Social networks near and far: The role of bonding and bridging social capital for assets of the rural poor

With formal insurance and credit markets either absent or inaccessible to rural agents in most poor rural economies, social networks play a highly important role in mitigating the risks that agricultural households face. These kinds of informal insurance schemes are presumed to be most effective in...

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Main Author: Mogues, Tewodaj
Format: Journal Article
Language:Inglés
Published: John Wiley & Sons 2019
Subjects:
Online Access:https://hdl.handle.net/10568/145758
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author Mogues, Tewodaj
author_browse Mogues, Tewodaj
author_facet Mogues, Tewodaj
author_sort Mogues, Tewodaj
collection Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (CGSpace)
description With formal insurance and credit markets either absent or inaccessible to rural agents in most poor rural economies, social networks play a highly important role in mitigating the risks that agricultural households face. These kinds of informal insurance schemes are presumed to be most effective in the face of idiosyncratic risk. However, social mechanisms also exist in developing countries that may reduce locally correlated risk such as the adverse economic effects of climatic conditions that affect multiple residents in a village. This paper analyzes the role of localized (bonding) and of spatially dispersed (bridging) social capital in mitigating the impact of idiosyncratic and of locally correlated shocks on farm households’ livestock endowments. Using dynamic panel generalized method of moments (GMM) system estimation with seven‐period panel dataset of over 400 households, we find that bonding social capital is able to protect households’ livestock assets against idiosyncratic shocks, but bridging social capital does not play a role in mitigating the impact of correlated shocks. The results hold up to multiple robustness checks. A test of different hypotheses about the nature of these assets’ trajectories rejects the asset poverty trap hypothesis, and instead finds that livestock asset dynamics are characterized by a single stable equilibrium.
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spelling CGSpace1457582024-10-25T07:59:25Z Social networks near and far: The role of bonding and bridging social capital for assets of the rural poor Mogues, Tewodaj social capital social networks rural poverty households assets livestock numbers With formal insurance and credit markets either absent or inaccessible to rural agents in most poor rural economies, social networks play a highly important role in mitigating the risks that agricultural households face. These kinds of informal insurance schemes are presumed to be most effective in the face of idiosyncratic risk. However, social mechanisms also exist in developing countries that may reduce locally correlated risk such as the adverse economic effects of climatic conditions that affect multiple residents in a village. This paper analyzes the role of localized (bonding) and of spatially dispersed (bridging) social capital in mitigating the impact of idiosyncratic and of locally correlated shocks on farm households’ livestock endowments. Using dynamic panel generalized method of moments (GMM) system estimation with seven‐period panel dataset of over 400 households, we find that bonding social capital is able to protect households’ livestock assets against idiosyncratic shocks, but bridging social capital does not play a role in mitigating the impact of correlated shocks. The results hold up to multiple robustness checks. A test of different hypotheses about the nature of these assets’ trajectories rejects the asset poverty trap hypothesis, and instead finds that livestock asset dynamics are characterized by a single stable equilibrium. 2019-02 2024-06-21T09:04:59Z 2024-06-21T09:04:59Z Journal Article https://hdl.handle.net/10568/145758 en Limited Access John Wiley & Sons Mogues, Tewodaj. 2019. Social networks near and far: The role of bonding and bridging social capital for assets of the rural poor. Review of Development Economics 23(1): 189-210. https://doi.org/10.1111/rode.12529
spellingShingle social capital
social networks
rural poverty
households
assets
livestock numbers
Mogues, Tewodaj
Social networks near and far: The role of bonding and bridging social capital for assets of the rural poor
title Social networks near and far: The role of bonding and bridging social capital for assets of the rural poor
title_full Social networks near and far: The role of bonding and bridging social capital for assets of the rural poor
title_fullStr Social networks near and far: The role of bonding and bridging social capital for assets of the rural poor
title_full_unstemmed Social networks near and far: The role of bonding and bridging social capital for assets of the rural poor
title_short Social networks near and far: The role of bonding and bridging social capital for assets of the rural poor
title_sort social networks near and far the role of bonding and bridging social capital for assets of the rural poor
topic social capital
social networks
rural poverty
households
assets
livestock numbers
url https://hdl.handle.net/10568/145758
work_keys_str_mv AT moguestewodaj socialnetworksnearandfartheroleofbondingandbridgingsocialcapitalforassetsoftheruralpoor