TY - JOUR
T1 - A dark side of social capital? Kinship, consumption and savings
AU - Di Falco, S.
AU - Bulte, E.H.
PY - 2011
Y1 - 2011
N2 - We explore whether traditional sharing norms in kinship networks affect consumption and accumulation decisions of poor black households in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. Using a proxy for the number of family dependents, our results are consistent with the interpretation that households try to evade their ‘sharing obligations’ by (i) accumulating durables that are non-sharable at the expense of durables that may be shared and (ii) reducing savings in liquid assets. By attenuating accumulation incentives, kinship sharing may come at the expense of income growth – if so, a culturally-induced poverty trap can possibly eventuate. We demonstrate tentative evidence that more extensive kinship networks are associated with lower incomes.
AB - We explore whether traditional sharing norms in kinship networks affect consumption and accumulation decisions of poor black households in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. Using a proxy for the number of family dependents, our results are consistent with the interpretation that households try to evade their ‘sharing obligations’ by (i) accumulating durables that are non-sharable at the expense of durables that may be shared and (ii) reducing savings in liquid assets. By attenuating accumulation incentives, kinship sharing may come at the expense of income growth – if so, a culturally-induced poverty trap can possibly eventuate. We demonstrate tentative evidence that more extensive kinship networks are associated with lower incomes.
U2 - 10.1080/00220388.2010.514328#.U0PVV_mSyiw
DO - 10.1080/00220388.2010.514328#.U0PVV_mSyiw
M3 - Article
VL - 47
SP - 1128
EP - 1151
JO - Journal of Development Studies
JF - Journal of Development Studies
SN - 1743-9140
IS - 8
ER -