Aspirations and the role of social protection: Evidence from a natural disaster in rural Pakistan

Citizens’ aspirations for the future are politically important; they are linked to welfare and whether citizens engage in forward-looking political and economic behavior. How do natural disasters affect aspirations, and can governments’ social protection policies successfully mitigate any damaging e...

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Autores principales: Kosec, Katrina, Mo, Cecilia Hyunjung
Formato: Artículo preliminar
Lenguaje:Inglés
Publicado: International Food Policy Research Institute 2015
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://hdl.handle.net/10568/151061
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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 Citizens’ aspirations for the future are politically important; they are linked to welfare and whether citizens engage in forward-looking political and economic behavior. How do natural disasters affect aspirations, and can governments’ social protection policies successfully mitigate any damaging effects? If natural disasters threaten aspirations, there is strong policy interest in understanding these threats and what government can do to protect aspirations. This article uses Pakistan’s 2010 floods to identify the effects of a natural disaster on citizens’ aspirations. Aspirations were significantly reduced—especially among the poorest and most vulnerable. However, by exploiting exogenous variation in access to targeted government social protection, the authors show that social protection following natural disasters can significantly reduce their negative aspirational effects. This offers a new understanding of government social protection. It not only raises social welfare in the short term by restoring livelihoods and replacing damaged assets; it also has an enduring effect by raising citizens’ aspirations for the future. The authors show not only that the aspirations of citizens matter for citizens’ behaviors, but also that government policies can effectively protect and increase those aspirations. This implies that the value and efficacy of government disaster relief programs are underestimated when aspirations are not taken into account.
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spelling CGSpace1510612025-11-06T07:24:19Z Aspirations and the role of social protection: Evidence from a natural disaster in rural Pakistan Kosec, Katrina Mo, Cecilia Hyunjung natural disasters social protection demand social welfare Citizens’ aspirations for the future are politically important; they are linked to welfare and whether citizens engage in forward-looking political and economic behavior. How do natural disasters affect aspirations, and can governments’ social protection policies successfully mitigate any damaging effects? If natural disasters threaten aspirations, there is strong policy interest in understanding these threats and what government can do to protect aspirations. This article uses Pakistan’s 2010 floods to identify the effects of a natural disaster on citizens’ aspirations. Aspirations were significantly reduced—especially among the poorest and most vulnerable. However, by exploiting exogenous variation in access to targeted government social protection, the authors show that social protection following natural disasters can significantly reduce their negative aspirational effects. This offers a new understanding of government social protection. It not only raises social welfare in the short term by restoring livelihoods and replacing damaged assets; it also has an enduring effect by raising citizens’ aspirations for the future. The authors show not only that the aspirations of citizens matter for citizens’ behaviors, but also that government policies can effectively protect and increase those aspirations. This implies that the value and efficacy of government disaster relief programs are underestimated when aspirations are not taken into account. 2015-10-08 2024-08-01T02:55:05Z 2024-08-01T02:55:05Z Working Paper https://hdl.handle.net/10568/151061 en https://hdl.handle.net/10568/150570 https://hdl.handle.net/10568/150032 https://hdl.handle.net/10568/150935 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.worlddev.2017.03.039 Open Access application/pdf International Food Policy Research Institute Kosec, Katrina; and Mo, Cecilia Hyunjung. 2015. Aspirations and the role of social protection: Evidence from a natural disaster in rural Pakistan. IFPRI Discussion Paper 1467. Washington, DC: International Food Policy Research Institute. https://hdl.handle.net/10568/151061
spellingShingle natural disasters
social protection
demand
social welfare
Kosec, Katrina
Mo, Cecilia Hyunjung
Aspirations and the role of social protection: Evidence from a natural disaster in rural Pakistan
title Aspirations and the role of social protection: Evidence from a natural disaster in rural Pakistan
title_full Aspirations and the role of social protection: Evidence from a natural disaster in rural Pakistan
title_fullStr Aspirations and the role of social protection: Evidence from a natural disaster in rural Pakistan
title_full_unstemmed Aspirations and the role of social protection: Evidence from a natural disaster in rural Pakistan
title_short Aspirations and the role of social protection: Evidence from a natural disaster in rural Pakistan
title_sort aspirations and the role of social protection evidence from a natural disaster in rural pakistan
topic natural disasters
social protection
demand
social welfare
url https://hdl.handle.net/10568/151061
work_keys_str_mv AT koseckatrina aspirationsandtheroleofsocialprotectionevidencefromanaturaldisasterinruralpakistan
AT moceciliahyunjung aspirationsandtheroleofsocialprotectionevidencefromanaturaldisasterinruralpakistan