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The Material Basis of Cooperation: How Scarcity Reduces Trusting Behaviour

Agneman, Gustav LU orcid ; Falco, Paolo ; Joel, Exaud and Selejio, Onesmo (2023) In Economic Journal 133(652). p.1265-1285
Abstract
Trusting behaviour is a cornerstone of cooperation and, hence, economic performance, not least in poorer communities where economic transactions often rely on informal agreements. But trusting behaviour is potentially costly since the counterpart may decide to defect. In this study, we investigate whether food scarcity influences the level of trusting behaviour in rural Tanzania by leveraging quasi-experimental variation in food supply induced by the harvest. Through a lab-in-the-field experiment, we document that farmers display lower levels of trusting behaviour during the lean season compared to the abundant season and show that the difference is explained by variation in food scarcity.
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author
; ; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
in
Economic Journal
volume
133
issue
652
pages
1265 - 1285
publisher
Wiley-Blackwell
ISSN
1468-0297
DOI
10.1093/ej/ueac087
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
894401c2-b94a-443b-bc7e-4986a96c8e4d
date added to LUP
2022-12-09 20:03:52
date last changed
2023-10-26 14:55:43
@article{894401c2-b94a-443b-bc7e-4986a96c8e4d,
  abstract     = {{Trusting behaviour is a cornerstone of cooperation and, hence, economic performance, not least in poorer communities where economic transactions often rely on informal agreements. But trusting behaviour is potentially costly since the counterpart may decide to defect. In this study, we investigate whether food scarcity influences the level of trusting behaviour in rural Tanzania by leveraging quasi-experimental variation in food supply induced by the harvest. Through a lab-in-the-field experiment, we document that farmers display lower levels of trusting behaviour during the lean season compared to the abundant season and show that the difference is explained by variation in food scarcity.}},
  author       = {{Agneman, Gustav and Falco, Paolo and Joel, Exaud and Selejio, Onesmo}},
  issn         = {{1468-0297}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{652}},
  pages        = {{1265--1285}},
  publisher    = {{Wiley-Blackwell}},
  series       = {{Economic Journal}},
  title        = {{The Material Basis of Cooperation: How Scarcity Reduces Trusting Behaviour}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/ej/ueac087}},
  doi          = {{10.1093/ej/ueac087}},
  volume       = {{133}},
  year         = {{2023}},
}