Kin Groups and Reciprocity: A Model of Credit Transactions in Ghana

S-Tier
Journal: American Economic Review
Year: 2003
Volume: 93
Issue: 5
Pages: 1730-1751

Score contribution per author:

8.043 = (α=2.01 / 1 authors) × 4.0x S-tier

α: calibrated so average coauthorship-adjusted count equals average raw count

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.

Technical Details

RePEc Handle
repec:aea:aecrev:v:93:y:2003:i:5:p:1730-1751
Journal Field
General
Author Count
1
Added to Database
2026-01-25