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The First Women Bank which commenced operations in December 1989, has over a period of one year, set up 10 branches in the big cities of the country. The name of the bank suggested that it would function on the same lines as the Grameen Bank of Bangladesh. It was widely believed that the Bank was meant to assist the very poor women in their economic uplift. However, with the exception of two branches (one in Gurumander, Karachi and the second in Sukkur), the branches of the bank have been set up in posh localities like Defence, Cantonment, Blue Area and Mall Roads. The expensive location and the expensive set-up of these banks has created the image that these banks are meant to cater for the rich, elite women, rather than the poor deserving women. The very poor earning women in low-income localities are totally unaware of this bank's existence because it has not been advertised to them through audio or video media. However they envied poor women in India who benefited from the credit schemes for women, as shown on Indian television.l This paper attempts to look into the factors behind the establishment of the bank and its working strategy, to clarify, to whatever extent possible, the confusions or contradictions associated with this bank. Section II puts forward the various factors underlying the establishment of a separate bank for women in Pakistan. Section III describes the operational strategy of the bank with special focus on the nature of clientele and credit services of the bank. Section IV puts forward the conclusions and Section V gives some policy recommendations. The paper is based on the published material made available by the bank i.e. the brochure of the bank (the first annual statement of the bank had not been published at the time of writing this paper), informal discussions with the bank staff, and personal observations of the author during the working hours of the bank.

This paper examines the impact of labour emigration on the wages of both the skilled and unskilled workers. The paper is based on a 3 X 3 trade-theoretic model, where a subset of the goods produced are traded at internationally fIXed prices. The results of the model hinge cruci~y on the intensities of the factors used 'within' the traded goods sectors of the economy. Using the Pakistani data, it is found that unskilled labour is used extremely intensively in the agriculture sector (exportable), skilled labour is used extremely intensively in the manufacturing sector (importable), and capital is used as the middle factor in both the traded goods sectors. Moreover, capital is used significantly less intensively in the construction (non-traded) sector relative to both the traded sectors. Based on the estimated relative factor intensities, the model predicts that emigration of either skilled or unskilled workers from Pakistan, in the long run, would benefit (in nominal as well as real terms) both the skilled and unskilled workers and hurt the owners of capital. The results suggest that the higher wages to both the skilled and unskilled workers must be compensated by a reduction in the rate of returns to capital if export-orientcd and import-competing sectors in Pakistan are to remain internationally competitive.

This presentation is a more comprehensive version of the paper that has been circulated. The paper examines the terms of access to the resources of the Chaprote forest in the Nagar valley of Northern Pakistan, before and since 1972. In 19n, the Nagar valley became part of the Federally Administered Areas of ~akistan. The political transformation of the regime, was contiguous with changes in the economic situation, which affected local requirements, allocation, and access to natural resources. Our analysis hence, focuses on some of the excesses and inadequacies of regimes being incorporated within a political economy on the one hand, and being subjected to interventions at odds with local potential and former systems of managing and exploiting local resources on the other. Our aim is to make suggestions for better management, conservation and development of forest resources. This. exercise includes the concern of environmentalists, among other issues, over conserving finite natural resources, and maintaining a symbiosis between regeneration and depletion of renewable natural resources [Dubois (1976); Rapoport (1978); Sachs (1978, 1980) and Simonis (n.d)].

This paper examines the development of poverty and income inequality in Pakistan during the 1970s, and decomposes this inequality into various components in order to identify the location of increasing inequality. The figures show that poverty decreased by about 50%. Not only has the percentage of households below the poverty line decreased by about 34%, but the average income of the remaining poor also went up. At the same time, income inequality between households increased during the period concerned. The decomposition technique applied in this paper discovered 4 elements of inequality increase. 1) Increase in the inequality of earnings in rural areas explains 33% of total inequality increase. 2) Increasing participation rates of both urban and rural households explain 32% of total inequality increase. 3) 25% of total inequality increase can be attributed to a sectoral shift from rural to urban areas. The urban income share increased from 33% in 1969-1970 to 50% in 1979. Since the Theil coefficient of urban labor income is far higher than the Theil coefficient of rural labor income in both 1969-1970 and 1979, inequality increased due to this sectoral shift. 4) Inequality between urban and rural areas increased, explaining 11% of total inequality increase.

This paper examined reproductive goals and family planning attitudes at the couple level in Pakistan. Data were based on the responses of the 1260 matched couples in the 1990-91 Pakistan Demographic and Health Survey. The questions integrated in the interview were on desired fertility, family size ideas, son preference, and family planning attitude. Findings of the analysis showed that about 60% of the couples have given similar responses (agreeing either positively or negatively) to several fertility-related questions, whereas the remaining 40% differ in their attitudes. This divergence may partly be of the environmental factors such as spouse rural background, lack of education, and minimal communication between spouses. This implies that a couple's joint approval, discussion of family planning, and husband's desire for no more children have the strongest effect on promoting contraceptive use. Thus, it is concluded that the role of couple agreement is important in promoting the use of family planning, and men should be made equal targets of such programs in Pakistan.

Over the last three decades temporary emigration I of labour force has gained considerable importance for the economic development of many labour-rich and capital-short countries. As most of these countries have little influence on the volume, timing, and structure of their migrating labour· force, labour outflow, fluctuating remittances, and remigration often result in external shocks on their vulnerable economies. Given the strong influence which labour emigration bears on key macro-economic aggregates and on the well-being of the population, its integration into the overall development planning is a sine qua non for sound economic strategies of the source countries. As a rule, however, migration policy largely consists of trial and ~rror reactions to already on-going developments. Over the last years, much empirical research effort has been devoted to the impact of labour migration on sending regions. Most of it is based on micro-level surveys, and on descriptions of economic changes which have occurred over a migration boom, without exact specification of causal relationships. The deduction of macro-economic changes from observed household behaviour is difficult and implies much speculation, yet. Therefore, maximizing the economic benefits from labour migration for the source country requires the application of quantitative methods based on macro models which can be used for assessing its impact and for stimulating alternative policy strategies considered for accompanying the process. The paper presents four methods which seem appropriate for that purpose, namely partial sectoral analysis by regression computations, cost-benefit analysis, social accounting matrices, and computable general equilibrium models. It considers their respective advantages for different ends, questions, and policy goals, and explains their data requirements.