Toxic neighbors: E-waste dumps and the decline of social capital

We study how living near electronic waste dumping sites shapes the social fabric of communities in Ghana and Nigeria. Using geocoded Afrobarometer surveys and the opening dates of the Agbogbloshie and Soluos sites, we estimate a difference in differences design with distance as treatment intensity. Proximity lowers multiple dimensions of social capital, namely trust in government, community participation, social insurance, and intergroup tolerance. Living one kilometer closer after site opening lowers the composite index by 0.0097 points, which is 2.37 % of its mean. A one standard deviation move closer of 5.57 km implies a 13.22 % decline, indicating a meaningful loss in community cohesion. Results remain robust to alternative index definitions based on single items, to indices constructed with principal components weights, to wider exposure radii, and to the exclusion of the pandemic rounds. Mechanism tests point to two pathways, worsening local living conditions and higher perceived government corruption, both positively linked to social capital and both of which attenuate the proximity coefficient when entered into the outcome equation. The findings highlight a neglected social cost of electronic waste and have direct policy relevance.