Informal Social Protection and Poverty

Description

​This book analyzes the importance of informal social protection provided by religious institutions such as madrassas in a low-income country such as Pakistan. This book explains that Madrassas are religious schools that have existed in many Muslim countries for centuries and contributed significantly to preserving, forming, and extending human knowledge in medieval times. Further, madrassas are now more commonly viewed as the providers of a narrow education, supporting religious fundamentalism, that may lead to terrorism. However, this book asserts that education is not the only function performed by madrassas. They are a significant source of welfare support for the vulnerable and marginalized households in many low-income countries.  This book helps the readers to understand the concept of informal social protection not conceptualized previously. In addition, its various attributes and institutions providing such a form of welfare worldwide are explained in detail; analyzing the usefulness of such a form of social protection would benefit readers of social policy, national governments, and international donor/aid agencies. This book also provides a prescriptive framework for integrating formal and informal social protection.  This book provides a new "Multiple Regime Framework", for identifying various regimes in one country at one point in time by applying a novel data collection and analysis methodology. The application of this framework would be of particular interest to social policy scholars, national governments, and donor/aid agencies because it will result in better targeting of social protection policies in the wake of fiscal constraints. Lastly, this book provides a novel data collection and analysis strategy that will benefit the reader of research methodology, development consultants, donor agencies, and policy practitioners interested in using artificial intelligence to make informed and targeted policy decisions. Contents Abbreviations List of Figures List of Tables 1 Introduction References 2 Theoretical Framework, Literature Review, and Contributions 2.1 Introduction 2.2 Theoretical Framework 2.3 Literature Review 2.3.1 Overview of the Literature on Welfare Regimes in Developing Countries 2.3.2 The Role of Community in Providing Welfare 2.3.3 Contributions of the Study References 3 Conceptualizing Informal Social Protection: A Framework to Compare Formal and Informal Social Protection 3.1 Introduction 3.2 Methodology 3.3 Social Protection 3.4 Overview and Findings from Literature on Informal Social Protection 3.5 Synthesizing the Literature; Defining and Reconceptualizing Informal Social Protection 3.6 Informal Assistance—Sources and Definitions 3.6.1 Family (Immediate and Extended) 3.6.2 Religious Institutions 3.6.3 NGOs (National and International) 3.7 Informal Insurance—Sources and Definition 3.7.1 Family (Immediate and Extended) 3.7.2 Neighborhoods, Friends, and Village Communities 3.7.3 Religious Organizations 3.8 Informal Labor Market Measures—Sources and Definitions 3.8.1 NGOs (Local and International) 3.8.2 Religious Organizations 3.9 Limitations 3.10 Conclusion 3.11 Putting the Conceptualization into Operation and Devising a Survey Instrument for Data Collection References 4 Research Design, Methodology, and Data Collection 4.1 Introduction—Exploratory Research Design 4.2 Data Source Identification—Justification of Sample 4.3 Data Collection and Methodology 4.4 Ethical Concerns, Quality of the Data, and Bias Reduction 4.5 Conclusion References 5 Madrassas as a Provider of Informal Social Protection in Pakistan 5.1 Introduction 5.2 Secondary Data 5.3 Madrassas in the Early Islamic Period 5.3.1 Origins 5.3.2 Organization of the Madrassa 5.3.3 Method of Instruction and Contributions 5.4 Madrassas in the Indian Sub-Continent Before Colonization 5.5 Impact of Colonization on Madrassas in India 5.6 Madrassa Development in Pakistan 5.7 Results and Discussion 5.8 Conclusion References 6 Comparing Formal and Informal Social Protection: Exploring the Usefulness of Informal Social Protection in Pakistan 6.1 Introduction 6.2 Social Protection in Pakistan 6.3 Results and Discussion 6.3.1 Socio-Economic Conditions and Risks and Shocks Faced by the Surveyed Households 6.3.2 Formal and Informal Assistance 6.3.3 Formal and Informal Insurance 6.3.4 Formal and Informal Labor Markets 6.3.5 The Overall Usefulness of Formal and Informal Social Protection 6.4 Limitations, Conclusions, Policy Implications, and Scope of Future Research References 7 Machine Learning-Based Approach for Exploring the Household Survey Data 7.1 Introduction 7.2 Use of Machine Learning in Public Policy—An Overview of the Literature 7.3 Reasons for Using the K-means Clustering Technique to Explore the Collected Household Survey Data 7.3.1 K-means Clustering 7.4 Results 7.4.1 Description of Clusters 7.4.2 Household Characteristics of Clusters 7.4.3 Assets 7.4.4 Risks and Shocks 7.4.5 Formal Social Protection Received by the Households Through Various Sources 7.4.6 Informal Social Protection Received by the Households Through Various Sources 7.5 Conclusion References 8 Determining Multiple Welfare Regimes in Pakistan 8.1 Introduction 8.2 Applying Global Welfare Regime Model to Pakistan’s Context 8.3 Results and Discussion 8.3.1 Cluster1—Potential Welfare State Regime 8.3.2 Cluster2—More Effective Informal Security Regime 8.3.3 Cluster0—Less Effective Informal Security Regime 8.3.4 Cluster3—Insecurity Regime 8.3.5 The Richest in Pakistan 8.4 Limitations, Conclusions, and Implications References 9 Conclusions, Implications, and Avenues of Future Research 9.1 Conclusions 9.2 Implications 9.2.1 Does Informal Social Protection Produce Extremism? A Case for Formal Social Protection 9.2.2 A Strong and a Weak State Within One Country 9.2.3 Taxing the Rich—A System of Redistribution 9.2.4 Better Data and Evidence in Policy-Making 9.2.5 Reforming the Madrassas—Options and Possibilities 9.3 Avenues of Future Research References Annexure A Participant Information Sheet Annexure B Annexure C Survey Questionnaire for the Households Part—2 Part—3 Annexure D Survey Questionnaire for the Head of Madrassa Annexure E Annexure F Annexure G Semi Structured Interview Questionnaire Head of Madrassa Annexure H Annexure I