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• Open Access Article

  8 Pages Download PDF: From Income to Inclusion: A Comparative Human Capabilities Index for South Asian Economic Development

  From Income to Inclusion: A Comparative Human Capabilities Index for South Asian Economic Development

  Zaeema Farooq, Shaista Raza, Aqsa Hameed, Iqra Mehmood, Sidra Bano

  2025-06-25 https://doi.org/10.36923/jcmi.v6i1.641

  A new Comparative Human Capabilities Index (CHCI), which goes beyond conventional measures like GDP or HDI, is presented in this study to evaluate the economic progress of South Asian nations. GDP per capita, GDP per person employed, trade as a percentage of GDP, life expectancy, secondary school enrollment, and GDP per capita are the six main variables that make up the index, which is based on Amartya Sen's capability approach. Data were collected from the World Bank for eight nations between 2001 and 2015: Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka. In order to ensure comparability across variables, the CHCI was built using equal weighting and min-max normalization. The findings indicate that while Bangladesh and India have made notable progress over time, the Maldives and Sri Lanka continue to rank first in terms of human skills. Despite beginning with lower levels, Afghanistan and Nepal showed signs of improvement over time. As an alternative to more conventional indices like the Human progress Index (HDI), the index offers a more human-centered and inclusive lens through which to view the region's economic progress. This strategy emphasizes how crucial it is to make investments in productivity, health, and education in order to achieve long-term, fair development.

  pp. 111-118 Abstract views:187 Downloads:87

• Open Access Article

  18 Pages Download PDF: Analyzing the Influence of Post-2018 Macroeconomic and Bank-Specific Indicators on Banking Sector Profitability: Evidence from Pakistan

  Analyzing the Influence of Post-2018 Macroeconomic and Bank-Specific Indicators on Banking Sector Profitability: Evidence from Pakistan

  Muhammad Iqbal, Muhammad Munir Ahmad, Naeem Raza, Muhammad Tayyeb Hafeez

  2025-06-27 https://doi.org/10.36923/jcmi.v6i1.643

  This study examines the impact of macroeconomic and bank-specific indicators on the profitability of Pakistan’s banking sector, focusing on the volatile post-2018 period. Using return on assets (ROA) as the performance metric, it analyzes data from 20 commercial banks between 2018 and 2023. Panel data regression, conducted via Gretl software, reveals that these internal factors—Capital Adequacy Ratio (CAR), Spread Ratio (SR), and Earnings per Share (EPS)—positively and significantly influence ROA, while Firm Size (SZ) has a significant negative effect. In contrast, macroeconomic indicators like Exchange Rate (EXR), GDP, and Policy Rate (POLR) show insignificant negative relationships, and Inflation (INF), Foreign Exchange Reserves (FXRV), and Cash Equivalents (CEQU) have insignificant positive effects. These findings highlight that bank-level factors play a more critical role than external economic conditions in determining profitability. The study recommends that bank managers focus on operational efficiency and

  pp. 119-136 Abstract views:216 Downloads:118

• Open Access Article

  12 Pages Download PDF: Does Democracy Come at a Fiscal Cost? Revisiting the Political Business Cycles in Pakistan

  Does Democracy Come at a Fiscal Cost? Revisiting the Political Business Cycles in Pakistan

  Niaz Ali, Muhammad Tariq, Muhammad Azam Khan

  2025-12-02 https://doi.org/10.36923/jcmi.v6i2.663

  The role of electoral incentives on public spending patterns is particularly relevant in developing nations such as Pakistan as it has direct bearing on the issue of fiscal discipline and quality of governance. This study examines the role of electoral cycles on sectoral budgetary allocations at provincial level in Pakistan. Based on panel data of four provinces covering the years 1972-2018, the study uses a Fixed Effects (FE) model to determine dynamic variations in budgetary patterns. These findings are quite solid in favor of the Political Business Cycle (PBC) hypothesis with the results showing that government spending rises by a large margin (23 percentage points of GDP) in election years. It also shows that population development and openness to trade have impact of high magnitude that is positive when it comes to government expenditure, and unemployment level has no significant impact. The evidence shows a greater requirement of fiscal policies and institutional limits so as to put down opportunistic expenditure of the incumbent governments. Pakistan ought to think about institutionalizing long-term rules-based budgetary plans at provinces level to curb discretional expenditure during elections. Opportunistic fiscal expansions could be hindered by legal provisions making statutory budget ceilings obligatory before elections. Lastly, adopting practices of participatory budgeting on a local government level would increase citizen involvement and responsibility, which would minimize the room on fruitlessly spending money based on political interests

  pp. 18-29 Abstract views:208 Downloads:104