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Ties that bind: Network redistributive pressure and economic decisions in village economies

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  • Di Falco, Salvatore
  • Feri, Francesco
  • Pin, Paolo
  • Vollenweider, Xavier

Abstract

In this paper, we identify economic implications of the pressure to share resources within a social network. Through a set of field experiments in rural Tanzania we randomly increased the expected harvest of the treatment group by the assignment of an improved and much more productive variety of maize. We find that treated individuals reduced the interaction with their social network by discussing with fewer people in the village the type of seed they received, so as not to reveal their improved seed. We also find that treated individuals reduced labor input by asking fewer people in the village to work on their farm during the growing season and, as a result, obtained fewer actual harvest gains.

Suggested Citation

  • Di Falco, Salvatore & Feri, Francesco & Pin, Paolo & Vollenweider, Xavier, 2018. "Ties that bind: Network redistributive pressure and economic decisions in village economies," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 131(C), pages 123-131.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:deveco:v:131:y:2018:i:c:p:123-131
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jdeveco.2017.12.001
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    Cited by:

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    2. Sadick Mohammed & Awudu Abdulai, 2022. "Do Egocentric information networks influence technical efficiency of farmers? Empirical evidence from Ghana," Journal of Productivity Analysis, Springer, vol. 58(2), pages 109-128, December.
    3. Yazeed Abdul Mumin & Awudu Abdulai, 2022. "Social networks, adoption of improved variety and household welfare: evidence from Ghana," European Review of Agricultural Economics, Oxford University Press and the European Agricultural and Applied Economics Publications Foundation, vol. 49(1), pages 1-32.
    4. Esteban M. Aucejo & Patrick Coate & Jane Cooley Fruehwirth & Sean Kelly & Zachary Mozenter, 2018. "Teacher effectiveness and classroom composition," CEP Discussion Papers dp1574, Centre for Economic Performance, LSE.
    5. Kimura, Yuichi, 2021. "Shackles of Kinship Bonds: Land Tenure Institutions and Smallholders' Farm Investments in Ghana," 2021 Conference, August 17-31, 2021, Virtual 315049, International Association of Agricultural Economists.
    6. Eliana Carranza & Aletheia Donald & Florian Grosset & Supreet Kaur, 2022. "The Social Tax: Redistributive Pressure and Labor Supply," NBER Working Papers 30438, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    7. Joël Cariolle & David A Carroll, 2022. "The Use of Digital for Public Service Provision in Sub-Saharan Africa," Working Papers hal-03004535, HAL.
    8. Thibaud Deguilhem & Jean-Philippe Berrou & François Combarnous, 2019. "Using your ties to get a worse job? The differential effects of social networks on quality of employment in Colombia," Review of Social Economy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 77(4), pages 493-522, October.
    9. Ingela Alger & Jörgen W. Weibull, 2019. "Evolutionary Models of Preference Formation," Annual Review of Economics, Annual Reviews, vol. 11(1), pages 329-354, August.
    10. Kimura, Yuichi, 2023. "Why are overlapping land rights disincentive against investment in agriculture?: customary land tenure institution in West Africa," MPRA Paper 116613, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    11. Pauline Castaing, 2020. "Joint liability and adaptation to climate change: evidence from Burkinabe cooperatives," Post-Print hal-02942129, HAL.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Networks; Field experiment; Social norms; Redistributive pressure; Tanzania;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • O12 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Microeconomic Analyses of Economic Development
    • O13 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Agriculture; Natural Resources; Environment; Other Primary Products
    • C93 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Design of Experiments - - - Field Experiments
    • H26 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue - - - Tax Evasion and Avoidance
    • Z13 - Other Special Topics - - Cultural Economics - - - Economic Sociology; Economic Anthropology; Language; Social and Economic Stratification

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