Infant Industry Argument, Protection and Manufacturing Industries of Pakistan

The Infant Industry Argument is tested against the experience of Pakistan’s manufacturing industries. The learning coefficients are estimated by fitting both the Cobb-Douglas and the C.E.S. production functions. The learning coefficients estimated for Pakistan corroborate the Infant Industry Argument. Higher learning coefficients in the case or Pakistan than those observed in other countries underline the fact that the industries had cost disadvantages in the initial stages of their establishment.