Does relative deprivation condition the effects of social protection programs on political support? Experimental evidence from Pakistan
2022 UPDATE: Could perceived relative economic standing affect citizens’ support for political leaders and institutions? We explore this question by examining Pakistan’s national unconditional cash transfer program, the Benazir Income Support Program (BISP). Leveraging a regression discontinuity app...
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| Formato: | Artículo preliminar |
| Lenguaje: | Inglés |
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International Food Policy Research Institute
2022
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| Acceso en línea: | https://hdl.handle.net/10568/140863 |
| _version_ | 1855536535921754112 |
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| author | Kosec, Katrina Mo, Cecilia Hyunjung |
| author_browse | Kosec, Katrina Mo, Cecilia Hyunjung |
| author_facet | Kosec, Katrina Mo, Cecilia Hyunjung |
| author_sort | Kosec, Katrina |
| collection | Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (CGSpace) |
| description | 2022 UPDATE: Could perceived relative economic standing affect citizens’ support for political leaders and institutions? We explore this question by examining Pakistan’s national unconditional cash transfer program, the Benazir Income Support Program (BISP). Leveraging a regression discontinuity approach using BISP’s administrative data and an original survey experiment, we find that perceptions of relative deprivation color citizen reactions to social protection. When citizens do not feel relatively deprived, receiving cash transfers has little sustained effect on individuals’ reported level of support for their political system and its leaders. However, when citizens feel relatively worse off, those receiving cash transfers become more politically satisfied, while those denied transfers become more politically disgruntled. Moreover, the magnitude of the reduction in political support among non-beneficiaries is larger than the magnitude of the increase in political support among beneficiaries. This has important implications for our understanding of the political ramifications of rising perceived inequality.
2019 Abstract: Why might citizens fail to reward incumbents for providing private goods? While extant literature on the political consequences of targeted government welfare programs has focused on attribution challenges and low levels of civic education and engagement, we offer an additional explanation related to perceived inequality, or the feeling that one is poor relative to other citizens. Leveraging a regression discontinuity design and a survey experiment, we identify the causal effects of a large cash transfer program in Pakistan when relative deprivation is and is not pronounced. When relative deprivation is not salient, we find that cash transfers have little effect on attitudes toward government. However, when relative deprivation is salient, those receiving cash transfers experience increased support for their political leaders and institutions, while those denied transfers become more politically disgruntled. This has important implications for our understanding of the political ramifications of rising inequality and social protection programs. |
| format | Artículo preliminar |
| id | CGSpace140863 |
| institution | CGIAR Consortium |
| language | Inglés |
| publishDate | 2022 |
| publishDateRange | 2022 |
| publishDateSort | 2022 |
| publisher | International Food Policy Research Institute |
| publisherStr | International Food Policy Research Institute |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | CGSpace1408632025-12-02T21:09:38Z Does relative deprivation condition the effects of social protection programs on political support? Experimental evidence from Pakistan Kosec, Katrina Mo, Cecilia Hyunjung gender political aspects households social protection capacity development inequality economics econometrics cash transfers social safety nets 2022 UPDATE: Could perceived relative economic standing affect citizens’ support for political leaders and institutions? We explore this question by examining Pakistan’s national unconditional cash transfer program, the Benazir Income Support Program (BISP). Leveraging a regression discontinuity approach using BISP’s administrative data and an original survey experiment, we find that perceptions of relative deprivation color citizen reactions to social protection. When citizens do not feel relatively deprived, receiving cash transfers has little sustained effect on individuals’ reported level of support for their political system and its leaders. However, when citizens feel relatively worse off, those receiving cash transfers become more politically satisfied, while those denied transfers become more politically disgruntled. Moreover, the magnitude of the reduction in political support among non-beneficiaries is larger than the magnitude of the increase in political support among beneficiaries. This has important implications for our understanding of the political ramifications of rising perceived inequality. 2019 Abstract: Why might citizens fail to reward incumbents for providing private goods? While extant literature on the political consequences of targeted government welfare programs has focused on attribution challenges and low levels of civic education and engagement, we offer an additional explanation related to perceived inequality, or the feeling that one is poor relative to other citizens. Leveraging a regression discontinuity design and a survey experiment, we identify the causal effects of a large cash transfer program in Pakistan when relative deprivation is and is not pronounced. When relative deprivation is not salient, we find that cash transfers have little effect on attitudes toward government. However, when relative deprivation is salient, those receiving cash transfers experience increased support for their political leaders and institutions, while those denied transfers become more politically disgruntled. This has important implications for our understanding of the political ramifications of rising inequality and social protection programs. 2022-11-16 2024-04-12T13:36:46Z 2024-04-12T13:36:46Z Working Paper https://hdl.handle.net/10568/140863 en https://hdl.handle.net/10568/151061 https://doi.org/10.2499/1037800849 https://doi.org/10.2499/p15738coll2.134236 https://doi.org/10.2499/p15738coll2.134563 https://doi.org/10.2499/9780896293502_08 https://hdl.handle.net/10568/150032 https://hdl.handle.net/10986/17220 https://doi.org/10.2499/p15738coll2.133520 Open Access application/pdf application/pdf International Food Policy Research Institute Kosec, Katrina; and Mo, Cecilia Hyunjung. 2022. Does relative deprivation condition the effects of social protection programs on political support? Experimental evidence from Pakistan. IFPRI Discussion Paper 1842. Washington, DC: International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI). https://doi.org/10.2499/p15738coll2.133270. |
| spellingShingle | gender political aspects households social protection capacity development inequality economics econometrics cash transfers social safety nets Kosec, Katrina Mo, Cecilia Hyunjung Does relative deprivation condition the effects of social protection programs on political support? Experimental evidence from Pakistan |
| title | Does relative deprivation condition the effects of social protection programs on political support? Experimental evidence from Pakistan |
| title_full | Does relative deprivation condition the effects of social protection programs on political support? Experimental evidence from Pakistan |
| title_fullStr | Does relative deprivation condition the effects of social protection programs on political support? Experimental evidence from Pakistan |
| title_full_unstemmed | Does relative deprivation condition the effects of social protection programs on political support? Experimental evidence from Pakistan |
| title_short | Does relative deprivation condition the effects of social protection programs on political support? Experimental evidence from Pakistan |
| title_sort | does relative deprivation condition the effects of social protection programs on political support experimental evidence from pakistan |
| topic | gender political aspects households social protection capacity development inequality economics econometrics cash transfers social safety nets |
| url | https://hdl.handle.net/10568/140863 |
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