This paper explores the concept of city ranking as a way to measure dynamics and complexities of urban life. These rankings have various dimensions and uses. Both the context in which these rankings are done, and their nature has changed considerably overtime. These rankings are also afflicted...

This paper revisits the debate about communal management of natural resources and brings together various issues confronting it. Much of the criticism against common property regimes stems from an incorrect modeling of a common property situation, and misunderstandings about the terms and their...

Deforestation remains one of the most intractable environmental problems of today. Pakistan also faces serious problem of depletion of its forest reserves.The general perception among planners is that over population is the primary culprit behind forest degradation. Moreover, people living close...

This paper develops a conceptual framework for analysing property regimes in conservation of natural resources. Human beings interaction with their environment is governed through institutions of property; therefore they play an important role in the conservation of natural resources. This paper...

It has long been realised that factor accumulation and technological development are only proximate causes of economic development, and focus has now shifted to investigating the ‘deeper determinants’ of economic growth. Two such forces are highlighted in literature: institutions and...

This study analyses the institutional set-up of forest management in Pakistan, focusing on the North West Frontier Province, which houses 40 percent of the total forestlands. These areas have faced significant deforestation in the past. It is feared that if nothing is done to check this process,...

This paper investigates the direction of causation between exports growth and economic growth. This issue has been widely investigated in the past in the context of the suitability of export promotion versus import substitution as development strategies. The traditional practice has been to...

Around the world, national governments as well as international organization measure and monitor performance of large cities and the Quality of Life (QoL) of urban residents, to gain insights into the well-being of the citizens and the state of various amenities at city level and make informed...

This paper explores the prospects of success of ‘Local Economic Development’ (LED) for the less developed countries. The concept had much success in the context of the developed world. The less developed countries, however, present a scenario where power and social structures present a...

What explains poverty of Sub Saharan Africa and South Asia? One view holds the disease environment of these regions as the primary culprit. Others see it as a typical symptom of growth retarding institutions. We test validity of these competing assertions for a cross section of countries. Our...