The Impact of Participatory Projects on Social Capital: Evidence from Farmland Consolidation Projects in Japan

Taisuke Takayama and Tomoaki Nakatani

No 211938, 2015 Conference, August 9-14, 2015, Milan, Italy from International Association of Agricultural Economists

Abstract: Farmland fragmentation can lead to low agricultural productivity. In Japan, one solution is Farmland Consolidation Projects (FCPs), participatory public projects that physically merge and reshape several small plots into one large plot. This paper examines the impact of FCPs on community-level social capital by using propensity score matching. We find that FCPs have a positive impact on agriculture-related bonding social capital and a negative impact on non-agriculture-related bridging social capital. Focusing on the constituent elements of bonding social capital, FCPs have a positive effect on the number of community meetings held, non-agriculture-related organizations for women, and management of common-pool resources. On the other hand, focusing on the constituent elements of bridging social capital, FCPs have a negative effect on holding direct sales of agricultural products and rural experience programs for city residents.

Keywords: Agribusiness; Farm Management; International Development (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 23
Date: 2015
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-agr and nep-ppm
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:ags:iaae15:211938

DOI: 10.22004/ag.econ.211938

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