SOCIAL CAPITAL AND LARGE-SCALE AGRICULTURAL INVESTMENTS: AN EXPERIMENTAL INVESTIGATION

Following the 2007-8 global food crisis, agricultural producers have invested in large tracts of land in developing countries. We investigate how the arrival of large-scale farms changes inter-personal trust and reciprocity, important components of social capital. in traditional villages. We elicit trust and reciprocal behaviour in villages that lie near large-scale farms and compare them with villages at a distance. Our data reveal greater trust in villages close to large-scale farms. Reciprocity is more frequent after farm employment. These results are likely driven by communal coping and reputation building. A natural field measure shows that trust correlates with public good sharing.

Automated summary

The study found that villages near large-scale farms exhibit greater trust, and reciprocal behavior is more frequent after employment at the farms. These results are likely driven by communal coping and reputation building, as trust correlates with public good sharing.