Working Papers

2022

1. EDU

   Impact Evaluation of Teacher Attendance Monitoring Program for Public Schools in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province of Pakistan

   Booyuel Kim, Ullah Inayat.

   International Regional Study 2022

   Abstract URL

   This paper examines the effect of a large-scale innovative monitoring program implemented in over 28000 government schools for improving teacher’s attendance and school performance in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province, Pakistan. In 2014, the government in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province introduced the Independent Monitoring Project aiming at increasing teacher attendance in primary and secondary public schools across the province. We find ideal conditions for a natural experiment by utilizing an annually conducted independent and systematically random survey to compare schools and children’s performance in the treated region with their counterparts in the controlled region that satisfies all conditions for a valid comparison. Our analysis is based on the difference-in-difference approach with district and village fixed models using pooled data from 2012 to 2018. Our findings suggest that the monitoring program has improved teacher’s attendance by nearly 8% in the year immediately following the program. However, this effect decreases by nearly half after two years of the program introduction. We also find the program’s direct effect on the enrolled children’s test performance at home. Enrolled children’s standardized Reading, Math and English ability in the monitored schools has improved significantly by 0.07, 0.13 and 0.11 standard deviations points respectively at the lower (0-5) grades. There is slight improvement in the standardized test performance of higher-grade children. The program also increases the probability of children enrollment into government schools. Our results are robust on different specifications and sub-samples of schools and districts clusters.

2. GOV

   Assessment of Vulnerability to Poverty of the Working Middle Class in Times of Crises in Pakistan

   with **, Wajiha Haq.

   NUST Approved Research Project 2022

   Abstract URL

   In this ongoing research project, we measure the extent to which middle-income salaried class is vulnerable to poverty given their constrained socio-economic conditions. We focus on employees belonging to three sectors including health, education and IT.

3. EDU

   Assessment of parents’ preferences towards children schooling: an intervention-based study of vulnerable migrant/ Afghan refugees in Pakistan

   with **, Saeeda Khannum, Saqib Hussain, Nadia Raza.

   NUST Approved Research Project 2022

   Abstract URL

   In this ongoing research project, we survey vulnerable Afghan migrant parents and children residing in Pakistan to understand parental perspective of children’s schooling. Our objective is to identify factors that affect parent’s decision making process in the context of child-labor

2021

1. ENV

   Impact of Air Pollution (PM2.5) on Child Mortality: Evidence from Sixteen Asian Countries

   Asim Anwar, Inayat Ullah, Mustafa Younis, Antoine Flahault.

   International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 2021

   Abstract URL

   Air pollution in Asian countries represents one of the biggest health threats given the varied levels of economic and population growth in the recent past. The quantification of air pollution (PM2.5) vis à vis health problems has important policy implications in tackling its health effects. This paper investigates the relationship between air pollution (PM2.5) and child mortality in sixteen Asian countries using panel data from 2000 to 2017. We adopt a two-stage least squares approach that exploits variations in PM2.5 attributable to economic growth in estimating the effect on child mortality. We find that a one-unit annual increase in PM2.5 leads to a nearly 14.5% increase in the number of children dying before the age of five, suggesting the severity of the effects of particulate matter (PM2.5) on health outcomes in sixteen Asian countries considered in this study. The results of this study suggest the need for strict policy interventions by governments in Asian countries to reduce PM2.5 concentration alongside environment-friendly policies for economic growth.

2020

1. ENV

   Impact of Urbanization and Economic Growth on CO2 Emission: A Case of Far East Asian Countries

   Asim Anwar, Mustafa Younis, Inayat Ullah.

   International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 2020

   Abstract URL

   Rising CO2 emission constitute a great threat to the world environment and public health. This study examines the major determinants of CO2 emissions in Far East countries in the period of 1980 to 2017. We adopt a panel data-fixed effect model that accounts for time-invariant country-specific characteristics that may create omitted-variable bias. We also additionally take care of the time trend by applying an annual fixed effect into our model. The study finds that urbanization, economic growth and trade openness significantly determine CO2 emission in the selected countries. Thus, the main policy suggestions are (a) to encourage green and sustainable urbanization, as it helps in economic progress but not at the expense of environmental deterioration; (b) to strategically regulate and improve industrial structure; and (c) enhance sharing of renewable energy in total energy consumption.

2. GOV

   The e-Governance of Land Record and Social Dispute Resolution: An Impact Evaluation of the Punjab Land Record Management Information System (PLRMIS) in the Punjab Province Pakistan.

   Inayat Ullah, Wafa Akhoubzi.

   In EGOV-CeDEM-ePart-* 2020

   Abstract URL

   Complexity in administration and limited accessibility of land records have been a longstanding issue in developing countries. In Pakistan, except for the province of Punjab (the treatment province) where land-record has been computerized in 2017, the land record is administered through traditional land registers and cadastral maps in paper formats requiring a hard work of local administrators called “Patwaris” at the gross-root level. As an important step towards e-governance, the Punjab provincial government in 2017 established a Land Record Management Information System (PLRMIS) that simplified the procedure of land registration and transfer through digitization of the land-records. This research attempts to adopt a quasi-experimental approach to link the introduction of PLRMIS with land-related dispute resolution in Punjab and to scientifically evaluate the social impacts of this project. This paper outlines the importance of the area, research design and proposed Difference-in-Difference method of the program’s impact evaluation as well as a preliminary test on the secondary data collected from courts’ proceedings. This research is being conducted under the joint research project of the KDI School of Public Policy, South Korea in collaboration with the Department of Management Sciences, COMSATS University Islamabad, Attock Campus, Pakistan. The purpose of this paper is to share the proposed research design with conference participants and elicit important comments on the validity of the approach being adopted.

ongoing

1. EDU

   Teachers’ Monitoring and Schools’ Performance: Evidence from Public Schools in Pakistan

   with **, Hee-Seung Yang, Booyuel Kim.

   ongoing

   Abstract

   This is my ongoing job-market paper in which we examine the effect of a large-scale innovative monitoring program implemented in over 28000 government schools for improving teacher’s attendance and school performance in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province, Pakistan. In 2014, the government in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province introduced the Independent Monitoring Project aiming at increasing teacher attendance in primary and secondary public schools across the province. Our analysis is based on the difference-in-difference approach with district and village fixed models using pooled data from 2012 to 2018. Our preliminary findings suggest that the monitoring program has improved teacher’s attendance by nearly 8% in the year immediately following the program. However, this effect decreases by nearly half after two years of the program introduction. We also find the program’s direct effect on the enrolled children’s test performance at home. Enrolled children’s standardized Reading, Math and English ability in the monitored schools has improved significantly by 0.07, 0.13 and 0.11 standard deviations points respectively at the lower (0-5) grades. There is slight improvement in the standardized test performance of higher-grade children. The program also increases the probability of children enrollment into government schools. Our results are robust on different specifications and sub-samples of schools and districts clusters.