Suchergebnisse

As one of the dimensions of vulnerability, this paper empirically investigates the inability of rural dwellers to cope with negative income shocks. A variable coefficient regression model is applied to a two-period household panel dataset collected in the North-West Frontier Province, Pakistan, an area with high incidence of income poverty and low human development. The empirical model allows for a different ability to smooth consumption, approximated by a linear function of households' attributes, and controls for the endogeneity of observed changes in income, using qualitative information on subjective risk assessment. Estimation results show that the ability to cope with negative income shocks is lower for households that are aged, landless and do not receive remittances regularly. (DSE/GIGA)

This article examines the rise and contemporary dynamics of the Taliban insurgency in the NWFP and FATA (Federally Administered Tribal Area) regions of Pakistan. It argues that the Taliban insurgency is not necessarily a product or reflective of Pushtun ethnonationalism. Instead, it is based on a particular interpretation of Islam, irrespective of ethnic or linguistic demarcations. U.S. and NATO military intervention along the Afghan-Pakistan border since 2001 has exacerbated the Taliban insurgency in Pakistan.