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Kislaya Prasad, The Role of Social Capital in Development: An Empirical Assessment
Group Behaviour and Development: Is the Market Destroying Cooperation?, The Economic Journal, Volume 114, Issue 493, February 2004, Pages F142–F144, https://doi.org/10.1111/j.0013-0133.2004.191_2.xClose - Share Icon Share
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In recent years there has been renewed interest among economists in understanding the influence of society and culture on individual decisions. A new theoretical and empirical literature examines the nature of social influence, and the way in which it leads to the emergence of norms. On the theory side two main strands can be identified. A game theory literature, with origins in Thomas Schelling’s famous papers on neighbourhood segregation, examines how locally uniform patterns of behaviour (i.e. ‘norms’ or ‘conventions’) emerge in society. A separate literature, influenced by the work of Robert Putnam and James Coleman, studies how networks of relationships affect individual behaviour and collective choice. Central to this theory is the concept of ‘social capital’– i.e. the features of social organisation (specifically, social networks and their associated norms and values) that facilitate coordination and cooperation. The concept of social capital has gained considerable prominence in public policy debates, where it is deemed to be a determinant of the success of poverty alleviation and development programmes. It is to this discussion that the books reviewed here contribute. They are the product of initiatives that generated a number of case studies, which are documented in rich detail by the contributors to the two volumes. The studies are diverse, yet each volume is tightly organised and delivers a consistent message. The books add substantially to the empirical base from which the role of social influences in development will ultimately be assessed, and are therefore both timely and welcome.
