The history of Pakistan shows a paradoxically countercyclical pattern for local democracy. Three ... more The history of Pakistan shows a paradoxically countercyclical pattern for local democracy. Three times in the history of Pakistan, elected institutions of local democracy have been created by military regimes, and each time the subsequent civilian governments have either failed to revive elected local governments or replaced them with unelected administrators. In the most recent transition from military to civilian democratic rule, elected local governments were created by General Pervez Musharraf's military regime, but the revived civilian provincial governments completed their five-year term in office without holding local government elections and again have placed these governments under the authority of unelected administrators4. Thus, although incumbent political parties have promised local democracy in their election manifestos and have finally reenacted local government legislation after six years in office5, the institutionalization of empowered democratic local governm...
The views expressed in this book are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views... more The views expressed in this book are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views and policies of the Asian Development Bank or its Board of Governors or the governments they represent. The Asian Development Bank does not guarantee the accuracy of the data included in this publication and accepts no responsibility for any consequence of their use. Use of the term “country ” does not imply any judgment by the author or the Asian Development Bank as to the legal or other status of any territorial entity.
INTRODUCTION........................................................................................ more INTRODUCTION.....................................................................................................................................................................1
Page 1. Corporate Governance in the Financial Sector of Pakistan Faiza A. Chaudary Marc Goergen S... more Page 1. Corporate Governance in the Financial Sector of Pakistan Faiza A. Chaudary Marc Goergen Shoeb I. Syed CMER WORKING PAPER No. 06-50 LUMS - Citigroup Corporate Governance Initiative Page 2. Centre for Management ...
LUMS Economics Department is not only among the top economics departments in the country but is a... more LUMS Economics Department is not only among the top economics departments in the country but is also well respected internationally. The department prides itself on the diversity of interests and fields of its faculty. The teaching and research of its faculty members cover theory, econometric methods, applied data analysis, development, finance, industrial organization to behavioral economics and game theory. Around 40 MS Economics students enter our programs each year while the Department has around 900 undergraduates majoring economics, and economics and politics. Collaboration with other departments allows LUMS undergraduate students to undertake interdisciplinary studies. The MS Economics program at LUMS has been designed to set a new standard in graduate level economics education in the country, and to meet the growing need for well-trained economists in both the public and private sectors. The program provides rigorous analysis and strong grounding in economic theory, economet...
not only among the top economics departments in the country but is also well respected internatio... more not only among the top economics departments in the country but is also well respected internationally. The department prides itself on the diversity of interests and fields of its faculty. The teaching and research of its faculty members cover theory, econometric methods, applied data analysis, development, finance, industrial organization to behavioral economics and game theory. Around 40 MS Economics students enter our programs each year while the Department has around 900 undergraduates majoring economics, and economics and politics. Collaboration with other departments allows LUMS undergraduate students to undertake interdisciplinary studies. The MS Economics program at LUMS has been designed to set a new standard in graduate level economics education in the country, and to meet the growing need for well-trained economists in both the public and private sectors. The program provides rigorous analysis and strong grounding in economic theory, econometrics and applications in nove...
This paper examines the recent decentralization reforms in Pakistan under General Musharraf. We h... more This paper examines the recent decentralization reforms in Pakistan under General Musharraf. We highlight major aspects of this reform and analyze its evolution in a historical context to better understand potential causes behind this current decentralization. Analyzing the evolution of local government reforms in
Around the world, publics confronted with terrorism have debated whether Islamic faith gives rise... more Around the world, publics confronted with terrorism have debated whether Islamic faith gives rise to a uniquely virulent strain of non-state violence targeted at civilians. These discussions almost always conceive of “Islam ” in general terms, not clearly defining what is meant by Islamic religious faith. We engaged this debate by designing and conducting a large-scale public opinion survey in Pakistan that measures multiple elements of religiosity, allowing us to separately consider the relationship between support for militant organizations and (1) religious practice; (2) support for political Islam; and (3) “jihadism, ” which we define as a particular textual interpretation common to Islamist groups espousing violent political action. We also measured support for militant organizations using a novel form of an “endorsement experiment ” that assessed attitudes toward specific groups without asking respondents about them directly. We find that neither religious practice nor support
On what basis do voters in developing democracies choose their local leaders? The traditional ans... more On what basis do voters in developing democracies choose their local leaders? The traditional answers both in the literature and in policy circles focus on shared caste or ethnic ties or more recently on the connections forged by leaders with higher-tier politicians and the bureaucracy. In weakly institutionalized settings, voters are thought to align themselves with leaders from their own identity groups or with leaders who have personally developed connections that facilitate targeted delivery to their own communities. Parties are considered weak and co-partisanship is considered a weak predictor of preferences for leaders. These studies are usually conducted in rural areas or in informal settlements in urban areas. In this paper, we examine citizens preferences for local leaders in the Pakistani megacity of Lahore. With a population of 11.1 million, Lahore is the 14th most populous city in the world, comparable to Mumbai that houses 12.4 million people. We conduct a conjoint expe...
Fareed goes back and forth between tales of how close he is to all residents of his ward and how ... more Fareed goes back and forth between tales of how close he is to all residents of his ward and how close he is to Sheikh sahib, the National Assembly member (MNA) within whose constituency his ward lies. Fareed is one of six general members in his union council (UC); twenty-one union councils comprise Sheikh sahib’s National Assembly constituency in the heart of Lahore.1 Yet Fareed claims to be one of his closest and most cherished aides: “Sheikh sahib gets reports about who is doing what in their areas, and the people of my ward say only good things about me.”2 Later in the office of Farzand, Sheikh sahib’s son and de facto political manager, Fareed, is less boastful. He wants to get Farzand’s attention for more than a few seconds so that he can explain exactly why the streetlights in his ward are more important than the streetlights about which Farzand no doubt is also being asked. Responding to a question about how he comes to know how popular and hardworking the councilors in his ...
A fundamental paradox of Punjab’s politics is the co-existence of competitive electoral contests ... more A fundamental paradox of Punjab’s politics is the co-existence of competitive electoral contests with a deeply held belief among the electorate that the political system is extremely uncompetitive. The highly competitive nature of Punjab’s elections can be seen from the fact that a 5 percentage point swing against incumbent parties in the coming election, all else equal, can topple as many as 30 percent of national assembly seats in the province. A resolution of this paradox is provided by the claim that the political class in Punjab is heavily dominated by dynasties, held together by ties of blood and marriage, which impede the participation of nondynastic aspirants to public office. Proponents of this view argue that while Punjab’s politics appears competitive as members of dynastic factions aggressively compete against each other using different party platforms; it is simultaneously uncompetitive because the dynasties, and the pursuit of their interests, trumps other concerns in ...
Do voters care about how connected their candidates are? We investigate this question in the 2015... more Do voters care about how connected their candidates are? We investigate this question in the 2015 local government elections in Pakistan combining: (i) data on ties between candidates, higher level politicians, and bureaucrats; (ii) a large-scale field experiment; and (iii) election outcomes. Before the election, voters considered local candidates’ connections important and expected local politicians to help them access services provided by other levels of government. Providing voters information on connections increased support for more connected candidates, but information on past party performance did not. More connected candidates received more votes and were more likely to win office, but there was no electoral benefit to past service provision. The results provide novel evidence of the importance of political connections for electoral outcomes and show that forward-looking expectations based on candidate characteristics and an understanding of higher-level political process pl...
The history of Pakistan shows a paradoxically countercyclical pattern for local democracy. Three ... more The history of Pakistan shows a paradoxically countercyclical pattern for local democracy. Three times in the history of Pakistan, elected institutions of local democracy have been created by military regimes, and each time the subsequent civilian governments have either failed to revive elected local governments or replaced them with unelected administrators. In the most recent transition from military to civilian democratic rule, elected local governments were created by General Pervez Musharraf's military regime, but the revived civilian provincial governments completed their five-year term in office without holding local government elections and again have placed these governments under the authority of unelected administrators4. Thus, although incumbent political parties have promised local democracy in their election manifestos and have finally reenacted local government legislation after six years in office5, the institutionalization of empowered democratic local governm...
The views expressed in this book are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views... more The views expressed in this book are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views and policies of the Asian Development Bank or its Board of Governors or the governments they represent. The Asian Development Bank does not guarantee the accuracy of the data included in this publication and accepts no responsibility for any consequence of their use. Use of the term “country ” does not imply any judgment by the author or the Asian Development Bank as to the legal or other status of any territorial entity.
INTRODUCTION........................................................................................ more INTRODUCTION.....................................................................................................................................................................1
Page 1. Corporate Governance in the Financial Sector of Pakistan Faiza A. Chaudary Marc Goergen S... more Page 1. Corporate Governance in the Financial Sector of Pakistan Faiza A. Chaudary Marc Goergen Shoeb I. Syed CMER WORKING PAPER No. 06-50 LUMS - Citigroup Corporate Governance Initiative Page 2. Centre for Management ...
LUMS Economics Department is not only among the top economics departments in the country but is a... more LUMS Economics Department is not only among the top economics departments in the country but is also well respected internationally. The department prides itself on the diversity of interests and fields of its faculty. The teaching and research of its faculty members cover theory, econometric methods, applied data analysis, development, finance, industrial organization to behavioral economics and game theory. Around 40 MS Economics students enter our programs each year while the Department has around 900 undergraduates majoring economics, and economics and politics. Collaboration with other departments allows LUMS undergraduate students to undertake interdisciplinary studies. The MS Economics program at LUMS has been designed to set a new standard in graduate level economics education in the country, and to meet the growing need for well-trained economists in both the public and private sectors. The program provides rigorous analysis and strong grounding in economic theory, economet...
not only among the top economics departments in the country but is also well respected internatio... more not only among the top economics departments in the country but is also well respected internationally. The department prides itself on the diversity of interests and fields of its faculty. The teaching and research of its faculty members cover theory, econometric methods, applied data analysis, development, finance, industrial organization to behavioral economics and game theory. Around 40 MS Economics students enter our programs each year while the Department has around 900 undergraduates majoring economics, and economics and politics. Collaboration with other departments allows LUMS undergraduate students to undertake interdisciplinary studies. The MS Economics program at LUMS has been designed to set a new standard in graduate level economics education in the country, and to meet the growing need for well-trained economists in both the public and private sectors. The program provides rigorous analysis and strong grounding in economic theory, econometrics and applications in nove...
This paper examines the recent decentralization reforms in Pakistan under General Musharraf. We h... more This paper examines the recent decentralization reforms in Pakistan under General Musharraf. We highlight major aspects of this reform and analyze its evolution in a historical context to better understand potential causes behind this current decentralization. Analyzing the evolution of local government reforms in
Around the world, publics confronted with terrorism have debated whether Islamic faith gives rise... more Around the world, publics confronted with terrorism have debated whether Islamic faith gives rise to a uniquely virulent strain of non-state violence targeted at civilians. These discussions almost always conceive of “Islam ” in general terms, not clearly defining what is meant by Islamic religious faith. We engaged this debate by designing and conducting a large-scale public opinion survey in Pakistan that measures multiple elements of religiosity, allowing us to separately consider the relationship between support for militant organizations and (1) religious practice; (2) support for political Islam; and (3) “jihadism, ” which we define as a particular textual interpretation common to Islamist groups espousing violent political action. We also measured support for militant organizations using a novel form of an “endorsement experiment ” that assessed attitudes toward specific groups without asking respondents about them directly. We find that neither religious practice nor support
On what basis do voters in developing democracies choose their local leaders? The traditional ans... more On what basis do voters in developing democracies choose their local leaders? The traditional answers both in the literature and in policy circles focus on shared caste or ethnic ties or more recently on the connections forged by leaders with higher-tier politicians and the bureaucracy. In weakly institutionalized settings, voters are thought to align themselves with leaders from their own identity groups or with leaders who have personally developed connections that facilitate targeted delivery to their own communities. Parties are considered weak and co-partisanship is considered a weak predictor of preferences for leaders. These studies are usually conducted in rural areas or in informal settlements in urban areas. In this paper, we examine citizens preferences for local leaders in the Pakistani megacity of Lahore. With a population of 11.1 million, Lahore is the 14th most populous city in the world, comparable to Mumbai that houses 12.4 million people. We conduct a conjoint expe...
Fareed goes back and forth between tales of how close he is to all residents of his ward and how ... more Fareed goes back and forth between tales of how close he is to all residents of his ward and how close he is to Sheikh sahib, the National Assembly member (MNA) within whose constituency his ward lies. Fareed is one of six general members in his union council (UC); twenty-one union councils comprise Sheikh sahib’s National Assembly constituency in the heart of Lahore.1 Yet Fareed claims to be one of his closest and most cherished aides: “Sheikh sahib gets reports about who is doing what in their areas, and the people of my ward say only good things about me.”2 Later in the office of Farzand, Sheikh sahib’s son and de facto political manager, Fareed, is less boastful. He wants to get Farzand’s attention for more than a few seconds so that he can explain exactly why the streetlights in his ward are more important than the streetlights about which Farzand no doubt is also being asked. Responding to a question about how he comes to know how popular and hardworking the councilors in his ...
A fundamental paradox of Punjab’s politics is the co-existence of competitive electoral contests ... more A fundamental paradox of Punjab’s politics is the co-existence of competitive electoral contests with a deeply held belief among the electorate that the political system is extremely uncompetitive. The highly competitive nature of Punjab’s elections can be seen from the fact that a 5 percentage point swing against incumbent parties in the coming election, all else equal, can topple as many as 30 percent of national assembly seats in the province. A resolution of this paradox is provided by the claim that the political class in Punjab is heavily dominated by dynasties, held together by ties of blood and marriage, which impede the participation of nondynastic aspirants to public office. Proponents of this view argue that while Punjab’s politics appears competitive as members of dynastic factions aggressively compete against each other using different party platforms; it is simultaneously uncompetitive because the dynasties, and the pursuit of their interests, trumps other concerns in ...
Do voters care about how connected their candidates are? We investigate this question in the 2015... more Do voters care about how connected their candidates are? We investigate this question in the 2015 local government elections in Pakistan combining: (i) data on ties between candidates, higher level politicians, and bureaucrats; (ii) a large-scale field experiment; and (iii) election outcomes. Before the election, voters considered local candidates’ connections important and expected local politicians to help them access services provided by other levels of government. Providing voters information on connections increased support for more connected candidates, but information on past party performance did not. More connected candidates received more votes and were more likely to win office, but there was no electoral benefit to past service provision. The results provide novel evidence of the importance of political connections for electoral outcomes and show that forward-looking expectations based on candidate characteristics and an understanding of higher-level political process pl...
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