Social capital and large-scale agricultural investments
Dr. Kacana Khadjavi, Kiel Institute
Following the 2007-2008 global food crisis international agricultural producers have invested in large tracts of land in developing countries. We investigate how the arrival of market-oriented large-scale farms changes inter-personal trust and reciprocity, which are important components of social capital, in traditional subsistence-oriented villages. We employ a lab-in-the-field experiment and a natural field measure to elicit trust and reciprocal behaviour in villages that lie near large-scale farms and compare them to villages at a distance. Our data reveal greater intra-village trust in villages close to large-scale farms. Reciprocity is higher after employment on large-scale farms. These results are likely to be driven by communal coping and reputation building mechanisms.
About the speaker
Kacana Sipangule is a Research Fellow at the Kiel Institute for the World Economy and the Director of the Poverty Reduction, Equity, and Growth Network (PEGNet). She holds a PhD in Economics from the University of Goettingen, a MSc. In Economics from the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam and BA in Development Studies and Economics from the University of Zambia. She has held visiting positions at the United Nations University World Institute for Development Economics (UNU-WIDER) and the Oxford Department for International Development.
Date: 14 February 2019
Time: 12:00 - 13:00 CEST
