American Economic Review
ISSN 0002-8282 (Print) | ISSN 1944-7981 (Online)
Kin Groups and Reciprocity: A Model of Credit Transactions in Ghana
American Economic Review
vol. 93,
no. 5, December 2003
(pp. 1730–1751)
Abstract
This paper studies kinship band networks as capital market institutions. Membership in a community where individuals are dynastically linked has two effects on informal credit. First, the nonanonymity of the dynastic link allows to sanction the defaulters' offspring and induce compliance even in short-term interactions (social enforcement). Second, preferential agreements can arise in which kin members condition their behavior on the characteristics of a player's predecessor, expecting others to do the same with their offspring (reciprocity). These effects are incorporated in an OLG game with endogenous matching between lenders and borrowers and tested using household-level data from Ghana.Citation
Ferrara, Eliana La. 2003. "Kin Groups and Reciprocity: A Model of Credit Transactions in Ghana." American Economic Review, 93 (5): 1730–1751. DOI: 10.1257/000282803322655518Additional Materials
JEL Classification
- G20 Financial Institutions and Services: General
- O16 Economic Development: Financial Markets; Saving and Capital Investment; Corporate Finance and Governance
- O17 Formal and Informal Sectors; Shadow Economy; Institutional Arrangements