Initial Conditions Matter: Social Capital and Participatory Development

Lisa Cameron, Susan Olivia and Manisha Shah ()

No 9563, IZA Discussion Papers from Institute of Labor Economics (IZA)

Abstract: Billions of dollars have been spent on participatory development programs in the developing world. These programs give community members an active decision-making role. Given the emphasis on community involvement, one might expect that the effectiveness of this approach would depend on communities' pre-existing social capital stocks. Using data from a large randomised field experiment of Community-Led Total Sanitation in Indonesia, we find that villages with high initial social capital built toilets and reduced open defecation, resulting in substantial health benefits. In villages with low initial stocks of social capital, the approach was counterproductive – fewer toilets were built than in control communities and social capital suffered.

Keywords: sanitation; social capital; participatory development; economic development; Indonesia (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I15 O12 O22 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 37 pages
Date: 2015-12
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-dev, nep-exp, nep-sea and nep-soc
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (12)

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