Suchergebnisse

AbstractThis paper examines the US assistance for economic growth in Pakistan since 2002. Delving into the political economy of the United States Agency for International Development's (USAID) economic growth programme, this paper appraises the effectiveness of economic growth projects and their impact on the economy of Pakistan by analysing donor's project execution mechanisms and priority areas for economic development. This study finds that despite USAID's proclamation of spurring growth through their neoliberal‐oriented interventions, the economy has shown a gloomy picture in recent years and hence questions the perception that foreign aid can spur economic growth in recipient countries. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

AbstractUsing novel firm‐level data, we examine the trade effect of the changed security arrangements for Pakistan's exports to the US following 9/11. The pre‐shipment scanning facility introduced by the Integrated Cargo Container Control (IC3) program, following the 100% scanning requirement, affected the beyond‐the‐border and behind‐the‐border costs of exporting. We exploit the exogenous nature of this shock and its specificity to one export market in the identification strategy. The estimates show Pakistan's exports dropped by between 8% and 11% because of IC3 but that the effect was heterogeneous across firms depending upon their pre‐IC3 port of departure and whether they switched following IC3. We also show that the export fall would have been even greater if 100% scanning had been introduced without a pre‐shipment scanning facility.