Paper short abstract:

This research assesses how zakat practice locates itself within the broader contemporary state welfare system of the UK, thus helps to understand how the primary objective of the practice to alleviate hardships and poverty as stipulated by religious teachings works in the modern society setting.

Paper long abstract:

According to the tenets of Sunni Islam, zakat is an obligation ordained by God unto Muslims not merely as an act of personal piety but as a means to produce and sustain a moral community based on an ethic of (socioeconomic) justice. Indeed, Qur’anic traditions underscore that the prescriptive wealth redistribution engendered by giving zakat would work to contain economic inequality and social disparity and strengthen (civil and political) society. Furthermore, zakat-giving has been presented not simply as a religious duty but as a right of those who receive it. In other words, zakat is not an act of charity or philanthropy, but it is the restitution of an amount of wealth that givers had kept in trust on behalf of the rightful recipient. Most studies tend to focus on the givers’ perspective of their motivation and intention in giving zakat, this research, on the other hand, focuses on the perspective of zakat recipients, despite having been missing or somewhat neglected, have a unique position in this wealth redistribution relationship. Therefore, this research examines zakat recipients’ thoughts on receiving zakat and how they perceive the money (or other types of assistance) given to them. The research analyses the relationship between piety and the human agency of zakat recipients in the context of how religiosity plays a role in influencing the people’s agency that would shape the existence of transformative aspects in the practice of zakat for social mobility.

Paper short abstract:

What is the relationship between zakat payment and support for state taxation? Does zakat payment crowd out support for taxation in general or for wealth taxes in particular? Does this depend on how tax policy is framed, or on religious practice? We examine these questions by focusing on Pakistan.

Paper long abstract:

Zakat, an annual mandatory payment on productive wealth and one of the five ‘pillars’ of Islam, is by some margin the largest specific informal tax on the planet, potentially rivalling total global ODA spending. While formal state funds exist, most zakat is paid directly to recipients or non-state organisations. At the same time, state taxation in many countries with zakat practices is relatively low. What is the relationship between zakat payment and support for formal state taxation? Does zakat payment crowd out support for taxation in general or for some forms of wealth taxes in particular? Does this depend on how tax policy is framed, or on the religious practice of the zakat contributor? We examine these questions by focusing on Pakistan, one of the largest Muslim-majority countries with long-standing zakat practices. We draw on a novel survey of 7,500 respondents collected in 2024.

Paper short abstract:

In this paper, we make use of unique datasets to consider the role of impacts of informal contributions during times of crisis in Sierra Leone and Rwanda, with a particular emphasis on the implications for equity and fairness.

Paper long abstract:

Bottom-up responses to the Covid-19 pandemic have been critical in supporting some of the most vulnerable groups throughout the crisis and have often served as powerful symbols of solidarity. There has been less attention paid, however, to the implications of shifting the burdens of crisis relief and social welfare provision downward to already vulnerable populations. We consider the role and impact of informal contributions in two small African countries, Rwanda and Sierra Leone, that differ in substantial ways, including income, strength of traditional authorities in public governance and life, and centralization of the state. To do so, we make use of unique datasets tracking informal tax contributions and taxpayer perceptions over the span of a year during the Covid pandemic (March 2020 to February 2021). Three key findings emerge consistently despite the major differences in the contexts. First, informal contributions are important in times of crisis, filling important gaps left by insufficient state relief. Second, informal contributions are regressive, representing a higher share of income for lower income compared to higher income groups. Third, despite being regressive, citizens largely perceive them as fair. We speculate that this is a result of a combination of their embeddedness in local norms and informal institutions, the visibility of the publics goods financed through informal contributions, and a heightened sense of national solidarity during the pandemic. These findings have important implications for our understandings of local perceptions of the fairness of informal financing mechanisms and broader citizen expectations of the state.

Paper short abstract:

We document (i) a negative relationship between the level of transfer progressivity and the stage of economic development and (ii) a negative relationship between the ability to insure consumption against income shocks and economic development.

Paper long abstract:

With micro panel data from 32 countries including the poorest and the richest in the

world we document (i) a negative relationship between the level of transfer progressivity

and the stage of economic development and (ii) a negative relationship between the ability

to insure consumption against income shocks and economic development. Importantly,

our measure of transfer progressivity includes both public and private net transfers across

households—e.g. food transfers. Using an overlapping generations model in which agents

differ in permanent productivity, face income shocks and accumulate physical and human

capital through learning-by-doing (a labor choice), we find that cross-country differences

in transfer progressivity go a long way in explaining the larger ability to insure consumption

in poor countries than in rich countries. Then, we use our model to assess the role

of transfer progressivity in explaining income per capita differences across countries. We

find that decreasing progressivity of poor countries to the levels of rich countries increases

income per capita of poor countries by 62%. However, a reduction in progressivity is not

necessarily welfare improving because although it increases the incentives to work and accumulate

physical and human capital, at the same time, it reduces social insurance—and

redistribution. Taking into account the trade-off between growth and insurance, we find

that moving poor economies to their optimal transfer progressivity increases their GDP per

capita by 56% and increases their welfare by 18% in consumption equivalent terms.

Paper short abstract:

This paper examines the effect of bypass aid on informal governance and state-society relations in Haitian slums. The paper provides evidence for two types of effects: a reduced capacity for community self-provision of public goods; and, decreased assessments of state legitimacy among residents.

Paper long abstract:

This paper examines “bypass aid’s” effects on both community-level, informal governance and formal state-society relations in Haitian slums. Bypass aid eschews substantive host government involvement in aid delivery, instead routing assistance through international or national NGOs and their community-based partners. Given donors’ long-standing preoccupations with state weakness and corruption in Haiti, bypass aid remains a common method for delivery of individual assistance and community-level public goods alike. But what are the long-term implications of such an arrangement on formal and informal governance in Haiti’s politically volatile slums, and what are the mechanisms through which such effects emerge?

To explore these questions, I draw on a mixed-methods, comparative case study of the secondary cities of Les Cayes and Cap Haitien, conducted between 2021 and 2023. These cities share a number of similarities, including population size, political and economic subordination to the capital of Port-au-Prince, entrenched poverty, low state capacity, and endemic urban violence. Notably, however, Les Cayes has experienced a greater amount of per capita bypass aid delivered by humanitarian NGOs over the past decade. Capitalizing on these contrasting “aid profiles”, the paper provides evidence for two important effects resulting from more bypass aid: 1) a reduced capacity for resident-led collective action involving the self-provision of public goods within slums, and, 2) decreased perceptions of state legitimacy among slum residents.

These findings add to literatures examining consequences of public goods provision by non-state actors (including NGOs), and the complicated dynamics of statebuilding and the social contract in fragile governance contexts.

Paper short abstract:

Distinctions between state and non-state social welfare often blur in conflict-affected countries like Yemen. We present research on what the mix of state, non-state and semi-state actors providing social assistance mean for accountability, effective provision and capacities of institutions.

Paper long abstract:

Yemen has divided governance and the majority of the population ruled by de-facto authorities. Welfare is a mix of humanitarian aid provided by international organisations in partnership with local actors and externally financed assistance provided through a pre-conflict social protection system managed by para-statal and state institutions and overseen by international agencies. Drawing on research due to be published as an IDS working paper in March/April 2024 we will present reflections on what this complex mix of actors implies for the accountability and effectiveness of assistance and the capacities of state and non-state institutions involved in providing and mediating social assistance. Yemen has been held up as an impressive example of how existing social protection systems and capacities can be maintained and supported even during a prolonged war. And surprising pockets of effectiveness have been maintained within para-statal organisations. However, capacities to tackle social inequities and exclusions have been marginalised as international aid agencies and donors have focussed systems strengthening efforts on the narrowly technical aspects of maintaining and building payment systems. Local civil society organisations have played narrowly defined sub-contractual roles in the delivery of assistance while funding to local organisations continues to be at low levels. There has been a reluctance to tackle the political challenges of opening up who is targeted for assistance and the value of the transfers, alongside budgetary pressures squeezing ration sizes, with implications for the accountability, equity and effectiveness of assistance.

Paper short abstract:

The paper brings forth how in the face of growing repression and authoritarianism popular social navigations vis-a-vis the state occur in the face of prevalent precarities.

Paper long abstract:

The paper focuses its gaze on the Indian-controlled valley of Kashmir to highlight how the militarily strong state resonates with weak statehood in Kashmir. Being faced with popular contentious politics, the state in Kashmir is argued to survive through militarised authoritarian control leading to the pervading social condition of fear and insecurity. Thus, rather than a provider of security, the situation in Kashmir is marked by the least expectations of security from the state. The article highlights rasookh as a means of self-governance popularly employed in Kashmir to socially navigate the prevalent precarious circumstances, especially drawing security by virtue of informal connections. The paper becomes significant to firstly, highlight how the prevalent political structures condition and inform individual behaviour, and secondly, to examine the way different individuals develop institutionalised responses as an experience of those structures. The paper through the case of Kashmir portrays how weak statehood in Kashmir predominantly informs the pervading social condition of fear and insecurity and how self-governance under rasookh becomes a means of compensating for the prevalent precarity. The paper draws from the neo-institutionalist literature understanding the state as an ensemble of formal and informal institutions, mainly understanding institutions from the Lauthian perspective as ordered patterns of behaviour. From that perspective, rasookh is made sense of as an informal institution—an “uncodified but socially accepted pattern of behaviour”. The paper provides original contributions by highlighting the under-researched societal aspect of analysing self-governance through rasookh (an informal institution) and highlighting everyday, societal dynamics that underpin it.