, and feeble (often exploitative) formal institutions that are a detriment to contract enforcement. This research uses a respondent driven sampling method to obtain comprehensive social network data through extensive structured interviews with sellers of water pumps and motors in the Brandreth Road area of Lahore. Information on 6 different types of relationships, from who respondents took advice from, to who they shared information, and inventory with were obtained to construct a network of connections representative of the many ways in which retailers in these markets engage with and benefit from one another. Each individual seller's centrality in these networks was then determined to confirm that more central players in the market had a significantly different demographic makeup than their less central counterparts, and that they leveraged this position to secure more favorable terms of exchange for themselves: more central sellers paid significantly less for borrowed inventory, and did so with a significantly relaxed repayment schedule. Centrality, however, had an unexpected impact on the sellers' joint purchases arrangements, where less central sellers in the market reported receiving significantly larger discounts on jointly purchased supplies.
Link to the Paper:
http://121.52.153.178:8080/xmlui/bitstream/handle/123456789/15437/AMAR
%20NETWORKS%20THESIS%20FINAL%20DRAFT%20%28D-Space%29.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y
Effects of Agglomeration and Trade Liberalization on Firm Entry and Exit
Researcher: Marjan Nasir (2012)
Abstract
The turnover of firms in an industry is affected by both domestic and international factors as has been highlighted by research in industrial organization. This thesis conducts a firm level analysis to see the impact of agglomeration on firm entry and exit in domestic industries, and the impact of trade liberalization on firm entry and exit in export industries in Punjab. The study also illustrates using maps how some industries are present in clusters while others are highly dispersed. The results suggest that higher firm entry and exit takes place in highly agglomerated industries and a real exchange rate depreciation increases firm entry and exit while tariff reduction has no significant impact on firm turnover.
Link to the Paper:
http://121.52.153.178:8080/xmlui/bitstream/handle/123456789/6346/upload-Marjan_Nasir_MPHIL_Thesis-oct%2029-2012.pdf?sequence=3&isAllowed=y
Effects of Agglomeration on the Formation and Scale of Operations of New Firms
Researcher: Maryiam Haroon (2012)
Abstract
New firm formation is an important determinant of economic and regional development. Agglomeration has been highlighted as one of the main factors enhancing formation and scale of operations of new firms in the industrial organization literature. This study has estimated a model which determines the effect of local conditions on new firm formation and scale of operations for the manufacturing sector in Punjab, Pakistan using data from the Directory of Industries (DOI). The findings of the study reveal that agglomeration through localization and urbanization has a strong impact on the formation of new firms and their scale of operations.
Link to the Paper:
http://121.52.153.178:8080/xmlui/bitstream/handle/123456789/6348/upload-Maryiam_Haroon_Mphil_Thesis%201-%20nov%2026-2012.pdf?sequence=3&isAllowed=y
Labor Pooling As a Determinant of Industrial Agglomeration
Researcher: Najam uz Zehra Gardezi (2012)
Abstract
This paper analyses agglomeration behavior exhibited by the manufacturing firms in Punjab. It employs a unique data set to construct a distance based measure of agglomeration to test the existence of localization economies. The M function which is the industry level measure of concentration is regressed on a number of industry characteristics that measure the presence of positive externalities. In particular, a measure of each industry's potential for labour pooling is used to examine whether firms that experience greater fluctuations in employment are likely to be more concentrated. The results provide evidence as to the importance of labour pooling working through the stated mechanism in explaining the high level of concentration within industries.
Link to the Paper:
http://121.52.153.178:8080/xmlui/bitstream/handle/123456789/6365/upload-Najam%20uz%20Zehra%20Gardezi.pdf?sequence=3&isAllowed=y
Relative Wage Variation And Industry Location Within Districts Of Punjab
Researcher: Zunia Saif Tirmazee (2012)
Abstract
This study tests the wage differential between nonproduction (whitecollar) and production (blue-collar) workers across districts of Punjab; it also seeks to determine whether these variations affect the industrial structure of these districts for the periods 2000/01 and 2005/06. Such an analysis is important because (i) it yields information on the income convergence in a country and (ii) it points out that policies targeted at regional development must take into account data on factor prices. For instance, when addressing equity concerns, the government must focus on enhancing the skills of workers in regions where skill levels are low - giving them a better chance of finding jobs - rather than setting up blue-collar-intensive industries here since any wage differential would be arbitraged away when labor is perfectly mobile. The findings from the first stage of the analysis suggest there is evidence of relative wage inequality in Punjab: generally, nonproduction workers earn higher relative wages in central Punjab and lower relative wages in southern and western Punjab. These findings are consistent over the five-year period 2001-06. The second stage of the analysis shows that the industrial mix also varies across Punjab as districts differ in terms of the wages they offer both nonproduction and production workers.
Working Paper: CREB Working Paper No. 02-16.
Resource Misallocation And Aggregate Productivity In Punjab
Researcher: Muhammad Haseeb (2009)
Abstract
This study follows Hsieh and Klenow (2009) to study the role of misallocation in aggregate productivity for manufacturing plants in Punjab. Data for manufacturing plants in Punjab is taken from the Census of Manufacturing 2000-01 and 2005-06. In this paper, we essentially look at the extent to which marginal products differ across firms within each industry. We then imitate the liberalization settings by allowing marginal products to equalize across the plants in each industry. We find relatively more productivity dispersion in Punjab as compared to Hsieh and Klenow (2009) in India and China. Furthermore, we find that moving to the US efficiency level would boost manufacturing TFP in Punjab by 22.33% and 55.83% in years 2000-01 and 2005-06 respectively. We also explore the potential sources of productivity dispersion for manufacturing plants in Punjab.
Link to the Paper:
http://121.52.153.178:8080/xmlui/bitstream/handle/123456789/6238/Upload-Muhammad%20Haseeb.pdf?sequence=3&isAllowed=y
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