http://hdl.handle.net/123456789/10332 2026-04-04T07:47:21Z http://hdl.handle.net/123456789/19972 The Economic Implications of Decentralized Autonomous Organizations (DAO’s): A Study on Efficiency, Governance and Wealth Distribution Ahmad Ali Nawaz, 01-114212-028 This study empirically analyzes the performance of Uniswap DAO from the perspectives of market trends, governance structure, and token holding concentration. First, the treasury growth model using OLS showed that indicators such as token price, total diluted valuation, liquidity, trading volume, fees, TVL, and market capitalization significantly contributed to the increase in quarterly fund balance (all with p < 0.01). Next, in the fee structure model based on principal components analysis, it was observed that PC1, representing market size and efficiency, significantly increased fees (β = 11.90 million, p < 0.01), while PC2, reflecting governance participation, showed no impact. Furthermore, in the developer commits model, it was confirmed that both market efficiency (PC1), governance/development activity (PC2), and the change in liquidity structure (PC3) are strongly correlated with the increase in the number of developer commits (p < 0.01). Finally, in the Gini coefficient model using ARDL(4,1,3,2,2), the Gini coefficient of the current period was found to be highly dependent on the values from the previous period (Giniₜ₋₁ = 0.718, p < 0.01) and four periods ago (Giniₜ₋₄ = 0.068, p < 0.05), with the lagged Nakamoto coefficient and the Herfindahl-Hirschman Index of the current period also being significant predictors, while the influence of entropy and transaction volume showed no consistency. Furthermore, the Lorenz curve and Gini coefficient (0.78) revealed high asset inequality among Uniswap holders, and Nakamoto's analysis highlighted the serious risk of centralization, with the top nine addresses holding over 50% of the voting rights. These findings indicate that while DAOs are theoretically "decentralized," in practice, power tends to be concentrated in the hands of an economic and voting elite, underscoring the need for a more equitable and accessible governance design. Superviesd by Ms. Summaira Haroon 2025-01-01T00:00:00Z http://hdl.handle.net/123456789/19977 From Workforce to Carbon Footprints: Exploring the Environmental Implications of Labor Participation in Pakistan’s Industrial Sector Ansharah Tariq, 01-114212-005; Wajeeha Ahmad, 01-114212-021; Rohan Rashid, 01-114212-029 This dissertation analyzes the relationship between industrial employment and carbon dioxide emissions in Pakistan. Data on Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) and Industrial output serve as the foundation for the study. To meet the study objectives, which include defining equilibrium and interrelated dynamics alongside fundamental importance, we apply the Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) model. Specifically, heightened FDI leads to increased industrial activity, which in turn elevates emissions and/or energy consumption. The ARDL framework captures a long-run equilibrium relationship with damped distributed lags. The wear-and-tear from industrial employment role economizes the driving forces of CO₂ emissions, while a more engaged and diverse workforce can mitigate the impact. Educated employees can integrate and propel sustainable practices and energy-efficient technologies more effectively. Additionally, FDI can potentially decouple industrial growth from CO₂ emissions with strong clean technology investments and strict environmental policies. The evidence underscores the need for coordinated comprehensive policy structured to restrain simultaneously uncontrolled industrial and economic expansion alongside ecology. The proposals primarily aim at reversing the flow of clean and energy-efficient technology to strengthen the sustainability of FDI. Providing such conditions would enhance FDI positioning while achieving greater environmental sustainability. Meeting strict environmental policy frameworks while offering incentives for green investment is highly effective. This also supports the hypothesis of the Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) which suggests that the adverse effects on the environment caused by economic growth in the case of a country, is subsequently rectified with the increased level of income owing to the investments in advanced technologies, that are more environmentally friendly. Thus, Pakistan can strive for economic growth while containing the adverse ecological consequences by reconciling the opposing forces of environmental stewardship and industrial growth. Supervised by Ms. Madiha Kamal 2025-01-01T00:00:00Z http://hdl.handle.net/123456789/19979 The Impact of Digital Financial Serviceson Women Economic Empowerment in Rural South Asia ( 2004-2023) Laibah Jawad, 01-114212-008; Tahmina Sajjad, 01-114212-031; Muhammad Subtain Zahid, 01-114212-016 Thestudyisanempiricalinvestigationoftheimpactof digital finanical services(DFS)adoptionanditsimpactonwomen economic empowerment in rural SouthAsia from 2004-2023. The relationship is investigated through a panel for the countries, India , Pakistan, and Bangladesh. Despite having increased access to digital financial services in the region women have been disadvantages in terms of being empowered due to gender inequality, low literacy and poor infrastructure. The panel data is estimated through a fixed effects model where the relationship between the interaction terms offemale literacy and digital finanical services (DFS)adoption influences femaleautonomy proxies by women'scontrol overfinancial decisionmaking.Thestudyfurtheralso explores theimpact of gender inequality with female literacy and how it impacts women's economic empowerment while also exploring the same impact for digital penetration. The findings show that female literacyisasignificantfactorinempoweringwomen.However,transactionvaluesalonemight have negative effects on empowerment, especially where gender inequality is high. While, digitalpenetrationhasastrongpositiveimpactandshowstheneedforbetter digital infrastructure. Theresearchhasfilledanimportantgapbycombiningdifferentdimensions,digital finanical services (DFS),finaicla literacy,and structural inequality into a single multi country analysis over two decades. The study has a practical and theoretical approach supported by the capability approach and offers policy recommendations that can help in implementing the study's findings. Lastly, the study concludes on a note that women can truly be empowered in this region when financial and female literacy is paired with digital finanical services (DFS) and there is mitigation of gender inequality and promotion of equity in the society. Supervised by Ms. Summaira Haroon 2025-01-01T00:00:00Z http://hdl.handle.net/123456789/19975 Exploring the Relationship between Climate Change, Carbon Emissions and Economic Stability Iman Ahmed, 01-114212-007; Maryam Naz, 01-114211-010 This thesis investigates the association between CO2 emissions and primary economic drivers—GDP growth, use of renewable energy, urbanization, and trade openness—over the period 1990-2023 in Pakistan by applying the Auto-regressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) modeling approach. The primary aim is to determine the economic drivers of CO2 emissions and provide evidence-based policy recommendations towards sustainable policy formulation. The estimation reveals a very positive and extremely strong long-run relationship between CO2 emissions and the growth of GDP, which illustrates that Pakistan’s economic growth has been extremely reliant upon environmentally worsening activities like the use of fossil fuel and industrial pollution. The square of the GDP, which would validate the EKC hypothesis, is not statistically significant, indicating that high levels of income have not yet yielded environmental advancement to Pakistan. Among the most critical findings of the study is the statistically significant negative and strong influence of renewable energy consumption on CO2 emissions. The 1% increase in renewable energy usage brings emissions down by up to 5%, which gives evidence of the pivotal role played by clean energy in ensuring environmental sustainability. The short run estimation confirms the same and gives evidence of lagged but robust effects of embracing renewable energy. Urbanization is statistically insignificant to emissions but positive, which suggests that the relationship can be contingent on the control of urban expansion. Trade openness, nonetheless, is observed to lead to increased CO2 emissions because of the carbon-intensive nature of Pakistan’s traded goods and poor environmental policies The research establishes a long-run equilibrium between the variables and a fast adjustment mechanism after shortrun shocks. These findings justify the need for integrated policy to facilitate investment in renewable energy, encourage green urban development, and adopt sustainable trade practices. In the long run, the thesis prefers to adopt a development strategy for Pakistan that provides room for economic growth without compromising on sustainable environmental management. Supervised by Ms. Madiha Kamal 2025-01-01T00:00:00Z