An institutional economic analysis of a Pakistani community funding practice in Australia

Abstract

The primary focus of this study is an informal practice of community funding practiced by the women in Pakistani urban households, known as "kitty party", which is a form of rotating savings associations (Waldrop, 2011). Being an informal cultural practice, an exact or widely accepted definition of a kitty party is not available, but it can be explained as a rotating savings association; where a group of women meet on a regular interval to eat, talk, and draw a "kitty"- a set amount of money-that has been accumulated on a particular meeting. This project will analyse kitty parties and how this informal practice of communal borrowing and lending is adapted in Australia by the women of Pakistani community. The main aim is to study kitty parties using the framework of institutional economics. Though rotating savings organisations are usually referred as an informal social arrangement, through this study I want to determine whether kitty party is best understood as an institutional or cultural phenomenon. The findings will improve our understanding of the link between culture and institutions, and also understand the economic model of this particular community funding practice within its social context.

Date of Award	2022
Original language	English