Dr. Syed Waleed Mehmood Wasti
Designation
Assistant Professor
Department
- Faculty of Management Science, Department of Business Administration
Specialization
Economics
Qualifications
PhD Economics - University of Oklahoma, USA
Quick Links
Biography
As a Fulbright Scholar with a PhD in Economics from the University of Oklahoma and a teaching experience of more than 9 years, I bring a unique blend of international training and local experience. My teaching philosophy emphasizes intellectual curiosity, ethical reflection, and contextual application of economic concepts. I aim to create classrooms where students explore economic models while engaging with real-world problems and alternative paradigms, including Islamic economic thought. My research similarly focuses on the intersection of development, public policy, and faith-based approaches to economic well-being.
Teaching Experience
Taught various Economics courses (Microeconomics, Macroeconomics, Business Economics, Managerial Economics) at Iqra University from 2016 to 2024. Apart from that I have also taught Principles of Microeconomics in summer of 2021 and 2022 and Elements of Statistics in the summer of 2023 at the University of Oklahoma.
Courses Taught
Microeconomics, Macroeconomics, Managerial Economics, Islamic Banking and Finance, Entrepreneurship, Business Economics, Elements of Statistics.
Achievements
Completed PhD on a Fulbright Scholarship.
Research Interest
Labor Economics, Development Economics, Islamic Economics.
Selected Publications
The Impact of Various Entrepreneurial Interventions during the Business Plan Competition on the Entrepreneur Identity Aspirations of Participants
We intend to see how interventions during a business plan competition workshop impact the relationship between the personality, intellectual capital, entrepreneurial skills of the participants and their entrepreneur identity aspiration. INVENT is a nation-wide business plan competition in which university students from all over Pakistan (around 3000) participate. This is a 5 month process which involves a lot of training and mentoring during the various rounds. The interventions to promote entrepreneurship take place in the form of lectures, workshops, case studies, and mentoring sessions. The survey was conducted in two phases; the baseline survey was conducted during the initial workshops and the second survey was conducted towards the end of the competition and finals. In this paper, we evaluate the results of the baseline survey conducted during the initial workshops. To test the model, the constructs of entrepreneurial personality, intellectual capital, entrepreneurial skills and business program inputs were validated followed by factor analysis and structural equation modeling. We found out that the entrepreneurial interventions carried out in the workshops led to positive relationships between the variables and had a positive impact on the Entrepreneur Identity Aspiration of the participants.
Socio-Economic Philosophy of Conventional and Islamic Economics: Articulating Hayat-e-Tayyaba Index (HTI) on the Basis of Maqāṣid al-Sharīʿah
In this paper we have presented contrasting positions of Conventional Economics and Islamic Economics with respect to socio economic philosophy. The epistemology of human life as deemed in conventional economics is strongly rooted in rejection of religion and rewards in life hereafter. In the conventional terms, human is a self-autonomous being, with sole motives of self-interest, growth and development. Contrary to this position, Islam guides and encourages towards becoming a non-self-centric man, with a mission to spiritually develop one-self and others, by taking a leap from darkness to lightness. This Islamic religiostic approach in every sphere of life – Religion, Life, Intellect, Lineage, Property – is governed more generally by Maqāṣid al-Sharīʿah. Through which one gains internal and external satisfaction, leading towards a peaceful life; Qur’ānically termed as Hayat-e-Tayyaba. Further on, the notion of Growth and Development in Conventional Economics is contrasted with the superior notion of Hayat-e-Tayyaba for Islamic Economics. This paper identifies and suggests variables within the society for deriving essence of Maqāṣid alSharīʿah and utilizing it for developing a Hayat-e-Tayyaba Index. In order to articulate HTI, a survey exploring the religiosity among the male and female youth of Pakistan was carried out. The sample size is of 369, collected from six major cities of Pakistan. The experience of data collection and initial analysis is discussed for further research.
