Trust, membership in groups, and household welfare

This paper explores the relationship between group membership and trust. Specifically, the authors examine (1) the importance of trust in the decision to join groups, (2) the subsequent ability of groups to generate trust, and (3) the influence of group membership and trust on a measure of well-being, per capita household income. They use longitudinal data from KwaZulu-Natal Province, South Africa, allowing them to control for potential simultaneity and measurement-error problems in the estimation. They disaggregate groups into financial and nonfinancial and “trust in people” by type of agent or actor. They can thus examine whether different types of trust are important for participating in different types of groups and whether different types of group participation are important for generating different types of trust. The research finds that (1) trust in local agents is an important determinant of membership in financial groups but not for membership in nonfinancial groups, (2) membership in both types of groups generates trust in nonlocal agents but not local agents, and (3) membership in financial and nonfinancial groups leads to higher well-being. The first two results suggest that financial groups serve a role in expanding the radius of trust, while the first and third results suggest a role for trust in improving well-being.Community participation South Africa. ,Financial institutions South Africa. ,Trust. ,Group membership. ,

Trust, membership in groups, and household welfare

This paper explores the relationship between group membership and trust. Specifically, the authors examine (1) the importance of trust in the decision to join groups, (2) the subsequent ability of groups to generate trust, and (3) the influence of group membership and trust on a measure of well-being, per capita household income. They use longitudinal data from KwaZulu-Natal Province, South Africa, allowing them to control for potential simultaneity and measurement-error problems in the estimation. They disaggregate groups into financial and nonfinancial and “trust in people” by type of agent or actor. They can thus examine whether different types of trust are important for participating in different types of groups and whether different types of group participation are important for generating different types of trust. The research finds that (1) trust in local agents is an important determinant of membership in financial groups but not for membership in nonfinancial groups, (2) membership in both types of groups generates trust in nonlocal agents but not local agents, and (3) membership in financial and nonfinancial groups leads to higher well-being. The first two results suggest that financial groups serve a role in expanding the radius of trust, while the first and third results suggest a role for trust in improving well-being.Community participation South Africa. ,Financial institutions South Africa. ,Trust. ,Group membership. ,

Power, politics, and performance: community participation in South African public works programs

"...Through a study of seven public works programs implemented in Western Cape province, this report examines the benefits and challenges of pursuing community participation, together with the effects of participation on meeting the other objectives of the programs. Although aspects of South Africa's experience are unique to its political economy, the study's findings reveal insights, dilemmas, and possibilities of considerable relevance in the wider context of participatory or “community-driven” development programs, which have increasingly become integral to the development agenda throughout the world.and were not trained...Politics, conflicts of interest, struggles over resources, and processes of consultation and consensus-building are part of the landscape of community-driven development. If participatory development is to remain on South Africa's development agenda, all actors must commit to realizing this objective, including generating sufficient resources, creativity, and patience to see the process through." from Authors' SummaryPublic works South Africa, Community development South Africa, Community participation South Africa, Development programs Evaluation, Civil society, Government policy,

Social capital and income generation in South Africa, 1993-98

The goal of this paper is to determine the nature of the causal relationship between "social capital," as measured by household membership in formal and informal groups and household welfare in South Africa. Using a recently collected panel data set in South Africa's largest province, we estimate per capita expenditure functions and find a positive and significant impact of household-level social capital. For example, after controlling for fixed effects, social capital has no impact on per capita expenditure in 1993 but positive and significant effects in 1998. We interpret this as reflecting structural changes in the South African economy as it removes the many restrictions that underlay apartheid.Gender ,Women ,Social networks ,Income South Africa ,

Participation and poverty reduction

This paper examines the relationship between community participation and the efficacy of interventions designed to reduce poverty. We develop some simple analytics that are used to structure a review of the extant literature and motivate the analysis of the impact of participation on the efficacy of public works interventions in South Africa.Community participation. ,Poverty alleviation. ,South Africa. ,Public works. ,

Participation and poverty reduction

This paper examines the relationship between community participation and the efficacy of interventions designed to reduce poverty. We develop some simple analytics that are used to structure a review of the extant literature and motivate the analysis of the impact of participation on the efficacy of public works interventions in South Africa.Community participation. ,Poverty alleviation. ,South Africa. ,Public works. ,