Community Networks and the Process of Development

Abstract

My objective in this paper is to lay the groundwork for a new network-based theory of economic development. The first step is to establish that community-based networks are active throughout the developing world. Plenty of anecdotal and descriptive evidence supports this claim. However, showing that these networks improve the economic outcomes of their members is more of a challenge. Over the course of the paper, I will present multiple strategies that have been employed to directly or indirectly identify network effects. The second step is to look beyond a static role for community networks, one of overcoming market failures and improving the outcomes of their members in the short-run, to examine how these informal institutions can support group mobility. A voluminous literature documents the involvement of communities in internal and international migration, both historically and in the contemporary economy. As with the static analysis, the challenge here is to show statistically that community networks directly support the movement of groups of individuals. I will show how predictions from the theory can be used to infer a link between networks and migration in very different contexts.

Politician Family Networks and Electoral Outcomes: Evidence from the Philippines

“…Our paper contributes to the literature on the importance of social networks in various contexts (Jackson 2014;Munshi 2014). 3 In particular, networks have been linked to the diffusion of information (Banerjee et al 2013;Alatas et al 2016;Larson and Lewis 2017), conflict outcomes (König et al 2017), and the broader mechanisms of political control (Puga and Trefler 2014;Acemoglu, Reed, and Robinson 2014).…”

Social networks near and far: The role of bonding and bridging social capital for assets of the rural poor

“…The latter component of the bridging social capital variable—similar but not identical to that of Nawrotzki et al. () as discussed above —is motivated by a voluminous literature that has pointed to the importance of dispersed social networks for the ability of individuals in developing countries to migrate (see a review in Munshi, ), whether internally/domestically (e.g., Zhao, ) or internationally (e.g., Dolfin & Genicot, ). We will nonetheless test the robustness of results by excluding the migration‐consideration element from the measure of bridging social capital.…”

Social Capital in Managing Mangrove Area as Ecotourism by Muara Baimbai Community

“…Community members need to be involved in order to verify themselves for the validity of the new beliefs, examine consequences for themselves as an individual and to explore how they can contribute to change the effort (Belias & Koustelios, 2014). Furthermore, Munshi (2014) stated that community networks may provide useful benefits to their members and they can give rise to inefficiencies of their own. Strong In addition to the importance of strengthening the internal network, a community also requires external network to expand the community.…”