Project Details
Projekt
The dynamics of economic community networks in the development process: An empirical study in rural Gambia, West Africa
Subject Area
Economic Policy, Applied Economics
Term
from 2014 to 2018
Project identifier
Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 250842093
The networks of social and economic exchanges created by the informal interactions among community members are the basis for the traditional economic system in developing countries. These networks are a response to missing or incomplete markets, enabling, for example, basic financial transactions and insurance against risks. The development process that these countries experience, however, leads to significant changes in their economic environment. Often the changes are induced by development programs. These observations motivate the main question of this project: How do community networks change as a result of their participation in development projects and, more generally, what are the changes in these networks that occur when modern production techniques are implemented and market integration increases? Our main objective is to study this question empirically, using detailed data from rural communities in The Gambia, which will be collected as part of the project. More specifically, the research questions will be addressed in the context of a so-called Community-Driven Development (CDD) program in The Gambia. This program was implemented in 2008-10, covered more than 500 rural villages and resulted in significant additional resources for beneficiary villages, mainly public goods (e.g., roads or wells), or production inputs (e.g., milling machines). The program was participative, i.e. the local population was involved in the selection, implementation and maintenance of the investment projects. Importantly, the CDD program was randomly allocated to eligible villages, which led to exogenous variation in their economic environment. In a baseline study, conducted by one of the principal investigators, detailed data about the social and economic networks in 60 villages before the implementation of the CDD program were collected. Mirroring the experimental allocation of the CDD program, half of our sample villages were part of the program. We will now collect follow-up data in these villages to study network dynamics during the process of development. Our analysis of networks provides a new approach to studying questions such as: What are the effects of development interventions on socio-economic outcomes like social capital and financial integration? Do undesired effects of the program occur, such as elite capture or gender segregation? At a more general level, the data will allow us to study how community networks change over time and what determines these changes.The combination of existing baseline data and exogenous changes generated by the experimental design of the CDD program allows causal statements about the above mentioned questions. We therefore expect the project to generate important contributions to the academic literature. At the same time, given that similar participatory programs are implemented by development organizations in many countries, the research has the potential to provide valuable insights for policy.
DFG Programme
Research Grants
