Political competition and rural welfare: Evidence from Pakistan
Can stronger political competition improve rural livelihoods in developing countries? We explore this question in rural Pakistan, showing that greater political competition in a Provincial Assembly (PA) constituency predicts significantly better access to publicly-provided infrastructure and ameniti...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Journal Article |
| Language: | Inglés |
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Oxford University Press
2018
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://hdl.handle.net/10568/145559 |
| _version_ | 1855540712341241856 |
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| author | Kosec, Katrina Haider, Hamza Spielman, David J. Zaidi, Fatima |
| author_browse | Haider, Hamza Kosec, Katrina Spielman, David J. Zaidi, Fatima |
| author_facet | Kosec, Katrina Haider, Hamza Spielman, David J. Zaidi, Fatima |
| author_sort | Kosec, Katrina |
| collection | Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (CGSpace) |
| description | Can stronger political competition improve rural livelihoods in developing countries? We explore this question in rural Pakistan, showing that greater political competition in a Provincial Assembly (PA) constituency predicts significantly better access to publicly-provided infrastructure and amenities, but no changes in other public goods including perceived access to justice and security. Nonetheless, overall welfare effects appear to be positive: higher political competition predicts higher expenditures per capita, especially among land-poor households. It also predicts higher land values, greater land wealth, and lower land wealth inequality. Further, political competition increases land rental, possibly indicating improved functionality of land markets. Sensitivity analyses suggest that our estimates are unlikely to be substantially affected by omitted variable bias, and they are further similar to instrumental variables estimates. The findings are also robust to use of alternate measures of political competition. Greater provision of both public and private goods appears to explain welfare improvements. |
| format | Journal Article |
| id | CGSpace145559 |
| institution | CGIAR Consortium |
| language | Inglés |
| publishDate | 2018 |
| publishDateRange | 2018 |
| publishDateSort | 2018 |
| publisher | Oxford University Press |
| publisherStr | Oxford University Press |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | CGSpace1455592025-02-24T06:45:31Z Political competition and rural welfare: Evidence from Pakistan Kosec, Katrina Haider, Hamza Spielman, David J. Zaidi, Fatima public goods land tenure capacity development land ownership political institutions rural development rural welfare public expenditure Can stronger political competition improve rural livelihoods in developing countries? We explore this question in rural Pakistan, showing that greater political competition in a Provincial Assembly (PA) constituency predicts significantly better access to publicly-provided infrastructure and amenities, but no changes in other public goods including perceived access to justice and security. Nonetheless, overall welfare effects appear to be positive: higher political competition predicts higher expenditures per capita, especially among land-poor households. It also predicts higher land values, greater land wealth, and lower land wealth inequality. Further, political competition increases land rental, possibly indicating improved functionality of land markets. Sensitivity analyses suggest that our estimates are unlikely to be substantially affected by omitted variable bias, and they are further similar to instrumental variables estimates. The findings are also robust to use of alternate measures of political competition. Greater provision of both public and private goods appears to explain welfare improvements. 2018-07-05 2024-06-21T09:04:40Z 2024-06-21T09:04:40Z Journal Article https://hdl.handle.net/10568/145559 en https://doi.org/10.1093/wber/lhz010 https://doi.org/10.1017/S0043887120000027 Open Access Oxford University Press Kosec, Katrina; Haider, Hamza; Spielman, David J.; and Zaidi, Fatima. 2018. Political competition and rural welfare: evidence from Pakistan. Oxford Economic Papers 70(4): 1036–1061. https://doi.org/10.1093/oep/gpy013 |
| spellingShingle | public goods land tenure capacity development land ownership political institutions rural development rural welfare public expenditure Kosec, Katrina Haider, Hamza Spielman, David J. Zaidi, Fatima Political competition and rural welfare: Evidence from Pakistan |
| title | Political competition and rural welfare: Evidence from Pakistan |
| title_full | Political competition and rural welfare: Evidence from Pakistan |
| title_fullStr | Political competition and rural welfare: Evidence from Pakistan |
| title_full_unstemmed | Political competition and rural welfare: Evidence from Pakistan |
| title_short | Political competition and rural welfare: Evidence from Pakistan |
| title_sort | political competition and rural welfare evidence from pakistan |
| topic | public goods land tenure capacity development land ownership political institutions rural development rural welfare public expenditure |
| url | https://hdl.handle.net/10568/145559 |
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