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Browsing by Subject "Social capital"

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Climate variability, social capital and food security in Sub-Saharan Africa : household level assessment of potential impacts and adaptation options
(2015) Assfaw, Tesfamicheal Wossen; Berger, Thomas
Climate variability and poor distribution of rainfall often causes serious agricultural production losses and worsens food insecurity. Given that the direct effects of climate change and variability are transmitted through the agricultural sector, improving farm households capacities to adapt to the adverse effects of climate-related shocks is an important policy concern. This thesis applied a stochastic Agent-based Model (ABM) that is capable of simulating the effects of different adaptation options by capturing the dynamic changes of climate and prices, as well as the dynamic adaptive process of different farm households to the impacts of these changes. The agent-based simulations conducted in this thesis address the special challenges of climate and price variability in the context of small-scale and subsistence agriculture by capturing non-separable production and consumption decisions, as well as the role of livestock for consumption smoothing. To ensure the reliability and usefulness of results, the model was validated with reference to land-use and overall poverty levels based on observed survey values. In particular, the study used disaggregated socio-economic, price, climate and crop yield data to quantify the impacts of climate and price variability on food security and poverty at the household level. Furthermore, the study explicitly captured crop-livestock interactions and the “recursive” nature of livestock keeping when examining the effects of climate and price variability. The thesis additionally examined how specific adaptation strategies and policy interventions, especially those related to the promotion of credit, improved seed varieties, fertilizer subsidy and off-farm employment, affect the distribution of household food security and poverty outcomes. In addition to impacts on household food security and poverty, the study further considered indirect impacts through changes in the price of agricultural inputs and livestock holding. In terms of coping strategies, the simulation results in this thesis show that the effects of climate and price variability on consumption are considerable, but smaller for those households with relatively large livestock endowments. In addition, the study also found that farm households with a large plantation area of eucalyptus were able to cope with the effects of variability. Therefore, our results suggest that self-coping strategies are important but not sufficient and should be complemented with appropriate policy interventions. In terms of policy interventions, the study found that policy intervention through the expansion of credit and fertilizer subsidy along with innovation through the promotion of new crop varieties that are resilient and adapted to local conditions are the most effective adaptation options for the case of Ethiopia. In addition, the simulation results underscore that adaptation strategies composed of a portfolio of actions (such as credit and fertilizer subsidy along with new technologies) are more effective compared to a single policy intervention. For Ghana, the study suggests that if expansion of production credit is complimented by irrigation, it can provide a way to achieve food security under climate and price variability. In order to design a best-fit intervention instead of a ‘one size fits all’ approach, it is important to capture the distribution of effects across locations as well as households. The great strength of this study is its agent-based nature, which enables exploration of how effects are distributed across farm households. The simulation results clearly show that poor farms are vulnerable to climate and price variability, under which they suffer food insecurity, while a small group of wealthy farms are better off due to higher prices achieved when selling crops. The result from this thesis further underscores the need for improving adaptive capacity, as a large proportion of farm households are unable to shield themselves against the impacts of price and climate variability. In what follows, the study further applied standard micro-econometric techniques to examine the role of social capital and informal social networks on consumption insurance and adoption of risk mitigating land management practices. In particular, the thesis provides evidence of the effects of different dimensions of social capital on the adoption of soil and water conservation practices across households holding different levels of risk-aversion. The results of the study underscore that social capital plays a significant role in enhancing the adoption of improved farmland management practices and suggests that the effect of social capital across households with heterogeneous risk taking behaviour is different. Finally, by combining household panel data, weather data, self-reported health shocks and detailed social capital information, the last section is able to analyze how social capital buffers some of the implications of weather shocks.
Gun violence in the U.S. : correlates and causes
(2017) Kukharskyy, Bohdan; Seiffert, Sebastian
This paper provides a county-level investigation of the root causes of gun violence in the U.S. To guide our empirical analysis, we develop a simple theoretical model which suggests that firearm-related offenses in a given county increase with the number of illegal guns and decrease with social capital and police intensity. Using detailed panel data from the Federal Bureau of Investigation for the period 1986-2014, we find empirical evidence for the causal effects of illegal guns, social capital, and police intensity consistent with our theoretical predictions. Based on our analysis, we derive a range of policy recommendations.
Measuring social capital and innovation in poor agricultural communities : the case of Cháparra, Peru
(2011) Arata, Atilio; Hartmann, Dominik
In the last decades substantive advance has been made in the measurement and understanding of frontier innovation in highly industrialized settings. However, little research focused on the process of learning and the introduction of novelties in smallholder farming of poor agricultural communities. Considering that 1.5 billion people in developing countries live in such smallholder households this is an essential shortcoming. In addressing three crucial questions about the measurement and promotion of endogenous local development this paper contributes to close this research gap. The three questions are: a) how can we measure social capital and innovation in poor agricultural communities, b) what is the impact of external agents on local structures and c) what are the relations between the social capital and the innovative performance of the farmer. In a first step a comprehensive questionnaire with 89 questions on diverse dimensions of social capital and innovation has been elaborated and applied to the agricultural valley of Cháparra in the South of Peru. The results allow for an indepth analysis of the capabilities, network position and innovative behavior of the farmers. In a second step, we apply social network analysis techniques to analyze the role and position of the relevant actors in the local as well as in the external technical information networks with a special focus on the influence of an external NGO. The analysis reveals a deep structural impact of the NGO and significant correlations between the network position of the farmers and their innovative performance. Three crucial issues for research on smallholder innovation are identified. First, diverse dimensions of social capital and innovation have to be differentiated when studying endogenous development. Second, it has to be assessed to which degree the modification of the existing social structures by external agents can be harmful or beneficial. Third, social network analysis can help us to gain a better understanding of the complex relations between social capital and innovation and how these can contribute to foster sustainable development projects.
Microeconomic impacts of institutional transformation in Vietnam?s Northern uplands : empirical studies on social capital, land and credit institutions
(2012) Saint-Macary, Camille; Zeller, Manfred
Vietnam's economic achievement over the last two decades is frequently regarded as a successful case of development. The Doi Moi reform program enacted in 1986 gradually led the transition from a centrally-planned to a market-oriented economy. In rural areas, reforms entailed a deep transformation of institutions and were aimed at placing back farmers at the center of decision making as a way to boost agricultural production and alleviate poverty. Agricultural markets were gradually liberalized, user rights were transferred to smallholder farmers for most of the agricultural land, and anti-poverty programs were implemented. At the national level, the high economic growths in all sectors of the economy have permitted a drastic reduction of poverty. These successes however did not take place evenly through the country. Mountainous regions and its inhabitants have lagged behind in the process. The poverty incidence in the Northern Uplands was still twice as large in 2008 than in the rest of the country. In addition, the rapid population growth combined with the intensification and expansion of agricultural systems into fragile ecosystems have considerably increased pressure on natural resources. This accentuates the risk for resource-based economies such as Vietnam?s mountainous regions to get trapped in a vicious circle whereby environmental degradation and poverty mutually reinforce each other and durably undermine economic development. The existence of complex relations between poverty and environmental degradation in fragile ecosystems implies that equity, economic growth and environmental sustainability cannot be treated as separate objectives but must jointly be addressed to ensure sustainable development. Drawing on a conceptual framework that highlights the determinant role of institutions in the poverty-environment nexus, this thesis investigates to which extent the current institutional framework addresses objectives of equity, economic growth and environmental sustainability. It focuses on three critical dimensions: the definition of property rights, the functioning of intertemporal markets, and social capital. More specifically, the thesis addresses the following research questions: (i) Has the individualization of land access and land titling policy enhanced tenure security, and thereby increased the adoption of soil conservation practices? (ii) Has a land market emerged in the study area? (iii) Is the credit market equitable and efficient? Does state intervention induce a more equitable and efficient allocation than other sectors? (iv) Does ethnic diversity undermine collective action and the formation of social networks? These questions are investigated empirically in the six chapters of this thesis. Analyses build on a rich and primary quantitative household- and village-level dataset collected in 2007/2008 in Yen Chau, a mountainous district of the Northern Upland region, as well as on qualitative information gathered in the field through focus group discussions and informal discussions with local stakeholders. Successes of the land reform lie in its egalitarian character which enables most farmers to cultivate land with long term user rights. Yet, results show that tenure security is not fully guaranteed and land reallocations conducted by the government as well as its indecision regarding the prolongation of land use rights at the end of their term have created mistrust and uncertainty. The incertitude is found to impede the adoption of soil conservation technologies and to hamper the land market, depriving the local economy from potentially important equity and efficiency gains, and threatening environmental sustainability. The credit market, thanks to good levels of social capital, is found to function relatively well and enable all farmers including the poor to finance agricultural input and consumption through loans. The state-governed formal sector, despite offering competitive contract terms remains a secondary credit source, particularly for the poor. The costly micro-credit program of the government fails to reach the poor and is found to have only limited impact on welfare. This inefficiency causes an important leakage of state resources. Finally, we do not find as predicted by the literature, that ethnic heterogeneity undermines participation in local organizations and the formation of social networks. This impact appears to depend on the political nature of organizations, and the public nature of goods managed. Moreover, evidence shows that heterogeneity encourages bridging connections among farmers and constitutes as such a factor that can foster innovations and economic development. The contributions of this thesis are twofold. First, it identifies sources of success and failure in the current institutional framework to promote sustainable development in Vietnam?s mountainous areas from which we derive policy recommendations. Evidence in this thesis highlights limitations of the top-down approach that dominates public intervention in mountainous areas. These interventions are usually costly and not always successful in enhancing equity, efficiency and the environmental sustainability of resource use. This stresses the need for the Vietnamese government to further enhance the functioning of incentive-based mechanisms in the economy as a complement to current policies. In this perspective, the clarification of the land reform objectives, the development of a land market, the promotion of independent and financially sustainable financial institutions, the reinforcement of the legal system, and the support of the emergence of an independent civil society are all measures that may support sustainable development in Vietnam?s mountainous regions.
Professional online networking : investigating the technological and the human side of networking with professional social networking sites
(2021) Baumann, Lea; Utz, Sonja
Professional social networking sites (SNS) have become a vital part of modern days professional lives. They are a convenient way to receive information about job offers, work-related content, and to connect with other professionals independent of time and space. Research in the field of social capital has shown that a network of people can give access to information, influence, and solidarity which positively affect both subjective and objective career outcomes. Moreover, research has shown that a diverse network is most beneficial as it gives access to non-redundant information, new perspectives, and new ideas. Yet, most professional SNS users are mainly connected with others from their direct work environments such as colleagues and university friends. For one thing, this is because of the homophily principle which states that people tend to surround themselves with others who are similar to them. On the other hand, contact recommender systems of professional SNS support connecting with similar others as contact recommendations are usually based on similarity. The cumulative dissertation, therefore, was set out to investigate the technological and the human side of professional online networking to gain evidence on how to encourage professional SNS users to build more diverse business networks. The dissertation consists of four research articles answering the following four research questions: 1. Is there a difference between offline and online professional networking in terms of intensity and in terms of influence factors? 2. How do basic technological features and functions (e.g. diverse contact recommendations) influence professional online networking? 3. How do different information designs of contact recommendations influence professional online networking? 4. How does diverse online networking influence people’s social identification with their online business networks? In summary, the four research articles show that people’s online networking is mainly driven by cognitive factors, more specifically, people’s knowledge about the benefits of (diverse) networking. When people know about the benefits of networking and the benefits of diverse networking, they network more and more diverse. This can be addressed in the design of contact recommendations by displaying an explanation why someone is recommended thereby hinting at the benefits of networking in general and at the benefits of diversity. Moreover, this can be addressed by presenting contact recommendations emphasizing dissimilarity information in contrast to similarity information. Both different types of explanations and different types of information weaken the homophily principle and encourage people to network more diverse. Besides, basic technological functions influence online networking. When people are presented with a more diverse set of contact recommendations to choose from, they do not network less but consequently, end up with a more diverse business network. Furthermore, the negative affective influence of anxiety towards unknown people is different for offline than for online networking. In line with the social compensation hypothesis, in online settings, the negative influence is weaker than it is in offline settings. When only looking at online settings we see that higher levels of anxiety still reduce the number of people connected with but not the diversity of the resulting networks. Hence, people do not feel less anxiety when connecting with similar others than when connecting with dissimilar others. Finally, returning to the side of the user we see that more diverse online networking leads to a reduction of social identification with people’s online business networks. Diverse online networking reduces social identification with the network and as a result the willingness to support the network. Hence, diverse online networking compromises the benefits a network provides. Yet, in the absence of similarity, there is also evidence that people attribute others in their online networks with characteristics of their own to perceive them as similar. Shared characteristics function as a reason to identify and compensate for the lack of formal similarity when business networks become more diverse. Moreover, the specific features and functions of professional SNS besides contact recommendations can compensate for the lack of identification.
Rights-based approaches and social capital in addressing food and nutrition security of the poor and women : a mixed-methods study of NGOs in Armenia and Georgia
(2015) Jenderedjian, Anna; Bellows, Anne
The role of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) for the improvement of women’s and the poor’s food and nutrition security and advancement of their human rights is gaining prominence in academic and public discourse. NGOs as civil society actors ideally should advocate for greater accountability of states’ food and nutrition-related security programs and policies, support grass-roots efforts for democratized and improved food systems, and represent and protect the most food insecure groups. NGOs, nevertheless, have been criticized for creating dependency among the most food insecure, offering donor-driven top-down solutions and discouraging social mobilization efforts among the most disadvantaged and discriminated against groups. In this study we asked what encourages or prevents NGOs’ engagement with the most marginalized and discriminated against groups, such as women and the poor, and what are the approaches NGOs use in addressing these groups’ food and nutrition security. Applying a mixed quantitative and qualitative comparative analysis, this dissertation focused on NGOs in two post-Soviet countries: Armenia and Georgia. This study has produced three main sets of findings. First, possible determinants for NGOs’: involvement in food-oriented work; adoption of human rights-based approaches, including the right to adequate food; and gender mainstreaming were studied using results from an on-line electronic survey of 228 NGOs in Armenia and Georgia. The adoption of development and human rights concepts by national NGOs was associated with their involvement in networks with transnational donors or civil society organizations. NGO involvement was not determined by public demand alone, but rather as a compromise between various factors, including but not limited to the availability and support of donor funding and the organization’s involvement in a relevant transnational network. These findings confirm and reinforce previous studies on vertical discursive flows from transnational actors to national NGOs. Organizations’ self-reported engagement with the right to adequate food was rare in both countries, implying both absent or weak ties with transnational actors propagating the right to adequate food on the one hand, and on the other hand to low priority paid to the right to adequate food by the food security oriented international organizations cooperating with NGOs in the South Caucasus. Second, a qualitative study of 57 local and international NGOs in Armenia and Georgia explored operational and institutional characteristics of NGOs involved in food and nutrition security. The research found that NGOs’ preferences in building networks and targeting specific groups were determined mainly by the identities of organization core members, most specifically by their gender and their social and economic status. National and international NGOs operating in Armenia and Georgia with male leadership pursued the collective organization of economically better-off male farmers and entrepreneurs, whereas female-led NGOs targeted better educated rural women. The overarching objective of male-led NGO interventions was improved economic gain, whereas female-led NGOs aimed to improve community-wellbeing through promotion of social justice and charity. The study reconfirmed existing concerns that women’s leadership, involvement, and participation is hampered in male-dominated groups. In addition to gender-based segregation, the extremely poor were represented neither by male or female NGO members, nor were they included in NGO attempts to encourage group formation or social mobilization. The findings support Bourdieu’s argument that social capital accumulation is determined by social and economic proximities. Lastly, the case study of a female-led NGO working with internally displaced rural women in Georgia demonstrated how the improvement of women’s food and nutrition status was achievable when social isolation and structural discrimination in public and private spaces were acknowledged and addressed. Supporting bottom-up livelihood strengthening initiatives and addressing violence contributed to internally displaced rural women’s potential to realize the right to adequate food. The dissertation findings represent an advance in the understanding of the role of national and international civil society actors in improving food and nutrition security of the most marginalized and discriminated groups. The study enriches the limited but growing research on rights-based approaches in development as an alternative to technocratic solutions. The dissertation contributes to the research in international development, agriculture and rural development, and broader social theory.
Risk preferences and intra-household financial decision-making in rural Vietnam : a comparison of their elicitation methods and determinants
(2013) Nielsen, Thea; Zeller, Manfred
Although it is widely accepted that risk preferences and women?s empowerment influence decision making and have tangible outcomes, such as on livelihood strategies, food security, and poverty traps, there is no consensus on their determinants or measurement. Improved methods to elicit risk preferences and decision-making power as well as a better understanding of their determinants can allow development policy to better match smallholders? risk preferences and to increase women?s empowerment. This thesis has two main objectives: 1) To identify influencing factors of risk preferences and intra-household decision-making power based on a conceptual framework; 2) To improve measurements of risk preferences and intra-household decision-making by comparing widely used methods to more innovative ones. Data was collected from both household heads and spouses in a random sample of 300 households, representative of Yen Chau district, Son La Province in northwestern Vietnam. On average, respondents are poor, have a low level of education, worry about food security, produce maize for cash income and rice for home consumption, and rely heavily on social networks to obtain credit. Moreover, households face significant risks from idiosyncratic and covariate shocks. Following an introductory chapter explaining the importance of a better understanding of determinants of risk preferences and decision-making power to improve income and food security of smallholders, the second chapter examines determinants of risk preferences using a cross-section dataset. The chapter compares five widely applied methods to elicit risk preferences (a non-hypothetical lottery game, financial risk tolerance question, self-assessment scale, income gambles, and inheritance gambles) to four innovative methods (yield and price gambles of the main cash crop, maize, and the main food crop, rice). The results show that respondents are, on average, very risk averse. Moreover, correlations between most measures are statistically highly significant, though most are weak, suggesting that measures related to different decision domains should be compared with caution. Based on a conceptual framework, we outline the hypothesized determinants of risk preferences: the decision domain, prior experiences, and the asset base including human, financial, and social capital. We find that gender, age, idiosyncratic shocks, education, social norms, network-reliance with extended family, and connections to local authorities are significant determinants of risk preferences across most elicitation methods. The significance of several social capital proxies suggests that people's risk preferences are embedded in social institutions. Previous studies emphasize that shocks cause households to fall into poverty traps and that households can remain trapped in poverty because of risk aversion, yet previous research has not attempted to discern whether shocks influence risk aversion. The third chapter examines risk preference stability and whether shocks, social capital, and other characteristics change risk preferences between the lean and harvest season. Risk preferences were assessed from the same respondents using three widely applied methods (a lottery game, financial risk tolerance question, and self-assessment scale) and four innovative methods involving yield and price gambles of maize and rice. The results indicate that for all but one assessment method ? the financial risk tolerance question ? risk preferences are not stable between seasons. Respondents became less risk averse according to the lottery game and self-assessment scale, while they became more risk averse according to the rice and maize gambles. Both time-invariant characteristics, such as gender, education and social capital proxies, and time-variant characteristics, such as idiosyncratic and covariate shocks, are significant determinants of risk preference changes between seasons, although determining factors differ by assessment method. The fourth chapter examines influencing factors of wives' empowerment and husbands' dominance in ten financial decisions ? saving, family budgeting, and taking out and repaying four different sized loans. Based on theories and previous research on intra-household decision-making, we hypothesize that individual-, household-, and institutional-level factors may influence women?s decision-making power for financial decisions. We find that wives are less likely to be the primary decision-making for higher-valued loans and that influencing factors of wives' empowerment include her ability to speak Vietnamese, her education, women-controlled income, household income, network-reliance with extended family, and the ratio of children members to all household members. Influencing factors of husbands' dominance in financial decision-making include the wife's inability to speak Vietnamese, his education, the number of other women living in the household, and network-reliance with extended family. These determinants vary by financial decision. The results of this thesis can be used to help households better cope with shocks, encourage investments in new livelihood strategies, improve women's empowerment in specific household financial decisions, and lead to the development of more suitable and informative methods to elicit risk preferences and decision-making power.
Social capital from an individual perspective
(2018) Neidhardt, Jan; Ahlheim, Michael
Three contributions to the social capital literature are presented in this thesis: Firstly, a concept of social capital that is compatible with the individual perspective prominent in neoclassical economics is identified. Secondly, a new tool to measure individual social capital is developed and applied. Thirdly, results on the distributional effects of a great number of predictors on individual level social capital are obtained and discussed for a representative sample of the German resident population.

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