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The purpose of this paper is to develop a structural relationship model to study the relationship between causes and effects of poor communication and information exchange in construction projects using Smart-PLS.

The first method of this research is to identify the causes and effects factors of poor communication in construction projects from the extant of literature. The data used to develop the model was collected using a questionnaire survey, which targeted construction practitioners in the Malaysian construction industry. A five-point Likert type scale was used to rate the significance of the factors. The factors were classified under their relevant construct/group using exploratory factor analysis. A hypothetical model was developed and then transformed into Smart-PLS in which the hypothetical model suggested that each group of the cause factors has a direct impact on the effect groups. The hypothesis was tested using t-values and p-values. The model was assessed for its inner and outer components and achieved the threshold criterion. Further, the model was verified by engaging 14 construction experts to verify its applicability in the construction project setting.

The study developed a structural equation model to clarify the relationships between causes and effects of poor communication in construction projects. The model explained the degree of relationships among causes and effects of poor communication in construction projects.

The published academic and non-academic literature introduced many studies on the issue of communication including the definitions, importance, barriers to effective communication and means of poor communication. However, these studies ended up only on the general issue of communication lacking an in-depth investigation of the causes and effects of poor communication in the construction industry. The study implemented advanced structural modeling to study the causes and effects. The questionnaire, the data and concluding results fill the identified research gap of this study. The addressed issue is also of interest because communication is considered one of the main knowledge areas in construction management.

This research aims to explore childhood construction in the Afghan refugee community living in Pakistan. Young Afghan people aged 12–18 who were working on the streets participated in the generation of data for this study in 2019. Ethnographic research approaches with semi-structured in-depth interviews and field observations were used to obtain real insights. Young Afghan refugees have been a constant phenomenon on the streets for decades in the twin cities of Pakistan – Rawalpindi and Islamabad – where this research was conducted and are involved in different street-based casual activities. The findings show that young people face discrimination and exclusion from the mainstream of society due to their undefined citizenship status and poverty. Parents see their children as dependents and as assets for their old age, and children and young people need to work to support their families who live in poverty. In fulfilling their filial responsibilities, young people sacrifice their schooling and have limited opportunities to learn new skills. It is concluded that the government and other international institutions with responsibility for setting policies and creating programs for young Afghan refugees need to understand the dynamics of the families in which the young people live and how these families inculcate them with their generational values.

By combining geopolitical and economic factors and from a geoeconomic perspective, the importance of Gwadar to China and Pakistan is discussed in detail. By applying geoeconomic approach and based on the historical approach, geographical and geopolitical conditions and international development trends of Gwadar port, the authors develop the analytical framework to analyze the Gwadar port and studied its importance in the development of China and Pakistan, as well as the positive influence on the economic growth of both countries.

A geoeconomic study is done to run a more profound and more comprehensive analysis of China–Pakistan economic relationship, as geoeconomic includes interrelations of geographical, geopolitical and economic factors in international relations.

The results show that Gwadar Port's development could enhance the economic security of both China and Pakistan. With the opening of Gwadar Port, oil and energy in the Middle East will be imported directly to China through Pakistan's oil pipeline. This is not only oil but also goods from Central Asia, and even Europe and the USA will land from Gwadar Port and enter China through the China–Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC). The development of Gwadar port under the CPEC program could also dramatically increase the capacity of Pakistan's maritime trade while reducing its dependence on the current largest port, Karachi, near the India border.

Geo-economics theory is used to run a more profound and more comprehensive analysis of China–Pakistan economic relationship as geoeconomic includes interrelations of geographical, location, geopolitical and economic factors in international relations. By combining geopolitical and economic factors and from a geoeconomic perspective, this study seeks to analyze the Gwadar port development and its implications for both China and Pakistan.

This study aims to explore why marine development and maritime security in Pakistan are significant and what the Chinese concerns are. Therefore, the objective of this research is to analyse a growing Pak–China bilateral interests, particularly at Gwadar, to achieve the geostrategic objectives of China–Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).

The study adopts a qualitative means to discuss the significance of China’s ambitions towards the CPEC project concerning strategic deep-sea management and maritime regulations in the region, with a particular focus on the Gwadar Port.

The paper concludes that the Gwadar Port is a critical element for maritime security in the whole region. The study also provides an analysis of national and international, security and legal challenges associated with CPEC.

Most of the potential outcomes have already been discussed in public, though a limited academic discussion is available on the legal aspects. It is particularly so with regard to the development and capacity building in the maritime sector of Pakistan under this project. This study aims to explore why marine development and maritime security in Pakistan is significant and what the Chinese concerns are.

The expected benefits of newly developed transportation infrastructures are the saving of travel time and further promoted transport economics. There is a need for a methodology of travel time estimation with acceptable robustness and practicability. Macroscopic fundamental diagram (MFD) represents the overall traffic performance at a network level by linking average flow, speed and density. MFD can be used to estimate network state and to describe various traffic management strategies. This study aims to describe the effect of new infrastructure development on the network performance using the MFD framework.

The scenarios of Islamabad Road network before and after the infrastructure construction were simulated, in which the floating car data set (FCD) for multiple modes was extracted. MFD has been formed for the whole region and partitioned region, which was divided on the basis of infrastructural changes. Moreover, this study has been extended to calculate travel time for multiple modes using the MFD results and the Bureau of Public Roads (BPR) function at a neighborhood level.

MFD results for the whole network showed that the speed of traffic improves after the construction of new infrastructure. The travel time estimates using MFD results were dependent on the speed estimates, whereas the estimates obtained using the BPR function were found to be dependent on the traffic volume variation during different intervals of the day. By using the FCD for multiple modes, travel time estimates for multiple modes were obtained. The BPR function method was found valid for estimating travel time of traffic stream only.

This paper innovatively investigates the change in network performance for pre-construction and post-construction scenarios using the MFD framework. In practice, the approach presented can be used by transportation agencies to evaluate the effect of different traffic management strategies and infrastructural changes.

Human-induced changes in climate have affected the environment to the extent that any more economic development at the cost of the environment will be too costly. Thus, sustainable development options posing no additional harm to the environment are the only viable option. This study aims to examine the likely environmental impacts of infrastructural developments through the China–Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).

There is a scarcity of academic debate and discussion on the environmental impact of CPEC developments in laws and policies on the environment. The qualitative approach is followed in this study and official documents and reports are used to investigate the environmental challenges posed by CPEC.

The findings show three possible environmental concerns which could increase the climate change vulnerability of Pakistan. The coal-fired power plants are the most prominent threat based on their CO₂ contributions and smog. Second, cutting more than 54,000 trees for roads infrastructure will increase CO₂ concentration along the CPEC route. Third, increasing vehicle trafficking by up to 7,000 trucks per day on Karakorum Highway alone will release 36.5 million tons of additional CO₂.

It is essential to rethink the environmental cost of CPEC. The study suggests economic and legal cooperation between Pakistan and China as a way forward to deal with climate change issues. Environmental laws should be a vital part of CPEC projects to ensure their safety, security and sustainability.

This study aims to achieve three objectives: to explore the perception of consumers about supersized foods (in both pre- and post-consumption scenarios), to identify why consumers prefer supersized options over other available options and to determine the types of situations that push consumers to make such decisions.

This qualitative study uses the triangulation of projective methods, coupled with semi-structured interviews with 120 participants. The data was collected from major cities of Pakistan, using a convenient sample of 25 semi-structured interviews, 35 narratives and 60 sentence completions and constructions analyzed by performing thematic analysis.

The findings indicate that the antecedents of the purchase of supersized food include price/quantity trade-off, hunger, liking and the social setting of consumption. Such purchase decisions also lead to consequences such as saving after purchase, health concerns, food waste, guilt and satisfaction. The findings also reveal the factors that play a dual role of an antecedent and a consequence: sharing, social status, quantity and leisure time.

The knowledge of factors that make consumers select supersized foods can help marketers design deals that can control overconsumption and food waste. Instead of only focusing on the motivations behind the purchase of supersized foods, the authors also discuss the aspects of food purchase and consumption.

This study advances the literature on purchase decision, consumption and post-consumption of supersized foods, providing insights for food retailers, regulators and policymakers.

¿Cuándo y por qué los consumidores eligen alimentos de gran tamaño?

Este estudio busca alcanzar tres objetivos: 1) explorar la percepción de los consumidores sobre los alimentos de gran tamaño (tanto en escenarios previos como posteriores al consumo), 2) identificar por qué los consumidores prefieren las opciones de gran tamaño sobre otras opciones disponibles, y 3) determinar qué tipo de situaciones empujan a los consumidores a tomar tales decisiones.

Este estudio cualitativo emplea la triangulación de métodos proyectivos, junto con entrevistas semiestructuradas con 120 participantes. Los datos se recopilaron en las principales ciudades de Pakistán, utilizando una muestra conveniente de 25 entrevistas semiestructuradas, 35 narraciones y 60 terminaciones y construcciones de frases analizadas mediante la realización de un análisis temático.

Los resultados indican que los antecedentes de la compra de alimentos de gran tamaño incluyen la relación precio/cantidad, el hambre, el gusto y el entorno social del consumo. Estas decisiones de compra también conllevan consecuencias como el ahorro después de la compra, la preocupación por la salud, el desperdicio de alimentos, el sentimiento de culpa y la satisfacción. Los resultados también revelan los factores que desempeñan un doble papel de antecedente y consecuencia: compartir, estatus social, cantidad y tiempo de ocio.

El conocimiento de los factores que hacen que los consumidores seleccionen alimentos de gran tamaño puede ayudar a los responsables de marketing a diseñar ofertas que puedan controlar el consumo excesivo y el desperdicio de alimentos. En lugar de centrarse únicamente en las motivaciones que subyacen a la compra de alimentos de mayor tamaño, los autores también analizan los aspectos de la compra y el consumo de alimentos.

Este estudio supone un avance en la literatura sobre la decisión de compra, el consumo y el posconsumo de los alimentos de gran tamaño, proporcionando información a los minoristas de alimentos, a los reguladores y a los responsables políticos.

Gran tamaño, Alimentos de gran tamaño, Consumo de alimentos, Estudio cualitativo, Técnicas proyectivas

Investigación

消费者何时以及为何选择超大号食品？

本研究旨在实现三个目标。1）探索消费者对超大号食品的认知看法（在消费前和消费后的场景下）, 2）确定消费者为什么喜欢超大号食品而不是其他现有选择, 以及3）确定促使消费者做出这种决定的情况类型。

这项定性研究采用了投射方法中的的三角测量, 以及对120名参与者的半结构化访谈。这些数据是从巴基斯坦的主要城市收集的, 研究者使用了一个方便性样本, 其中包括25个半结构式访谈, 35个叙述, 以及60个句子的完成和结构。这些数据通过主题分析来进行解析。

研究结果表明, 购买超大号食品的前因包括价格/数量的权衡、饥饿感、喜好和消费的社会环境。这样的购买决定也导致了购买后的节省、健康问题、食物浪费、内疚和满足感等后果。研究结果还揭示了几个即是前因又是结果的双角色因素：分享、社会地位、数量和休闲时间。

了解促使消费者选择超大号食品的因素可以帮助营销人员设计能够控制过度消费和食品浪费的交易。作者不仅仅关注了购买超大号食品背后的动机, 还讨论了食品购买和消费的各个方面。

这项研究推进了关于超大食品的购买决策、消费和消费后的文献, 为食品零售商、监管者和政策制定者提供了见解。

关键词 超大, 超大食品, 食品消费, 定性研究, 投射技术

文章类型： 研究型论文

This study aims to analyze the imbalances in the public finance structure of Pakistan’s economy and highlight the need for comprehensive reforms. Specifically, it aims to contribute to the empirical literature by analyzing the relationship between fiscal vulnerability, financial stress and macroeconomic policies in Pakistan’s economy between 1971 and 2020.

The study develops an index of fiscal vulnerability, an index of financial stress and an index of macroeconomic policies. The fiscal vulnerability index is based on the patterns of fiscal indicators resulting from past trends of the selected variables in Pakistan’s economy. The financial stress in Pakistan is caused from the financial disorders that are acknowledged in the composite index, which is based on variables with the potential to indicate periods of stress stemming from the foreign exchange market, the securities market and the monetary policy components. The macroeconomic policies index is developed to analyze the mechanism through which fiscal vulnerability and financial stress have influenced macroeconomic policies in Pakistan. The causal association between fiscal vulnerability, financial stress and macroeconomic policies is analyzed using the auto-regressive distributive lags approach.

There exists a long-run relationship between the three indices, and a bi-directional causality between fiscal vulnerability and macroeconomic policies.

This study contributes to the development of a fiscal monitoring mechanism, which has the basic purpose of analyzing the refinancing risk of public liabilities. Moreover, it focuses on fiscal vulnerability from a macroeconomic perspective. The study tries to develop a framework to assess fiscal vulnerability in light of “The Risk Octagon” theory, which focuses on three risk components: fiscal variables, macroeconomic-disruption-associated shocks and non-fiscal country-specific variables. The initial contribution of this work to the literature is to develop a framework (a fiscal vulnerability index, financial stress index and macroeconomic policies index) for effective and result-oriented macro-fiscal surveillance. Moreover, empirical literature emphasized and advised developing countries to develop their own capacity mechanisms to assess their fiscal vulnerability in light of the IMF guidelines regarding vulnerability assessments. This study thus attempts to fulfill the said gap identified in literature.

This paper aims to expand foreign investors' understanding of potential return enhancement and risk diversification advantages offered by equity market of Pakistan through comparing its performance to performances in other markets and investigating what matters for investing in Pakistan's market.

Comparative analysis of Pakistan Stock Exchange is performed using data for 22 developed and 22 emerging markets over the period 1993–2019. Cross-sectional analysis is performed using data for 130 non-financial firms from Pakistan and Carhart (1997) and Fama and French (2015) models are applied. The role of liquidity with five-factor model is analyzed using turnover rate and Amihud (2002) illiquidity cost as liquidity measures.

Pakistan's equity offers substantial diversification benefits if added to developed market portfolios. However, observed large returns come together with inverted premia for most traditional factors indicating that investors may want to invest preferably in big stocks with low book-to-market and momentum. Finally, global investors can invest in high yielding stocks with low liquidity risk owing to positive connection between liquidity and returns.

This study will provide investment model for foreign investors to enhance their portfolio returns. Policy makers in Pakistan must identify regulatory steps to facilitate foreign investments.

To the best of the authors' knowledge, this is the first study which identifies efficiency gains offered by Pakistan's equity for global investors.

This paper discusses the challenges that two doctoral researchers faced while researching religious minorities and women in a culturally sensitive society such as Pakistan. Their shared interest in sensitive topics related to gender and minorities in Pakistan led both researchers to collaborate in this study to provide a better understanding of issues in qualitative research in the same research context. They discuss the challenges of interviewing participants within the educational context. They also suggest some ways to overcome such challenges.

Based on Foucualt's writings on regimes of truth, discourse and systems of exclusion, the authors in this study analyze how patriarchal and faith-based regimes of truth constrain some discourses that affect participants’ willingness and insights to reflect on the issues freely.

While reflecting on their experiences in data collection, authors report that qualitative researchers struggle to access participants to investigate issues related to gender subjectivities and minority faiths in educational contexts in developing societies like Pakistan. Researchers face a variety of problems, from their own positionality to participants’ access to their responses. The reason for this is patriarchal and religious regimes and also their intersecting relations that restrict participants’ ability to reflect on their issues. Minorities in Pakistan are often prevented from expressing their views freely by blasphemy fears. The discourses of gender are also sensitive. Therefore, the study suggests that in societies such as Pakistan, where religion and gender are emotive terms, the problem can be handled by counter-discourses that challenge truth regimes by conceiving research as a transformative practice. Moreover, such societies require a policy for protecting researchers and participants in the interest of knowledge production and dissemination.

This study is originally based on the primary data used in two doctoral studies.