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The commercialization of higher education is a global phenomenon that is catching up with Pakistani higher education institutions. Due to inculcation of marketing practices, the role allocation and social relationship between the university and the students are being defined using new parameters. Through the incorporation of Halliday's (Introduction to functional grammar, 2nd edition, Edward Arnold, London, 1994) Systemic Functional Linguistics theory with Critical Discourse Analysis, the linguistic analysis of the introductory pages of prospectuses of Pakistani universities is undertaken to examine the assigned role and relationship of the two major parties, i.e., the 'university' and the 'students.' The results reveal that universities keep formal writing style and maintain an evident distance between the university and students. In general, the results show that marketization aspects are evident in the discourse of prospectuses through various advertisement practices; however, the university's position as a powerful entity is ideologically strengthened through addressing students from an authoritative place.

This paper looks at the differential impact of bribery and lobbying onto the productivity of firms using data from 28 Eastern European and Central Asian economies. It is hypothesized that since the intent of lobbying is fundamentally different from that of bribery their consequences may differ. The empirical results reveal that while lobbying increases firm performance, bribery decreases it. Also, there is a need to improve institutions to mitigate some of the negative effects of bribery onto firm performance. As far as firm-level characteristics are concerned larger sized-, service sector- and exporter-firms need to be particularly shielded from bribery practices as the negative impact of bribery onto these types of firms are more pronounced. On the other hand, lobbying is found to be more successful for larger-, export oriented- and older firms, implying that such firms need to be encouraged to collaborate and forward valuable information for effective policy making. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper uses industrial level data across 41 developing and emerging economies over the period of 1993–2013, to analyze the impact of globalization on the elasticity of demand for labor. The use of both import penetration ratios and export intensity in our model allows for assessment of relative effectiveness of exports vis à vis imports in influencing the labor elasticities. Furthermore, the disintegration of exports and imports according to their trading partners helps explore a novel source of heterogeneity in labor elasticity originating as a result of trading relationship with developed and developing world. Using system-GMM approach, our results reveal that both exports and imports make labor demand more elastic, with imports leaving the labor demand more vulnerable to wage changes. Trading with developing countries renders labor demand more elastic and that too with respect to low-tech or labor intensive products, while trading with developed countries poses no effect. Overall, the results point towards developing countries encouraging greater exporting and importing ties with developed world to ease its impact on the elasticity of demand for labor. However, trading with developing countries need not be suspended rather labor protection programs need to be in place to counter any consequent adverse effects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper uses industrial level data from 21 developing and emerging economies over the period of 1995-2013, to analyze the impact of globalization, in particular, trade orientation of industries onto female employment share. The fractional probit estimation reveals that taking cumulative measures of export and import share often camouflages the impact of trade on female employment. The disintegration of export and import share according to their trading partners reveals that exports and imports from the developed world alone contribute to higher female employment. Moreover, it is the low-tech exports to developed countries and high-tech imports from developed countries which results in an increase in female employment. These findings call for the strengthening of trade ties with the developed world, especially when it comes to promoting low-tech exports and high-tech imports. Our results also reveal that the trading links with the developed world can further enhance female employment if developing country possesses a greater pool of educated female labor force. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyzes the role of foreign direct investment (FDI) on wages, using Turkish firm-level data from 2003 to 2010, a period which coincides with significant FDI inflows both in manufacturing and service sector firms in the region. We explore the possibility of increased foreign presence translating into shifts in either labor demand or supply curves thereby resulting in changing the total wage bill or wage per worker in the host country. To empirically test this relationship we employ a dynamic specification of the wage equation. After addressing endogeneity concerns, the results reveal that foreign presence measured in terms of intra- and inter-sectoral linkages is related to higher wage bills in the host economy, hence strengthening the argument for attracting greater foreign investment to enhance labor welfare. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The main purpose of this paper is to find the effects of financial development, income inequality, energy usage, and per capita GDP on carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions as well the environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) for the three developing Asian countries—Bangladesh, India, and Pakistan. Panel data during the period 1980-2014 and the Stochastic Impacts by Regression on Population, Affluence, and Technology model with fully modified ordinary least squares (FMOLS) are employed for empirical investigation. The results show that financial development has a significant negative relationship with CO2 emission in the three selected Asian countries with the exception of India. The results further reveal that income inequality in Pakistan and India reduce CO2 emission, while the result for Bangladesh is opposite. Likewise, energy usage has a significant positive effect on CO2 emission in Bangladesh, Pakistan, and India. Our empirical analysis based on long-run and short-run elasticity appraisal suggests the validation of the EKC in Pakistan and India. The study findings recommend an important policy insinuation. The study suggests introducing a motivational campaign for the inhabitant towards utilization of high-efficiency electrical appliances, constructing mutual cooperation for economic development rather involve in winning development race, and introducing effective pollution absorption measures along with big projects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyzes the productivity spillovers from foreign direct investment (FDI) using Turkish firm-level data for a more recent time period, 2003–2010, which coincides with significant FDI inflows both in manufacturing and service sectors in the region. The empirical model is derived from endogenous growth theory whereby the rate of technological progress is partly determined by technology transfers and spillovers from international contacts, our exclusive focus being on FDI-induced spillovers. The impact of FDI onto the firm-level productivity is evaluated via the channels of horizontal and vertical linkages. The empirical results show that horizontal linkages decrease the productivity of firms, whereas vertical linkages exert a positive impact onto the local productivity levels, thereby drawing attention of policy makers towards strengthening of supplier–buyer relationship between local and multinationals in order to optimize the benefits from FDI. This study also acknowledges the heterogeneity of local (foreign) firms and their differential capacity to absorb (exude) the FDI-induced externalities. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]