tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5848640164815342479.post5581099519744434991..comments2024-03-27T15:36:44.737-07:00Comments on Haq's Musings: Pakistan Offers Higher Economic Mobility Than US, China Riaz Haqhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00522781692886598586noreply@blogger.comBlogger70125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5848640164815342479.post-22903492116701597472023-01-29T17:36:08.653-08:002023-01-29T17:36:08.653-08:0069% Pakistanis feel that their children will have ...69% Pakistanis feel that their children will have a better life than them in a global Gallup International survey in 64 countries<br /><br />Figure in India is 43%<br /><br />https://twitter.com/bilalgilani/status/1619768586276569088?s=20&t=AfVrdN1yfTuVjhOxMf22eQ<br /><br /><br /><br />https://www.gallup-international.bg/en/46667/fsdfdsfs/<br /><br /><br />The most positive country among those surveyed is Nigeria (90% minus 6%) and the most negative is Slovenia a (14% minus 53%). Among the prominent countries where GIA could poll, expectations for their children’s future are highest in Nigeria is followed by Russia (52% minus 10%), Mexico (48% minus 30%), the USA (43% minus 31%) and India (43% minus 33%).<br /><br />When combining the two questions, another perspective is added. For instance, Moldova shows a total of 86 (45% saying that their live is worse life than the one of their parents plus 41% expecting a worse life of today’s children), followed in this negative ranking by North Macedonia (82: 35% negative assessments plus 47% negative predictions), Afghanistan (81), Syria and Italy (78), etc.<br /><br />Most of the countries are still positive on both questions, but if one looks for instance for countries with both above 50% positive answers, Nigeria stands out with 171 (81% positive for today plus 90% positive for tomorrow), followed by Kosovo (162), the United Arab Emirates (150), Ghana (141), Pakistan (134), etc.<br /><br />Findings are proved, confirming that developing parts of the world share more hope. National and political peculiarities leave their footprint but in general is seems that the closer the war and troubles are, the worse are the answers on both issues – as expected.<br /><br />---------<br /><br />Every second citizen (51%) of the world believes that their life is better than that of their parents. The other half of the people asked is equally divided between those who assess a worse life (23%) and those who find it the same (23%). 3% could not answer. Satisfaction with the living standard is a key factor for people to believe that they have a better life than their parents. But in some rich regions like Europe this is not so valid.<br /><br />Expectations for the life of today’s children are predominantly good as well but lower than the comparison of own life to the life of the previous generation – 44% are expecting a better life for today’s children in comparison to our lives, 28% expecting a worse life, 20% expecting about the same and 8% not responding. Aged people are less sure about the better future of the next generation. More money unsurprisingly seems to result in more confidence in the future on a personal level, but on a national level countries that experience or used to experience difficulties are the ones to believe stronger in better future for the next generation. Unsurprisingly again.<br />Riaz Haqhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00522781692886598586noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5848640164815342479.post-49483441972491448862022-11-13T16:41:16.067-08:002022-11-13T16:41:16.067-08:00INTERGENERATIONAL ECONOMIC MOBILITY: THE CASE OF N...INTERGENERATIONAL ECONOMIC MOBILITY: THE CASE OF NORTH-<br />WESTERN PAKISTAN<br />Ansa Javed Khan1, Sajjad Ahmad Jan2, Jawad Rahim Afridi3*, Arshia Hashmi4, Muhammad Azeem Ahmed5 1Assistant Director, P&D, Bacha Khan University, Charsadda, Pakistan; 2Assistant Professor, Department of Economics, University of Peshawar, Peshawar, Pakistan; 3*Lecturer, Department of Economics, Sarhad University of Science & IT, Peshawar, Pakistan; 4Assistant Professor, The University of Faisalabad, Department of Management Studies, Faisalabad, Pakistan; 5Associate Professor, Barani Institute of Sciences, Pakistan.<br />Email: 1*director_pnd@bkuc.edu.pk, 2sajjadahmadjan@uop.edu.pk, 3*jrafridi67@gmail.com, 4arshia.hashim@tuf.edu.pk, 5azeem@baraniinstitute.edu.pk<br />Article History: Received on 19th June 2021, Revised on 26th June 2021, Published on 29th June 2021<br /><br /><br />https://www.sciencegate.app/document/10.18510/hssr.2021.93141<br /><br /><br />Access to Education and Intergenerational Economic Mobility<br />The following table 1 shows the change in educational status which has taken place between the parents and children’s generations for the overall sample as well as for the sub-groups (Majority and Minority Tribes). The absolute numbers (outside parentheses) and the percentage (within parentheses) in different cells of the table show the people who are illiterate or at different levels of education. The table on one hand shows the intergenerational mobility of people up and down the education ladder and on the other hand reveals the wide and persistent educational gap between the majority and minority tribes. The table shows that 26 % of the respondents in the kids’ generation do not have any education versus 46 % in the parents’ generation. The results affirm the government’s claims and the common perception that, on average, more people have become literate through time and therefore the people in the children’s generation are more likely to be educated than their parent's generation. Further, the college and university graduates in the children’s generation outnumber the school graduates while school graduates outnumber the higher two educational categories in the parents’ generation as most of the students in past used to drop out at both primary or high school levels and couldn’t manage to get into a college or university for higher studies.<br /><br />The aggregate results for the whole sample are actually driven by the majority tribes as it shows identical trends from the parents’ generation to the children’s generation in all educational. The majority tribe has succeeded in decreasing the number of illiterates from 33% in the parents’ generation to 11% in the children’s generation. College and university graduates (total of 60%) outnumber the school graduates and the illiterate (total of 40%) in the children’s generation as compared to the parents’ generation in the majority tribe where the former is 26% and the latter is 73%. This indicates a visible upward movement of the educational ladder by the members of the majority tribe. The situation of education and literacy in the minority tribe is deplorable if the comparison is either made on basis of children’s and parents’ generations or if the educational attainment levels of the minority and majority tribes are compared. The illiterates outnumber all the other educational categories as in sharp contrast to the educational attainment levels of the majority tribe. The data further reveals that no or only a negligible improvement in the educational status of the people belonging to the minority tribe has taken place between the children’s and parents’ generations. This affirms our presumption that in the North-Western parts of Pakistan, the tribal affiliation of a person determines his or her access to education. The ease of access to education then further transforms into economic mobility or immobility of the people.Riaz Haqhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00522781692886598586noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5848640164815342479.post-59465895882249643162022-11-12T10:26:33.292-08:002022-11-12T10:26:33.292-08:00Study reveals social mobility booming in Pakistan
...Study reveals social mobility booming in Pakistan<br /><br />https://profit.pakistantoday.com.pk/2018/10/29/study-reveals-social-mobility-booming-in-pakistan/<br /><br />The Standard Chartered Bank (SCB-Pak) has conducted a study on ‘Emerging Affluent Consumers’ in eleven countries including Pakistan, in which it found that nearly two-thirds or 64 per cent of emerging affluent consumers in Pakistan are experiencing upward social mobility while 11 per cent are enjoying ‘supercharged’ social mobility.<br /><br />The Emerging Affluent Study 2018 – climbing the prosperity ladder – examines the views of 11,000 emerging affluent consumers- individuals who are earning enough to save and invest – from 11 markets across Asia, Africa and the Middle East.<br /><br />Commenting on the study, SCB Retail Banking Head Syed Mujtaba Abbas said, “Ambitious consumers are on an upward social trajectory; they are surpassing their parents’ success in education, careers and home ownership. As their ambitions and aspirations grow, they are demanding convenient financial services and digital technology to broaden their access to money management and advance their financial wellbeing. It is an exciting journey where they are not only improving their own lives, but they are also fuelling growth in some of the world’s most exciting markets.”<br /><br />According to the study, the average figure for social mobility among the emerging affluent consumers across the markets is 59 per cent, and of these 7 per cent are experiencing supercharged social mobility.<br /><br />Pakistan’s socially mobile consumers, as identified by the study, have had impressive earnings growth, with almost half (44 per cent) enjoying a salary increase of 10 per cent or more in the past year, and more than a third (34 per cent) seeing their earning jump by 50 per cent or more in the past five years.<br /><br />In Pakistan, the socially mobile people are also better educated and achieving higher levels of employment and homeownership than their parents. As many as 89 per cent went to universities, compared to 66 per cent of their fathers and less than half (49 per cent) of their mothers, while 83 per cent are in a management position or running their own businesses compared to 65 per cent of their fathers and 28 per cent of their mothers. Similarly, as many as 88 per cent of the socially mobile people own their own home, compared to 81 per cent of their parents at the same age.<br /><br />Levels of optimism among the emerging affluent in Pakistan are even higher than reality, with 79 per cent believing they are in a better financial position than their parents compared to the 64 per cent in the study that are actually socially mobile.<br /><br />More than two-thirds (70 per cent) of the emerging affluent in Pakistan say their familiarity with digital tools have been vital to their personal success, while 73 per cent say online banking makes them feel that they have more control over their money and investments, and 67 per cent say digital money management has helped them get closer to achieving their financial goals.<br /><br />Pakistan’s emerging affluent is comfortable going online for financial advice, with the majority (60 per cent) saying they would invest in financial products online if an on-demand adviser was available. Risk is not a problem for the emerging affluent if strong rewards are possible 58 per cent would accept a high level of risk for a high level of return when investing their money in online financial products.<br />Riaz Haqhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00522781692886598586noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5848640164815342479.post-1780823867280983492019-10-30T20:37:12.407-07:002019-10-30T20:37:12.407-07:00Intergenerational Mobility in Pakistan Higher Than...Intergenerational Mobility in Pakistan Higher Than in India<br /><br />Source: World Bank<br /><br />https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/3688539744?profile=original<br /><br />https://st1.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/3688570908?profile=original<br /><br />https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/handle/10986/28428Riaz Haqhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00522781692886598586noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5848640164815342479.post-67051023718139145512019-10-30T18:49:27.476-07:002019-10-30T18:49:27.476-07:00Book Review: The New Pakistani Middle Class by Amm...Book Review: The New Pakistani Middle Class by Ammara Maqsood <br /><br />https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/southasia/2018/03/29/book-review-the-new-pakistani-middle-class-by-ammara-maqsood/<br /><br />The book unveils multiple facets of the country’s middle class, its trajectory since Pakistan’s creation and its understanding of and experience with the concept of a modern progressive nation and religion. Hina Shaikh reviews Dr Ammara Maqsood‘s ethnographic debut. <br /><br />Pakistan has a rising middle class, now a critical segment of the country’s population, exhibiting great variation in its political, social and even economic positioning. There is, however, lack of sound socio-scientific research and literature on the evolution of this segment of the population. There are, of course, certain generalisations such as the middle class is mostly urban and a big consumer group belonging to a certain income threshold. However, the middle class is mostly dealt with in the economic or political context i.e. how this growing segment of the population impacts the economic or political landscape.<br /><br />Dr Ammara Maqsood’s ethnographic debut The Pakistan’s New Middle Class unveils multiple facets of the country’s middle class, its trajectory since Pakistan’s creation and its understanding of and experience with the concept of a modern progressive nation. Her work focuses on how Pakistan’s rising urban middle class engage with religion (Islam) and its image as a progressive nation.<br /><br />While providing a fresh way of understanding the middle class, the book examines the Muslim middle class in the postcolonial South Asian context and traces the evolution of this class from the late 18th century India. While the ethnography is specific to Lahore, Dr Maqsood discloses several emerging trends common across South Asia. For example, her comparison of the shift towards personal piety amongst Pakistan’s new middle class to reformism in Kerala, where middle class Muslims associate religious reformism with a modern outlook through promotion of education. Dr Maqsood feels such trends should be understood as a global impulse to cleanse rather than conform to a certain school of thought. Hence, there is a persistent shift in the new middle class to certain kinds of practices, across various sects of Islam – Deobandi, Wahabi and Barelvi — lacking a clear direction but up for constant negotiation.<br /><br />The account is highly contextualised and relevant (especially to a those in the Indian sub-continent) to the current narrative around the search for a collective Muslim identity in modern progressive times. Though set in Lahore, her findings are frequently extended, and convincingly so, to the rest of urban Pakistan. The author also consistently provides references to relevant experiences from several other parts of the Muslim world. For example, Dr Maqsood gives examples from West Asia, Iran and India, about growth in Islamic consumerism — especially during Ramzan — and the increasing popularity of religious study circles. The book can thus appeal to most readers trying to understand how the Muslim middle class belonging to any part of the globe struggles to situate itself in today’s world.<br /><br />The author’s central inquiry is around the question of how the country’s new middle class perceives itself both as a Pakistani and as a member of the larger global community. In that process, Dr Maqsood closely studies the connection and contrast between the old (established) and the new (upwardly mobile) middle class. While both groups are similar in their yearning for modernity and a progressive Pakistan, they differ in the perception the same. This contrast is an important contribution of this book as it provides a diligent understanding of the evolution of post-colonial Muslim societies, addressing the issue of class within the urban milieu.Riaz Haqhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00522781692886598586noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5848640164815342479.post-11913065671949253172018-11-06T13:55:17.961-08:002018-11-06T13:55:17.961-08:00Pakistan is among the most upwardly mobile nations...Pakistan is among the most upwardly mobile nations in the world, according to a new Standard Chartered Bank study titled "Climbing the Prosperity Ladder".<br /><br />The Standard Chartered study looks into social mobility, financial proficiency and digital savviness among 11,000 emerging affluent consumers in China, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Kenya, Malaysia, Nigeria, Pakistan, Singapore, South Korea and the UAE. 34% of Pakistani respondents said their incomes have increased by more than 50% over the last 5 years while 44% said they have seen 10% or more income growth in the last year.<br /><br />China, India and Pakistan:<br /><br />Standard Chartered study talks about the "fast-growing economies of China, India and Pakistan are providing abundant opportunities for scaling the social pyramid". Here's an excerpt of the Standard Chartered report:<br /><br />The fast-growing economies of China, India and Pakistan are providing abundant opportunities for scaling the social pyramid. Leading the way, in both China and India 67% of the emerging affluent are experiencing positive social mobility, while Pakistan is not far behind with 64%. Of the emerging affluent in these countries, India and Pakistan both have more than one in 10 (11%) that are experiencing supercharged social mobility, versus 7% in China. Strong earnings progression is fueling impressive rates of social mobility in all three countries. Many of the socially mobile have benefitted from a salary increase of 50% or more in the last five years – 34% in Pakistan, followed by 30% in India and 26% in China. This gap could widen, with India and Pakistan more optimistic about their future salaries than their Chinese counterparts. Almost half of the socially mobile in Pakistan (48%) and India (46%) predict another earnings increase of 50% or more in the next five years, whereas less than three in 10 (29%) expect the same in China. While the emerging affluent in China are more cautious about salary growth than their counterparts in fast-growing Pakistan and India, workplace remuneration is just one side of the social mobility equation. Education has been considered crucial to improving social standing in China for a long time, but the generational shift towards university access among the socially mobile is larger than any other market: more than nine in 10 have attended university (91%), compared to 34% of their fathers and 29% of their mothers<br /><br />https://www.riazhaq.com/2018/10/standard-chartered-bank-pakistan-among.htmlRiaz Haqhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00522781692886598586noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5848640164815342479.post-49950566346575282952018-11-06T13:52:03.129-08:002018-11-06T13:52:03.129-08:00According to a Gilani Research Foundation Survey c...According to a Gilani Research Foundation Survey carried out by Gallup Pakistan, 42% Pakistanis believe that their household’s financial situation will improve in the coming year.<br /><br />http://gallup.com.pk/42-pakistanis-believe-that-their-households-financial-situation-will-improve-in-the-coming-year/<br /><br />A nationally representative sample of men and women from across the four provinces was asked, “Do you think your household’s financial situation will improve, worsen or remain the same in the coming year?” In response to this question, 42% said that they believe that their household’s financial situation will improve, 36% said that it will remain the same, and 22% said that it will worse.<br /><br />This question is used as a proxy across the world for gauging consumer’s confidence in the economy currently, and a predictor for the future. Gallup Pakistan is currently in process of setting up a Consumer Confidence Index.<br /><br />Riaz Haqhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00522781692886598586noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5848640164815342479.post-2877914196291940372018-07-16T11:13:23.884-07:002018-07-16T11:13:23.884-07:00A recently released World Bank report has claimed ...A recently released World Bank report has claimed that the chance of escaping poverty is now roughly the same in India as it is in the U.S.<br /><br /><br />https://www.newsweek.com/indian-dream-world-bank-says-social-mobility-india-comparable-us-301088<br /><br />The report, called Addressing Inequality in South Asia, compares the share of consumption among three developing countries - Vietnam, Bangladesh and India - and the United States, divided along transitioning class lines - moving out of poverty, those moving from poverty into the middle class, falling back to poverty, falling out of middle class. The findings of the analysis were that “within the same generation, mobility in earnings - measured by the ability to move out of poverty and into the middle class - is comparable to that of the United States<br /><br />The report says that India between 2004-05 and 2009-10, 15% of the total population also moved above the poverty line. By these measures, the report claims “upward mobility within a generation in.... India was comparable to that of dynamic societies such as the United States.”<br /><br />The report attributed much of India’s upward mobility to increased urbanisation in the country, stating in a summary: “Urban jobs have become a ticket to the middle class. Upward mobility is much stronger in cities, where even self-employment and casual work can lead to substantial gains in consumption.”<br /><br /><br />Riaz Haqhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00522781692886598586noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5848640164815342479.post-39580435670520240612018-07-16T10:52:44.995-07:002018-07-16T10:52:44.995-07:00Rashid: " How democracy works in Pakistani vi...Rashid: " How democracy works in Pakistani villages "<br /><br />I see hope for Pakistan in the following part of Natiq's essay describing chances of upward mobility:<br /><br /><i>There is a high school in my village where about a 1,000 boys and girls from neighboring villages study. We lived nearby and I graduated from there.<br /><br />The road to the school is a long stretch of dust and potholes. Every time it rains you feel like getting a boat. The children wade through a river of mud to school. The road could have been fixed, but the local political broker did not allow it because my extended family disobeyed his decree and voted for someone else.<br /><br />I got my undergraduate and master’s degrees through long-distance learning and worked as a mason for 15 years, along with numerous odd jobs. Along with mixing cement, mortar and bricks, I read widely and wrote poems and short stories. Eventually I was hired at a literary institute in Islamabad and published my first collection of poetry in 2010. </i><br /><br />https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/16/opinion/pakistan-elections-villages-military.html Riaz Haqhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00522781692886598586noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5848640164815342479.post-42683296244527640812018-07-16T10:50:58.126-07:002018-07-16T10:50:58.126-07:00This NY Times article paints a very realistic port...This NY Times article paints a very realistic portrait of rural Punjab. I was aware of the Okara Farms story. The role and rule of Chaudry Sahib, is all too familiar to me.<br /><br />I hope nothing bad happens to Natiq Sahib and his parents after publishing his article. <br /><br /><br />How democracy works in Pakistani villages <br /><br />https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/16/opinion/pakistan-elections-villages-military.html <br />Rashid A.noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5848640164815342479.post-86586789823767244672015-05-04T13:44:55.833-07:002015-05-04T13:44:55.833-07:00A large new study is about to overturn the finding...A large new study is about to overturn the findings of Moving to Opportunity. Based on the earnings records of millions of families that moved with children, it finds that poor children who grow up in some cities and towns have sharply better odds of escaping poverty than similar poor children elsewhere.<br />The feelings heard across Baltimore’s recent protests — of being trapped in poverty — seem to be backed up by the new data. Among the nation’s 100 largest counties, the one where children face the worst odds of escaping poverty is the city of Baltimore, the study found.<br />The city is especially harsh for boys: Low-income boys who grew up there in recent decades make roughly 25 percent less as adults than similar low-income boys who were born in the city and moved as small children to an average place.<br />Beyond Baltimore, economists say the study offers perhaps the most detailed portrait yet of upward mobility — and the lack of it. The findings suggest that geography does not merely separate rich from poor but also plays a large role in determining which poor children achieve the so-called American dream.<br />How neighborhoods affect children “has been a quandary with which social science has been grappling for decades,” said David B. Grusky, director of the Center on Poverty and Inequality at Stanford University, who was not involved in the research. “This delivers the most compelling evidence yet that neighborhoods matter in a really big way.”<br />Raj Chetty, one of the study’s authors, has presented the findings to members of the Obama administration, as well as to Hillary Rodham Clinton and Jeb Bush, both of whom have signaled that mobility will be central themes of their 2016 presidential campaigns. After more than 15 years of mostly mediocre economic growth and rising income inequality, many families say they are frustrated and anxious about trying to get ahead.<br />“The data shows we can do something about upward mobility,” said Mr. Chetty, a Harvard professor, who conducted the main study along with Nathaniel Hendren, also a Harvard economist. “Every extra year of childhood spent in a better neighborhood seems to matter.”<br />The places where poor children face the worst odds include some — but not all — of the nation’s largest urban areas, like Atlanta; Chicago; Los Angeles; Milwaukee; Orlando, West Palm Beach and Tampa in Florida; Austin, Tex.; the Bronx; and the parts of Manhattan with low-income neighborhoods.<br /><br />The places most conducive to upward mobility include large cities — San Francisco, San Diego, Salt Lake City, Las Vegas and Providence, R.I. — and major suburban counties, such as Fairfax, Va.; Bergen, N.J.; Bucks, Pa.; Macomb, Mich.; Worcester, Mass.; and Contra Costa, Calif.<br />These places tend to share several traits, Mr. Hendren said. They have elementary schools with higher test scores, a higher share of two-parent families, greater levels of involvement in civic and religious groups and more residential integration of affluent, middle-class and poor families.<br /><br />http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/04/upshot/an-atlas-of-upward-mobility-shows-paths-out-of-poverty.htmlRiaz Haqhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00522781692886598586noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5848640164815342479.post-83534595602238658162015-03-29T19:17:34.435-07:002015-03-29T19:17:34.435-07:00Breaking the Caste Barrier: Intergenerational Mobi...<br />Breaking the Caste Barrier: Intergenerational Mobility in India<br />Viktoria Hnatkovskay<br />, Amartya Lahiriy<br />, and Sourabh B. Pauly<br /><br /><br />"Our findings are comparable with<br />the intergenerational mobility results in other developing countries. For instance, our intergenerational income elasticity estimate for the last survey round of 2004-05 (for India) is around 0.5 which is similar to elasticities estimated for Brazil and South Africa around the same period."<br /><br />http://faculty.arts.ubc.ca/vhnatkovska/Research/Intergen_revrev2.pdfRiaz Haqhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00522781692886598586noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5848640164815342479.post-58660460987308866642013-07-22T17:33:28.957-07:002013-07-22T17:33:28.957-07:00Here's a New York Times story on economic and ...Here's a <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/22/business/in-climbing-income-ladder-location-matters.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0" rel="nofollow">New York Times</a> story on economic and income mobility in US:<br /><br /><i>This geography appears to play a major role in making Atlanta one of the metropolitan areas where it is most difficult for lower-income households to rise into the middle class and beyond, according to a new study that other researchers are calling the most detailed portrait yet of income mobility in the United States.<br /><br />The study — based on millions of anonymous earnings records and being released this week by a team of top academic economists — is the first with enough data to compare upward mobility across metropolitan areas. These comparisons provide some of the most powerful evidence so far about the factors that seem to drive people’s chances of rising beyond the station of their birth, including education, family structure and the economic layout of metropolitan areas.<br /><br />Climbing the income ladder occurs less often in the Southeast and industrial Midwest, the data shows, with the odds notably low in Atlanta, Charlotte, Memphis, Raleigh, Indianapolis, Cincinnati and Columbus. By contrast, some of the highest rates occur in the Northeast, Great Plains and West, including in New York, Boston, Salt Lake City, Pittsburgh, Seattle and large swaths of California and Minnesota.<br /><br />“Where you grow up matters,” said Nathaniel Hendren, a Harvard economist and one of the study’s authors. “There is tremendous variation across the U.S. in the extent to which kids can rise out of poverty.”<br /><br />That variation does not stem simply from the fact that some areas have higher average incomes: upward mobility rates, Mr. Hendren added, often differ sharply in areas where average income is similar, like Atlanta and Seattle.<br /><br />The gaps can be stark. On average, fairly poor children in Seattle — those who grew up in the 25th percentile of the national income distribution — do as well financially when they grow up as middle-class children — those who grew up at the 50th percentile — from Atlanta.<br /><br />Geography mattered much less for well-off children than for middle-class and poor children, according to the results. In an economic echo of Tolstoy’s line about happy families being alike, the chances that affluent children grow up to be affluent are broadly similar across metropolitan areas.<br />------------<br />What they found surprised them, said Raj Chetty, one of the authors and the most recent winner of the John Bates Clark Medal, which the American Economic Association awards to the country’s best academic economist under the age of 40. The researchers concluded that larger tax credits for the poor and higher taxes on the affluent seemed to improve income mobility only slightly. The economists also found only modest or no correlation between mobility and the number of local colleges and their tuition rates or between mobility and the amount of extreme wealth in a region.<br /><br />But the researchers identified four broad factors that appeared to affect income mobility, including the size and dispersion of the local middle class. All else being equal, upward mobility tended to be higher in metropolitan areas where poor families were more dispersed among mixed-income neighborhoods.<br /><br />Income mobility was also higher in areas with more two-parent households, better elementary schools and high schools, and more civic engagement, including membership in religious and community groups.<br /></i><br /><br />http://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/22/business/in-climbing-income-ladder-location-matters.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0Riaz Haqhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00522781692886598586noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5848640164815342479.post-48793598738165547082012-12-23T19:29:37.157-08:002012-12-23T19:29:37.157-08:00Here's an Express Tribune list of Pakistani co...Here's an <a href="http://tribune.com.pk/story/483287/corporate-revenues-the-growth-of-the-billion-dollar-club-in-pakistan/" rel="nofollow">Express Tribune</a> list of Pakistani companies with over a billion in revenue:<br /><br /><i>The Billion Dollar Club<br /><br />1. Pakistan State Oil Company<br /><br />Revenues: $11.57 billion<br /><br />Joined club: Before 1986<br /><br />2. Pak-Arab Refinery<br /><br />Revenues: $3.00 billion<br /><br />Joined club: 2000<br /><br />3. Sui Northern Gas Pipelines<br /><br />Revenues: $2.52 billion<br /><br />Joined club: 2004<br /><br />4. Shell Pakistan<br /><br />Revenues: $2.38 billion<br /><br />Joined club: 2000<br /><br /><br />5. Oil & Gas Development Company<br /><br />Revenues: $2.23 billion<br /><br />Joined club: 2005<br /><br />6. National Refinery<br /><br />Revenues: $1.97 billion<br /><br />Joined club: 2005<br /><br />7. Hub Power Company<br /><br />Revenues: $1.97 billion<br /><br />Joined club: 2009<br /><br /><br /><br />8. Karachi Electric Supply Company<br /><br />Revenues: $1.84 billion<br /><br />Joined club: 2008<br /><br /><br />9. Attock Refinery<br /><br />Revenues: $1.74 billion<br /><br />Joined club: 2008<br /><br /><br />10. Attock Petroleum<br /><br />Revenues: $1.72 billion<br /><br />Joined club: 2010<br /><br /><br />11. Lahore Electric Supply Company<br /><br />Revenues: $1.49 billion<br /><br />Joined club: 2006<br /><br />12. Pakistan Refinery<br /><br />Revenues: $1.44 billion<br /><br />Joined club: 2011<br /><br /><br />13. Sui Southern Gas Company<br /><br />Revenues: $1.38 billion<br /><br />Joined club: 2005<br /><br />14. Pakistan International Airlines<br /><br />Revenues: $1.36 billion<br /><br />Joined club: 2005<br /><br />15. Engro Corporation<br /><br />Revenues: $1.29 billion<br /><br />Joined club: 2011<br /><br /><br />16. Pakistan Telecommunications Company<br /><br />Revenues: $1.25 billion<br /><br />Joined club: 2000<br /><br />17. Kot Addu Power Company<br /><br />Revenues: $1.14 billion<br /><br />Joined club: 2012<br /><br />18. Mobilink<br /><br />Revenues: $1.11 billion<br /><br />Joined club: 2006<br /><br />19. Pakistan Petroleum<br /><br />Revenues: $1.09 billion<br /><br />Joined club: 2012<br /><br />.</i><br /><br />http://tribune.com.pk/story/483287/corporate-revenues-the-growth-of-the-billion-dollar-club-in-pakistan/Riaz Haqhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00522781692886598586noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5848640164815342479.post-53730542270369507442012-12-17T10:38:00.142-08:002012-12-17T10:38:00.142-08:00HWJ: "What will happen to this "transfor...HWJ: "What will happen to this "transformational revolution" when our economy collapses due to the lack of domestic savings?"<br /><br />Growing numbers of middle class young men and women willing to work hard are a great asset that will more than make up for any shortfall in narrowly defined "domestic savings" rate. Riaz Haqhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00522781692886598586noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5848640164815342479.post-51939312218257580152012-12-17T08:53:32.460-08:002012-12-17T08:53:32.460-08:00^^RH: "..a revolution that is transforming Pa...^^RH: "..a revolution that is transforming Pakistan for the better in the long run..."<br />----<br /><br />What will happen to this "transformational revolution" when our economy collapses due to the lack of domestic savings?<br /><br />Domestic Savings = Today's Sacrifice<br /><br />Today's Sacrifice = Tomorrow's Prosperity<br /><br />No Domestic Savings Today = No Prosperity Tomorrow <br /><br />This is a very basic concept. It is not that hard to grasp.Hopewinshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07885301987622998733noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5848640164815342479.post-85623749184326954292012-12-16T19:31:34.596-08:002012-12-16T19:31:34.596-08:00The "peace of the dead" is ending with t...The "peace of the dead" is ending with the <a href="http://himalmag.com/component/content/article/5126-the-eclipse-of-feudalism-in-pakistan.html" rel="nofollow">"eclipse of feudalism"</a> in Pakistan. What we are seeing now is an <a href="http://books.google.com/books?id=EKHZAAAAMAAJ&q=feudalism#search_anchor" rel="nofollow">"unplanned revolution"</a> in the words of a Pakistani sociologist, a revolution that is <a href="http://sai.columbia.edu/outreach_files/Social%20&%20Structural%20Transformations%20in%20Pakistan.pdf" rel="nofollow">transforming Pakistan</a> for the better in the long run. <br /><br />http://books.google.com/books?id=EKHZAAAAMAAJ&q=feudalism#search_anchor<br /><br />http://himalmag.com/component/content/article/5126-the-eclipse-of-feudalism-in-pakistan.html<br /><br />http://himalmag.com/component/content/article/5126-the-eclipse-of-feudalism-in-pakistan.html<br /><br />http://sai.columbia.edu/outreach_files/Social%20&%20Structural%20Transformations%20in%20Pakistan.pdfRiaz Haqhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00522781692886598586noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5848640164815342479.post-41205543289403485952012-12-12T11:07:32.169-08:002012-12-12T11:07:32.169-08:00^^RH: In an Express Tribune article titled "P...^^RH: In an Express Tribune article titled "Pakistan's tarred reputation", Pak economist Javed Burki paints a grim picture of Pakistani economy and references media stories of violence published in The Economist and The New York Times as a deterrent to foreign investors, governments and IFIs like IMF and World Bank..<br /><br />http://tribune.com.pk/story/477347/pakistans-tarred-reputation/<br /><br />-----<br /><br />Here is an excellent TAKE-DOWN of Javed Burki and his article:<br /><br />http://alturl.com/rd4auHopewinshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07885301987622998733noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5848640164815342479.post-559772425515728942012-12-12T10:00:53.878-08:002012-12-12T10:00:53.878-08:00^^RH:"
(1) Pakistan has achieved critical mas...^^RH:"<br />(1) Pakistan has achieved critical mass and reached a point of take-off<br />(2) For this phenomenal growth to continue...<br />(3) If this momentum continues for another 10 years, Pakistan is certain to become.....<br />---<br /><br />If only these three points were true of our ECONOMY.<br /><br />I note that all three points are certainly true w.r.t the economies of Bangladesh & India.Hopewinshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07885301987622998733noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5848640164815342479.post-65517089234817419882012-12-10T18:10:48.416-08:002012-12-10T18:10:48.416-08:00Dr. Haq,
Here is an excellent article by a Pakist...Dr. Haq,<br /><br />Here is an excellent article by a Pakistani Journalist in a Nepal-based South-Asian periodical:<br /><br />http://alturl.com/ipxni<br /><br />The article is about the DECLINE of feudalism in Pakistan and the rising socioeconomic mobility that this decline affords the common people.<br /><br />I thought it might be a good fit with this article of yours on Mobility.<br /><br />Thank you.<br /><br />PS: As a curious side-note, please take a very close look at the photograph of a Pakistani TRACTOR that the author has used. Does that remind you of one of our older discussions? <br />http://alturl.com/3wxv5<br /><br />Why do you think this obviously educated and intelligent author from pakistan has chosen to use a picture of this particular tractor? Any ideas?Hopewinshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07885301987622998733noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5848640164815342479.post-6921438560488444072012-12-09T14:20:46.832-08:002012-12-09T14:20:46.832-08:00In an Express Tribune article titled "Pakista...In an <a href="http://tribune.com.pk/story/477347/pakistans-tarred-reputation/" rel="nofollow">Express Tribune article titled "Pakistan's tarred reputation"</a>, Pak economist Javed Burki paints a grim picture of Pakistani economy and references media stories of violence published in The Economist and The New York Times as a deterrent to foreign investors, governments and IFIs like IMF and World Bank. <br /><br />http://tribune.com.pk/story/477347/pakistans-tarred-reputation/<br /><br />What Brurki doesn't say (or maybe he doesn't understand?) is that governments, investors and corporations who do their own research know that Pakistan is too big and important a country which they can not afford to ignore for long. <br /><br />Pakistan has a large and growing consumer base as well as a growing stockpile of sophisticated nuclear weapons. It can be highly profitable or highly dangerous depending how the world chooses to deal with it. <br /><br />That's why the total foreign currency inflows into Pakistan have continued to grow for over a decade. Decline in FDI has been more than made up by growing remittances, grants and loans as well as significant increase in exports. Riaz Haqhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00522781692886598586noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5848640164815342479.post-76150494847350143272012-12-08T12:46:49.901-08:002012-12-08T12:46:49.901-08:00Here is a new article (Dec 8, 2012) on our country...Here is a new article (Dec 8, 2012) on our country from The Economist:<br />http://alturl.com/rat8v<br /><br />Quote: "But Pakistan’s ruling elites assume that such a crisis will always be averted with help from international donors. And, says Mr Ahmad, “they are probably right.”Hopewinshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07885301987622998733noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5848640164815342479.post-1258030455902439242012-12-05T22:33:26.001-08:002012-12-05T22:33:26.001-08:00Here's a Dawn story on growing retail sector i...Here's a <a href="http://dawn.com/2012/12/05/banking-on-history-british-brands-thrive-in-pakistan/" rel="nofollow">Dawn story</a> on growing retail sector in Pakistan:<br /><br /><i>Karachi’s Dolmen City Mall is a large, plush building that would not be out of place in Dubai. Heavily fortified with security guards, the interior is impressive, with its cavernous corridors and gleaming marble floor – a far cry from the hustle and bustle of the city’s other shopping areas.<br /><br />Newly arrived from London earlier this year, Karachi residents were insistent that I must see this wonderful new addition to the city. When I did, it was something of a home from home. In addition to high end local clothing brands were a whole plethora of foreign stores, from Mango, to Next, to the Body Shop. Many (though not all) of these are British imports.<br /><br />The latest to open its doors was Debenhams, stalwart of the British high street, which this year became the first international department store in Pakistan with its branch in Dolmen. It joins other UK brands such as Next, Early Learning Centre, Accessorize and Monsoon.<br /><br />So what is behind the influx of foreign stores to Karachi’s high streets? Internationally, Pakistan is not viewed as an obvious market for retail brands due to security concerns – both real and perceived – and the attendant difficulties of doing business.<br /><br />However, the numbers tell a different story. The retail sector is one of the fastest-growing in Pakistan, and is expected to grow at a rate of 7 per cent per year until 2015. To give some indication of the growth it has already seen in recent years, compare the market value in 2006 – £19124.1 million – with 2010, when it had increased to £26541.2 million.<br /><br />Yasin Paracha runs Team A Ventures, the company which holds the franchises for UK brands Debenhams, Next, Early Learning Centre, Accessorize, and Mothercare. He explains that the historic ties between the two countries means that British brands have instant recognition in Pakistan.<br /><br />“People in our target market are used to travelling to London frequently,” he says – many people will have visited the UK as tourists, students, or on family or business visits.<br /><br />Indeed, the growth of this target market – young, urban, and with significant disposable income – is crucial to increased retail operations in Pakistan. The urbanized middle classes are a steadily growing group.<br /><br />Of Pakistan’s 180-million strong population, around 55 million live in cities such as Karachi, Lahore, and Faisalabad. Consumerism is on the up, fuelled by a recent boom in consumer banking and the media industry, and encouraged by ever-increasing investment from both local and foreign chains. Traditionally, many people in this target market have preferred to do much of their shopping abroad, meaning that they are already predisposed to foreign brands.<br /><br />But what about the security risks for new businesses? Karachi, in particular, is home to outbreaks of sectarian and ethnic violence, terrorist attacks, and a high instance of crime including extortion rackets.<br /><br />“Of course it’s a concern for new investors,” says Paracha. “On the surface of it, a lot of brands are hesitant, but when they first make the trip to Pakistan, they are reassured because they realise that the things on the ground are very different from what they see in the media.”<br /><br />However, the situation cannot be ignored. “One has to be cautious,” Paracha continues. “You can’t go into a very aggressive expansion because you can’t deny the security issue, especially in some cities. But so far we have not had a major negative impact on our operations.”<br /><br />The visible success of household names like Debenhams and Next in Pakistan is likely t encourage other British brands to see the country as a potentially viable market. In addition to this, there is a concerted drive from the UK government to encourage British investment in Pakistan, due to a bilateral trade agreement between the two countries....</i><br /><br />http://dawn.com/2012/12/05/banking-on-history-british-brands-thrive-in-pakistan/Riaz Haqhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00522781692886598586noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5848640164815342479.post-68844867404980205312012-12-05T07:19:14.791-08:002012-12-05T07:19:14.791-08:00Dr. Haq,
Some good news today!
Transparency Int...Dr. Haq,<br /><br />Some good news today! <br /><br />Transparency International has just released its 2012 report.<br /><br />We are now 1 rank ABOVE Bangladesh!<br /><br />http://www.transparency.org/cpi2012/results<br /><br />Please make people aware of this via the internet.<br /><br />Thank you.Hopewinshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07885301987622998733noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5848640164815342479.post-64175233664595197212012-12-05T07:10:33.585-08:002012-12-05T07:10:33.585-08:00Blogger Riaz Haq said...
HWJ: "The same ...Blogger Riaz Haq said...<br /><br /> HWJ: "The same Euromonitor report shows on Page 66 that the growth in Gross Earnings Per Capita ...What do you make of that? Please explain."<br /><br /> Per capita income growth doesn't increase economic mobility if only the rich and upper middle class mainly benefit from it...which appears to be the case in India ad China.....<br /><br />To a layman what you say sounds correct. Various quarters in India have called for a massive infusion of funds into the economy to prevent a 1990 situation of stagnation from recurring. Well these past 20 years must have seen a huge infusion of cash into the economy as figures bandied about in the media are sometimes in lacs of crores. Apart, as you say, from the rich and the upper middle class, most struggle to get by. A new round of cash infusion will mean more for the same.<br /><br /> Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com