Replication Data for: Painful Reforms, Punished Incumbents: The Politics of Economic Adjustmentdoi:10.7910/DVN/V7RQQ4Harvard Dataverse2026-03-311Reinsberg, Bernhard; Abouharb, Mohammed, 2026, "Replication Data for: Painful Reforms, Punished Incumbents: The Politics of Economic Adjustment", https://doi.org/10.7910/DVN/V7RQQ4, Harvard Dataverse, V1, UNF:6:qTjQA8asj90/Hb9ygT6XCg== [fileUNF]Replication Data for: Painful Reforms, Punished Incumbents: The Politics of Economic Adjustmentdoi:10.7910/DVN/V7RQQ4Reinsberg, BernhardAbouharb, MohammedHarvard DataverseReinsberg, BernhardReinsberg, Bernhard2026-03-30Social SciencesInternational Monetary Fundpolicy reformblame-shiftingsurvey experimentWorld Values SurveysWe investigate the political fallout from economic reform programs and whether incumbent governments can soften the impact using social protection or scapegoating strategies. We test our arguments through a survey experiment in Pakistan and an analysis of World Values Surveys. The Pakistani experiment confirms that emphasizing the negative consequences of reform lowers incumbent support, while attempts to mitigate this backlash are ineffective. The cross-country data show that populations enduring harsher reform programs report lower satisfaction with national leaders. These findings inform economic voting theories in developing countries and policies regarding political backlash from IMF-backed adjustments.The survey data are available here: https://doi.org/10.7910/DVN/YAM0WX<a href="http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0">CC0 1.0</a>Reinsberg, B., & Abouharb, M. R. (2026). Painful Reforms, Punished Incumbents: The Politics of Economic Adjustment. Journal of Economic Policy Reform.10.1080/17487870.2026.2654637Reinsberg, B., & Abouharb, M. R. (2026). Painful Reforms, Punished Incumbents: The Politics of Economic Adjustment. Journal of Economic Policy Reform.GOATRA_WVS_JEPR.tab42215028text/tab-separated-valuesUNF:6:qTjQA8asj90/Hb9ygT6XCg==Observational data ISO-3 country codeUNF:6:m8LpRVedY70ZJN+1EEespQ==Survey year2019.00.02004.60981641596752005.09.332898567650316422150.01980.0.UNF:6:V2V8u9P4GBnzUP1+lsZ6mA==Weight0.99999493942647181.00.40520584582229150.0422150.032.25088143795368.0.0368954136033400950undefined01No weighting236286UNF:6:REINmwjzl1Kvnl0HCip3Cg==Satisfaction with the people in national office-2.0703849342650775422150.00.0.3.0560258621604684.0-4.0-4.01Very satisfied7666-4Not asked in survey2979373Fairly dissatisfied44473-2No answer5012Fairly satisfied406754Very dissatisfied25440-1Don´t know5458-5Missing; Unknown0-3Not applicable0UNF:6:7cy4yxK8F0xKqiTSiMt7+Q==Country is run by big interest vs. for all people’s benefit-4.00.0.422150.02.434536889793427-4.0-2.3131588297999522.01Run by a few big interests87676-3Not applicable0-2No answer831-4Not asked in survey281394-1Don´t know13812-5Missing; Unknown02Run for all the people38437UNF:6:otEAYLFkKgx0annVbU/pKg==Confidence: The Government422150.0-5.0.2.2106593170299732.04.01.8208243515340690.01A great deal51977-2No answer2514-1Don´t know112992Quite a lot1195464None at all70181-4Not asked406963Not very much125708-5Missing; Unknown229UNF:6:e3aL9rL3ZI3wSrxR/5jttA==IMF program active at any point in the year1.00.0.0.4067173752282735265044.00.4912222127786717157106.00.0UNF:6:1PoZk0FrzVJ2HFLYcAMjdQ==Prior actions157106.0.0.00.0265044.06.60742288016687237.02.1940357072796717UNF:6:sU8crwdgXF4/tUQKmHxvAQ==Woman0.499648577944741931.00.51875890985325910.04775.0417375.0.1.0UNF:6:bg/V0HNVbkh7E42k/rjMsw==Age 417604.041.13404804551863103.0.13.016.1858376067932639.04546.0UNF:6:3HcfBodyGH9p8SocW71SAQ==Married0.57313987918981791.01.00.0422150.0.0.49462221706026230.0UNF:6:VKNz84umlfEp07Q+vwl6CA==Number of children1.570034699419126815590.0406560.05.02.00.01.7936442345533254.UNF:6:mFJKVBT5UqmjqVOScw+Stg==Education level299295.0.1.05.08.02.229387877556285122855.04.712504385305544UNF:6:Oc70ijBkt0SdzSsIYNXk3g==Lives with parents0.01.00.0320312.0101838.00.45776804985982783.0.29888046654509887UNF:6:X2DpjDeC2JNFkwhXfvgclA==Chief wage earner0.00.45282084861188726381800.0.0.49776980285992761.040350.00.0UNF:6:7F0CrzGPzbg+UqCd+CB99g==Interest in politics.4.03.01.41153381713039460.0-5.0422150.02.46720123178963751Very interested49696-2No answer16073Not very interested125240-4Not asked8598-1Don´t know35602Somewhat interested1375254Not at all interested95761-5Missing; Unknown163UNF:6:od6yAgX11GQL2cwaTjBLXg==Important in life: Politics-5.04.02.32037664337338031.6649608807996035422150.03.00.0.-5Missing; Not available2231Very important57506-4Not asked15624-1Don´t know6164-2No answer21144Not at all important891822Rather important1146953Not very important136642UNF:6:w1+MgY7gGWnFnONnm2di/g==Most people can be trusted1.60244462868647332.00.8393860546501887422150.00.02.0-4.0.-1Don´t know10257-4Not asked2988-5Other: Missing01Most people can be trusted1040812Need to be very careful301062-2No answer3762UNF:6:Cxacjzpfslp+abwMEKWS5A==Self positioning in political scale422150.03.2783820916759520.05.010.04.277962090667885-5.0.4422495-1Don´t know55989558591399131826640168332105522106568827318-2No answer1532810Right288191Left19470-5Missing; Unknown901-4Not asked527957728061UNF:6:fISLmudhBFjVjOpbDIkDQA==Protecting environment vs. Economic growth422150.01.9052425229430263-5.00.0.0.7050882387778223.01.02Economy growth and creating jobs146851-1Don´t know24025-4Not asked480081Protecting environment181465-2No answer45803Other answer16726-5Missing; Unknown495UNF:6:id7WWlTlGg2Yll7aKBi4Dw==Government responsibility-5.06.05.66123889612699750.03.6906815228984504422150.0.10.05532339883713810The government should take more responsibility87692-4Not asked in survey165629932569-5Missing; Unknown2271People should take more responsibility3880044301227731470-2No answer21632218772-3Not applicable0-1Don´t know809666550453331155UNF:6:KzJR4/aZL5Danty2RH+q1Q==Aims of country: first choice.422150.04.01.78719375719094890.01.29233210943939161.0-5.0-5Missing; Unknown374-4Not asked280312Strong defence forces536541A high level of economic growth2261043People have more say about how things are done73941-1Don´t know79254Trying to make our cities and countryside more beautiful29414-2No answer2707UNF:6:k1SmNR6AizdMIJM+tUlYEA==Satisfaction with household finances12685.02.5686716705677661.0.409465.06.010.05.744002539899611UNF:6:WzrG6BEWorQttRMptl8rjA==Gone without medicine1.64668925124231570.9214381756705491.0.4.0164419.01.0257731.0UNF:6:H/y+/vZvvNdtodPvJt/YRg==Gone without income257745.01.0.4.01.01.023636321756433164405.01.87298439828479UNF:6:kVV6gHV74MBCRzdN3WLong==Gone without food0.8572066361073944164850.0257300.01.04.0.1.52882013952087111.0UNF:6:BfZEzqPtJgWr1AsA1zM1Lw==Average growth (3-year period)354809.054.878832675652853.299754298269278767341.0.3.503867384750403-28.5273149229462186.2253201958794016UNF:6:0CfOlSlEx3SeVhIWiN5HDg==Average crisis incidence (3-year period).0.089484276857934251.0391864.00.00.244409268586910530286.00.0UNF:6:N2q7afQm80r6um5nth9Xow==GOATRA_PAK_JEPR.doExperimental analysistext/x-stata-syntaxGOATRA_WVS_JEPR.doObservational data analysistext/x-stata-syntaxRead Me.txttext/plain