Development' is a political project which is based on a principle of reducing inequalities and poverty. It is a centuries-old concept that is deeply rooted in the history of economic thoughts.From the age of mercantilism to the liberal and neoliberal context, the nature of development has changed drastically. From 1945 to the 1970s, there was a popular liberal model of development under the slogans of 'rightto development. The liberal nature of development tuned into conservatively camouflaged neoliberal development in the 1980s protected by the world bank structural adjustment program. In neoliberal development facade, the development process is emptied from welfarist.Development without welfare and development for underdevelopment are the main characteristics of neoliberal development. This paper is an exploration of the political economy of development, which means development to whom? Through a qualitative approach, it is found that neoliberal forces benefited from CPEC developmental project. The political economy of CPEC is a complex phenomenon that is linked with development, investment, technology, and human resources.

China-Pakistan's economic corridor provides a strategic link to Belt and Road Initiatives (BRI) and its global outreach. The infrastructural connectivity between China and Pakistan is primarily focused on the trade route to get access in the markets of theMiddle East, Europe, and Africa. In the context of CPEC,what does infrastructure mean? What does it reflect/represent? And to whom is it? Are the major questions that have been explored in this paper.Infrastructural development encompasses a holistic social sphere that relates to physical and institutional structures. It also facilitates the flow of commodities, including capita land sources of production. After the 9/11 incident, Pakistan became a front line state against the war on terror; then, its internal and external factors compelled Pakistan towards Chinese-led infrastructural development to consolidate State power. This paper is an attempt to explore the politics of infrastructure development in the context of CPEC. The findings are based on empirical evidence with strong insights from a theoretical framework. Positivist, post positivist, and critical approaches have been used to explore the relationship between CPEC and the politics of infrastructural development.

This research concerns the process of nation-building in developing states with a focus on Pakistan. The study explores hurdles in the process of nation-building in Pakistan. In this connection, the study takes into account key political disparities such as uneven representation of various ethnic groups and regions in legislature and provincial assemblies, state-led cosmetic political reforms and feudalism and biradri-based political system that exist in various administrative units (and their tiers) of the state. The study also highlights the major administrative flaws and demographic shifts and divisions that are hampering the process of nation-building in Pakistan. The research also details the economic disparities found in various forms and at various levels in the state which minimize the prospects of nation-building in Pakistan. The study concludes that nation-building is always a state-controlled process and Pakistan has hardly addressed various hindrances in nation-building process such as political, demographic, administrative and economic issues of the various administrative units (and their tiers) as a state.

A study of the 70 years of strategic relations between the US and Pakistan reveals that the main consideration in the partnership has always been security. Considering the changes in international politics that have a particular impact in the region-like China's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and the growing support for multilateralism-it is high time the two review this relationship and look beyond the security lens. Pakistan, population wise the sixth largest country, sits at the crossroads of major powers' interest due to its pivotal geographic location and natural resources. This study analyses various phases of the US-Pakistan relations in the region. The discussion finds Pakistan is a lynchpin for Central, South and West Asia connecting the East and West. Avoiding Pakistan shall be a gross diplomatic mistake by the US, rather a renewed partnership that thinks beyond the security of this region is required. The focus should on development, social, economic, and environmental challenges to explore opportunities for partnership between the US and Pakistan.

We estimate the effect of food price subsidy on poverty in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan in this paper. The study uses Linear Approximate Almost Ideal Demand System for the estimation of compensated and uncompensated price and expenditure elasticities of food using Household Integrated Economic Survey. The estimated own and cross price Hicksian elasticities are used for estimating the changes in the quantity of food consumed, expenditure on food and its effect on poverty. The study uses two recent available poverty lines for estimation, showing that the scheme of food price subsidy increase real income of the households which has a decreased poverty state. The analysis shows that the subsidy program marginally decreases poverty in the province. The study recommends targeted food price subsidy for poverty alleviation and eradicating chronic hunger.

The paper focuses on the various aspects especially as globally accepted fact is that social and key economic indicators are influenced by the government activities. Public Sector Performance and efficiency reflect government priorities. The paper evaluates the public sector performance of Pakistan by calculating the Public Sector Performance Index based on seven indicators and these seven indicators are further classified into two broad groups. Many international studies have carried out the performance evaluation of public sectors of industrialized countries missing the public sector performance of Pakistan with other countries. With the aim, Public Sector Performance of Pakistan was compared with countries of South Asia and some developed countries. The research analyzes the public sector performance indicators of countries to calculate the overall performance. The paper aims to compare public sector performance of Pakistan with South Asian Countries and members of Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), which currently includes 34 Countries.

This paper investigates listed firm efficiency on Pakistan Stock Exchange by using Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA). The reason for application and calculation of the DEA score is to know how much the firms are efficient in utilizing their resources to be converted into output (sales/Net Income). An optimization technique (DEA) that helps calculate efficiencies of firm’s decision making Units (DMU’s) by taking different inputs and outputs variables. This paper uses DEA in measuring efficiency of 136 Pakistani firms listed on Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX). Using secondary data set of 136 firms for the period 2008-2017, efficiency measurements are calculated by using financial ratios and financial indicators as input and output variables. Results show that some of the firms are efficient in utilizing their available resources in an efficient way to convert it into output, while some are inconsistent in efficiently utilizing their resources (inputs) to get the desired outputs.

Firm's business activities are focused on profit making. The cultural, technological, organizational, financial and operational challenges followed by different risks like market or credit risks make it difficult for firms to focus on their sole aim of earning profit. Previous studies have highlighted that market risk and credit risks have a significant influence on firm's performance. However, prediction of credit risk from market risk has not been explored in Pakistan which this paper attempts by investigating the impact of market risk on credit risk of the following period. For this study, a panel data of 30 manufacturing firms was collected through random sampling technique from period 2005 to 2016. A regression model was estimated in Generalized Method of Momments and used a Hausman test to select fixed or random effects. Results of this study show that firms have 30% more current liabilities as compared to current assets and experience volatility in stock prices which increases the credit risks. However, research findings shows that firms have reasonable growth opportunities and profitability they can be used to reduce stock volatility and attain confidence of creditors in firms. The increase in leverage due to creditor's confidence in firm indicates a decrease in credit risk. Overall the study shows the significantly negative impact of market risk on credit risk of the subsequent time period which specifies market risk may foresee credit risk of the following period and gives a new understanding for investors and policymakers to curb risks in investment decisions.

This paper aims to analyze the institutional framework in Pakistan for disaster management and specific disaster management policies. This paper is also designed to develop an in-depth understanding of the key challenges that the communities of Azad Jammu and Kashmir, Pakistan face in the wake of constantly reoccurring disasters. House-hold survey, observations and key informant interviews were conducted to analyze the preparedness, both at community and organizational levels. The findings point out that disaster management policies and mechanisms regarding preparedness are not implemented by both federal and state authorities at local level. Further, the local communities of AJK, Pakistan are susceptible to different kind of hazards related to disasters. The paper reveals that available federal/state mechanism of disasters do not meet the needs of community. All of the stakeholders including federal government institutions, state government institutions and local communities are not prepared. Thus, communities are continuously getting affected by natural disasters. The paper suggests that there is a dire need to improve the coordination between state and national agencies. Further, there is need to enhance community preparedness specifically in AJK, Pakistan to upgrade community's defensive and awareness mechanism to safeguard citizens' lives in response to seismic emergency.

Language and advertising are interconnected and play a significant role in communicating a message directly or indirectly. Direct roles concern buying decisions of the consumers while indirect roles establish a lasting relation of consumer with the brand. This research studies the language of copywriting of advertising focusing its role in developing consumer-brand relationship. The research uses mix of quantitative and qualitative methods based on the framework of Laswells model of communication. The study uses content analysis for examination of the language of print advertisements and the consumer brand relationship. Survey is used as method of data collection from magazines including Akhbar e Jahan and MAG published by Jang group of newspapers. The study finds that figurative language style is used more in Pakistani print advertisements in comparison to literal language. Moreover, the results prove that the copy writing of print advertisements does play a significant role in developing consumer-brand relationship.