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Trust and cooperation: Social capital and community resource management

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Abstract

Social capital is one of the main determinants of community resource management success. We use the (average) amount sent in a trust game as a measure of social capital in five rural villages in India. Combining these experimental data with household surveys we analyze: (i) how the amount sent is correlated with socio-cultural community characteristics, (ii) how social capital affects community resource management, and (iii) to what extent experimental play is consistent with real on-farm behavior in terms of providing a semi-public good. The results are interesting from a policy perspective, and provide insight into (bridging) the gap between lab experiments and the field.

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  • Bouma, Jetske & Bulte, Erwin & van Soest, Daan, 2008. "Trust and cooperation: Social capital and community resource management," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 56(2), pages 155-166, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jeeman:v:56:y:2008:i:2:p:155-166
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