Self-Help Groups, Savings and Social Capital : Evidence from a Field Experiment in Cambodia
This paper studies how self-help groups—village-based organizations designed to encourage savings, household production and social cohesion among the poor—can promote economic and social capital. The paper uses survey data and a wide array of socia...
| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Working Paper |
| Language: | English en_US |
| Published: |
World Bank, Washington, DC
2015
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2015/07/24840742/self-help-groups-savings-social-capital-evidence-field-experiment-cambodia http://hdl.handle.net/10986/22466 |
| Summary: | This paper studies how self-help
groups—village-based organizations designed to encourage
savings, household production and social cohesion among the
poor—can promote economic and social capital. The paper uses
survey data and a wide array of social capital measures to
assess the impact of a pilot program that was randomly
rolled out in rural villages in Cambodia. The study finds
that the program encouraged savings and associations via
self-help groups. However it did not improve social capital
measured by household and network surveys and lab activities
that gauge trust, trustworthiness and the willingness to
contribute to public goods. The findings contradict recent
work that has found significant positive impacts of such
groups on social capital. This paper evaluates
community-wide impacts while most previous studies focus on
program participants. In addition, the empirical strategy is
based on a broader array of social capital measures,
including behavioral indicators, suggesting that finding
impacts of such programs on social capital is sensitive to
the measurement strategy. |
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