Replication data for: Social Networks as Contract Enforcement: Evidence from a Lab Experiment in the Field

Principal Investigator(s): View help for Principal Investigator(s) Arun G. Chandrasekhar; Cynthia Kinnan; Horacio Larreguy

Version: View help for Version V1

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Project Citation:

Chandrasekhar, Arun G., Kinnan, Cynthia, and Larreguy, Horacio. Replication data for: Social Networks as Contract Enforcement: Evidence from a Lab Experiment in the Field. Nashville, TN: American Economic Association [publisher], 2018. Ann Arbor, MI: Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research [distributor], 2019-10-12. https://doi.org/10.3886/E113635V1

Project Description

Summary: Lack of well-functioning formal institutions leads to reliance on social networks to enforce informal contracts. Social proximity and network centrality may affect cooperation. To assess the extent to which networks substitute for enforcement, we conducted high-stakes games across 34 Indian villages. We randomized subjects' partners and whether contracts were enforced to estimate how partners' relative network position differentially matters across contracting environments. While socially close pairs cooperate even without enforcement, distant pairs do not. Individuals with more central partners behave more cooperatively without enforcement. Capacity for cooperation in the absence of contract enforcement, therefore, depends on the subjects' network position.

Scope of Project

JEL Classification:
      C93 Field Experiments
      D86 Economics of Contract: Theory
      K12 Contract Law
      O15 Economic Development: Human Resources; Human Development; Income Distribution; Migration
      O17 Formal and Informal Sectors; Shadow Economy; Institutional Arrangements
      Z13 Economic Sociology; Economic Anthropology; Language; Social and Economic Stratification

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V1 [2019-10-12]

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