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Patronage in Rural Punjab: Evidence from a New Household Survey Dataset

Author

Listed:
  • Azam Chaudhry

    (Associate Professor, Lahore School of Economics, Pakistan.)

  • Kate Vyborny

    (Doctoral Candidate, St. Antony’s College, University of Oxford.)

Abstract

The intervention of local elites is often cited as an impediment to policy implementation in many developing countries. In this paper, we present initial results from an original primary household dataset from eight tehsils of rural Punjab, Pakistan. We examine descriptive statistics on patron–client interaction and correlations between household characteristics and that relationship. The study raises some key findings. First, households report connections with a range of officials; they interact most heavily with local officials, but a large number of households also report interacting with their provincial and national politicians. Second, many households report receiving active assistance both fromlocal officials and from provincial and national politicians in accessing certain state services, in particular in applying for national identity cards. Third, households report links with many patrons outside their own biraderi or clan. Fourth, vulnerable households, such as landless and female-headed households, appear less likely tointeract with and less likely to receive assistance from patrons, suggesting thatpatronage activity could increase the inequality of outcomes. Fifth, better-off households appear more likely to assist patrons in a range of areas. Finally, local officials and politicians had tended to recommend candidates in the last election, and rural households were strongly convinced that their vote was not secret from their patrons or officials. This is possibly consistent with patronage-based politics and bloc voting.

Suggested Citation

  • Azam Chaudhry & Kate Vyborny, 2013. "Patronage in Rural Punjab: Evidence from a New Household Survey Dataset," Lahore Journal of Economics, Department of Economics, The Lahore School of Economics, vol. 18(Special E), pages 183-209, September.
  • Handle: RePEc:lje:journl:v:18:y:2013:i:sp:p:183-209
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    10. Julien Labonne, 2012. "The local electoral impacts of conditional cash transfers: Evidence from a field experiment," CSAE Working Paper Series 2012-09, Centre for the Study of African Economies, University of Oxford.
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    Cited by:

    1. Haseeb, Muhammad & Vyborny, Kate, 2022. "Data, discretion and institutional capacity: Evidence from cash transfers in Pakistan," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 206(C).
    2. Muhammad Haseeb & Kate Vyborny, 2016. "Imposing institutions: Evidence from cash transfer reform in Pakistan," CSAE Working Paper Series 2016-36, Centre for the Study of African Economies, University of Oxford.
    3. Asad Rehman, 2017. "Appraisal of Informal Political Associations and Institutions: Implications for Democratic Decentralisation in Punjab," Working Papers id:12258, eSocialSciences.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Patron; client; rural; Pakistan.;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • P16 - Political Economy and Comparative Economic Systems - - Capitalist Economies - - - Capitalist Institutions; Welfare State
    • D7 - Microeconomics - - Analysis of Collective Decision-Making

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