Political competition and economic policy: empirical evidence from Pakistan

Abstract

The influence of politics on economic policy is not fully understood. The challenge to ensure political inclusiveness and economic prosperity remains. Perhaps, one way to attain this objective is by increasing political competition. This paper gathers empirical evidence from Pakistan, a country with a checkered political history characterized by episodes of representative, non-representative, and indirectly elected governments. In recent years, the country has witnessed a gradual strengthening of democratic rules with economic progress. Focusing on nine elections held over 1970 to 2015 the authors measure political competition and estimate its impact on economic policy. Contrary to popular conceptions about Pakistan’s economy, they find a positive association between lack of political competition and poor economic policy. This finding holds at national as well as subnational levels in Pakistan and withstands a number of robustness tests.

The historical evolution and enforcement of competition law in Pakistan

“…Both panel information (at the rural degree) and time-series information (at the nationwide degree) are utilized to examine the influence of political competitors on plan varying from 1970-2015, covering nine basic political elections. Our plan signs contain advancement expenses and also present expenses at the rural degree and also present expenses, advancement expenses, health and wellness expenses, indirect tax obligations and also power manufacturing capability at the nationwide degree (Chaudhry & Mazhar, 2019). Darr (2018) published an article named "Role of courts in enforcing competition laws: a comparative analysis of India and Pakistan" and explained that Establishing nations embrace contemporary competitors regulations based upon global plans for inspirations varying from obtaining worldwide authenticity to accomplishing residential financial objectives.…”

Digital media and identity construction: Exploring the discourse of Pakistani vloggers

“…Hence, being a Pakistani national directly implies being a Muslim as well. Present‐day explorations of Pakistani identity are particularly relevant due to recent economic developments in the country (Anjum and Sgro, 2017) and its political stability (Chaudhry and Mazhar, 2019). With the advent of digital media platforms such as YouTube, Pakistanis are able to observe newer perspectives, ways of living, and cultures prevalent around the globe.…”