Research

Publications and research by Dr. Zahid Asghar in applied econometrics, economic measurement, causal inference, food security, and statistical methods.

My research spans applied econometrics, economic measurement, causal inference, statistical distribution theory, food security, health economics, and data-driven policy analysis. Below is a curated selection organized by theme.

Book in progress

  • A Vision for National Statistics: Building Pakistan’s National Data Infrastructure Asghar, Z. (in progress). How Pakistan can move from separate, siloed surveys to an integrated national data infrastructure that blends surveys, administrative records and new data sources. Draft on GitHub

  • Data Analysis with R: A Practical Introduction Using Pakistani Data Asghar, Z. (in progress). A hands-on introduction to R built around Pakistan’s own datasets. Draft on GitHub

For a complete list of publications, see my profiles on Google Scholar, RePEc/IDEAS, and ResearchGate.

Economic Measurement & Price Statistics

These papers address how Pakistan measures its economy — from CPI construction to inflation methodology.

  • Biases in Consumer Price Index Methodology in Pakistan: Suggestions for Improvements Asghar, Z. & Khalid, M. (2008). The Pakistan Development Review, 47(3), 267–285. Read paper

  • Measuring Inflation Through Stochastic Approach to Index Numbers Asghar, Z. & Tahira, F. (2010). MPRA Paper 21513.

  • Pending Pakistan’s Revised Base Estimates of GDP and Measurement Issues in LSM Asghar, Z. & Khalid, M. (2021). PIDE Blog. Read

Causal Inference & Econometric Methods

Graph-theoretic and structural approaches to establishing causality in economic data.

  • A Structural Approach for Testing Causality Asghar, Z. (2011). International Econometric Review, 3(2), 1–12. Read paper

  • Energy–GDP Causal Relationship for Pakistan: A Graph Theoretic Approach Asghar, Z. & Rahat, T. (2011). Applied Econometrics and International Development, 11(1). Read paper

  • Energy–GDP Relationship: A Causal Analysis for the Five Countries of South Asia Asghar, Z. (2008). Applied Econometrics and International Development, 8(1), 167–180. Read paper

  • Causal Order Between Money, Income and Price Through Graph Theoretic Approach for Pakistan Asghar, Z. (2010). Economics Bulletin, 30(3), 2515–2523. Read paper

  • Simulation Evidence on Granger Causality in Presence of a Confounding Variable Asghar, Z. (2008). International Journal of Applied Econometrics and Quantitative Studies, 5(2). Read paper

  • Performance of Lag Length Selection Criteria in Three Different Situations Asghar, Z. & Abid, I. (2007). MPRA Paper 40042.

Machine Learning, Classification & Statistical Distributions

Work at the intersection of statistics and machine learning — penalized models, distribution families, and outlier detection.

  • A Feature Selection Method for Classification Based on Ensemble of Penalized Logistic Models Ijaz, M., Gul, A. & Asghar, Z. (2022). Communications in Statistics - Simulation and Computation, Taylor & Francis. Read paper

  • Ensemble of Penalized Logistic Models for Classification of High-Dimensional Data Ijaz, M., Asghar, Z. & Gul, A. (2021). Communications in Statistics - Simulation and Computation, 50(7), 2072–2088. Read paper

  • A Statistical Evidence of Power Law Distribution in the Upper Tail of World Billionaires’ Data 2010–20 Asif, M., Hussain, Z., Asghar, Z. et al. (2021). Physica A, 581, 126198. Read paper

  • Cubic Transmuted-G Family of Distributions and Its Properties Aslam, M., Hussain, Z. & Asghar, Z. (2018). Stochastics and Quality Control, 33(2), 103–112. Read paper

  • On Exponential Negative-Binomial-X Family of Distributions Hussain, Z., Aslam, M. & Asghar, Z. (2019). Annals of Data Science, 6(4), 651–672. Read paper

  • A Modified TX Family of Distributions: Classical and Bayesian Analysis Aslam, M., Asghar, Z. et al. (2020). Journal of Taibah University for Science, 14(1), 254–264.

  • A New Generator for Proposing Flexible Lifetime Distributions and Its Properties Aslam, M., Ley, C., Hussain, Z., Shah, S.F. & Asghar, Z. (2020). PLoS ONE, 15(4).

  • Impact of Seasonal Level Shift (SLS) on Time Series Forecasting Shahid, H., Urooj, A. & Asghar, Z. (2023). Romanian Journal of Economic Forecasting, 26(1), 107.

  • Evaluation of Test Statistics for Detection of Outliers and Shifts Urooj, A. & Asghar, Z. (2020). Journal of Quantitative Methods, 4(2), 54–75.

Food Security, Health & Development

Applied research on Pakistan’s most pressing human development challenges.

  • The Impact of Food Price Crises on the Demand for Nutrients in Pakistan Asghar, Z. (2016). Journal of South Asian Development, 11(3), 305–327. SAGE. Read paper

  • Socio-Economic Determinants of Household Food Insecurity in Pakistan Asghar, Z. (2015). International Journal of Economics and Empirical Research, 3(1), 6–18.

  • Measuring Impact of Education and Socio-economic Factors on Health for Pakistan Asghar, Z. (2009). The Pakistan Development Review, 48(4), 653–674. Read paper

  • Determinants of Child Health in Pakistan Through Latent Variable Model Approach Asghar, Z. (2014). International Journal of Economics and Empirical Research, 2(4), 135–149.

  • Effect of Displacement on Adherence to TB Treatment Khan, F.U., Asghar, Z. et al. (2021). Pakistan Journal of Medical Sciences, 37(3), 675. Read paper

ICT, SDGs & Women’s Empowerment

  • Role of the ICT in Women Empowerment and Achieving SDGs: A Case Study of Women Labor Force in Developing Countries Noor, A., Asghar, Z., Sarwar, H. & Arfeen, M.I. (2021). ETIKONOMI, 20(2), 339–348.

  • Role of the ICT in Women’s Empowerment and Achieving SDGs 2030: A Case Study of Pakistan by Using PDHS Data Noor, A., Asghar, Z. & Arfeen, M.I. (2021). Journal of Managerial Sciences, 15.

Energy & Resource Economics

  • Iran-Pakistan-India Gas Pipeline: An Economic Analysis in a Game Theoretic Framework Asghar, Z. & Nazuk, A. (2007). The Pakistan Development Review, 46(4), 537–550. Read paper

Education & Public Spending

  • A Benefit Incidence Analysis of Public Spending on Education in Pakistan Using PSLM Data Asghar, Z. (2012). Lahore Journal of Economics, 17(2), 111–136.

  • Analyzing Tax Policy and Economic Growth by Using Semi-Parametric Approach Asghar, Z. (2016). Journal of Economic and Social Thought, 3(4), 521–533.

Social Networks & Behavior

  • Dynamics of Social Influence on Consumption Choices: A Social Network Representation Shah, S.S. & Asghar, Z. (2023). Heliyon, Elsevier.

  • Individual Attitudes Towards Environmentally Friendly Choices: A Comprehensive Analysis of the Role of Legal Rules, Religion, and Confidence in Government (Recent, ResearchGate)

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