Economic Returns to Social Capital in the Urban Informal Sector in Developing Countries: Micro Evidence from Small Textile Producers in Bolivia

Kurt Annen

Development and Comp Systems from University Library of Munich, Germany

Abstract: The paper uses micro-level data obtained from surveying informal and formal small textile producers in Bolivia to estimate the economic returns to social capital. Social capital is defined as being linked to other individuals. The paper studies forms of social links that vary with respect to their inclusiveness and their ability to enforce cooperation. The paper shows, first, that social capital has an economic return for informal firms but not for formal ones. Informal firms operate without the shadow of courts in an environment that is characterized by a lack of anonymous trust which makes self-enforcing social links valuable. Second, more inclusive social capital generates a higher return as long as the self-enforcement constraint is met. The evidence supports the hypothesis that the “strength of weak ties”- argument advanced by scholars such as Granovetter, Putnam, and Fukuyama has to be complemented by the game-theoretic condition requiring exchange among linked players to be (self)-enforceable.

Keywords: Social Capital; Anonymous Trust; Informal Sector; Small Firms. (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: L14 O12 O17 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 35 pages
Date: 2005-11-08
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-dev and nep-soc
Note: Type of Document - pdf; pages: 35
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:wpa:wuwpdc:0511011

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