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Social Networks and Factor Markets: Panel Data Evidence from Ethiopia

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  • Kibrom A. Abay

    (Department of Economics, University of Copenhagen)

  • Goytom Abraha Kahsay

    (Department of Food and Resource Economics, University of Copenhagen)

  • Guush Berhane

    (Development Strategies and Governance Division, International Food Policy Research Institute)

Abstract

In the absence of well-established factor markets, the role of indigenous institutions and social networks can be substantial for mobilizing factors for agricultural production. We investigate the role of an indigenous social network in Ethiopia, the iddir, in facilitating factor market transactions among smallholder farmers. Using detailed longitudinal household survey data and employing a difference-in-differences approach, we find that iddir membership improves households’ access to factor markets. Specifically, we find that joining an iddir network improves households’ access to land, labor and credit transactions between 7 and 11 percentage points. Furthermore, our findings also indicate that iddir networks crowd-out borrowing from local moneylenders (locally referred as Arata Abedari), a relatively expensive credit source, virtually without affecting borrowing from formal credit sources. These results point out the roles non-market arrangements, such as social networks, can play in mitigating market inefficiencies in poor rural markets.

Suggested Citation

  • Kibrom A. Abay & Goytom Abraha Kahsay & Guush Berhane, 2014. "Social Networks and Factor Markets: Panel Data Evidence from Ethiopia," IFRO Working Paper 2014/12, University of Copenhagen, Department of Food and Resource Economics.
  • Handle: RePEc:foi:wpaper:2014_12
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    3. Will, Meike & Groeneveld, Jürgen & Lenel, Friederike & Frank, Karin & Müller, Birgit, 2023. "Determinants of Household Vulnerability in Networks with Formal Insurance and Informal Risk-Sharing," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 212(C).
    4. Kahsay, Goytom Abraha & Bulte, Erwin, 2019. "Trust, regulation and participatory forest management: Micro-level evidence on forest governance from Ethiopia," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 120(C), pages 118-132.
    5. Sharmistha Self & Richard Grabowski, 2018. "Factors influencing knowledge of HIV/AIDS in Nepal: role of socioeconomic interactions," Journal of Social and Economic Development, Springer;Institute for Social and Economic Change, vol. 20(1), pages 174-191, April.
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    7. Meike Will & Jürgen Groeneveld & Karin Frank & Birgit Müller, 2021. "Informal risk-sharing between smallholders may be threatened by formal insurance: Lessons from a stylized agent-based model," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 16(3), pages 1-18, March.
    8. Gelo, Dambala & Muchapondwa, Edwin & Koch, Steven F., 2016. "Decentralization, market integration and efficiency-equity trade-offs: Evidence from Joint Forest Management in Ethiopian villages," Journal of Forest Economics, Elsevier, vol. 22(C), pages 1-23.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Social networks; iddir networks; factor market imperfections; factor market transactions; crowding-out;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D02 - Microeconomics - - General - - - Institutions: Design, Formation, Operations, and Impact
    • D13 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior - - - Household Production and Intrahouse Allocation
    • D71 - Microeconomics - - Analysis of Collective Decision-Making - - - Social Choice; Clubs; Committees; Associations
    • D83 - Microeconomics - - Information, Knowledge, and Uncertainty - - - Search; Learning; Information and Knowledge; Communication; Belief; Unawareness
    • D85 - Microeconomics - - Information, Knowledge, and Uncertainty - - - Network Formation
    • J46 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Particular Labor Markets - - - Informal Labor Market
    • O17 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Formal and Informal Sectors; Shadow Economy; Institutional Arrangements
    • Q12 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Agriculture - - - Micro Analysis of Farm Firms, Farm Households, and Farm Input Markets

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