Clans and calamity: How social capital saved lives during China's Great Famine

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Cao, Jiarui; Xu, Yiqing; Zhang, Chuanchuan
• 署名单位: Central University of Finance & Economics; Stanford University; Zhejiang University
• 刊物名称: JOURNAL OF DEVELOPMENT ECONOMICS
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0304-3878
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jdeveco.2022.102865
• 发表日期: 2022
• 关键词: Social capital; disasters; Family clans; China's great famine; mortality

摘要

This paper examines the role of social capital, embedded in kinship-based clans, in disaster relief during China's Great Famine (1958-1961). Using a county-year panel and a difference-in-differences strategy, we find that the rise in the mortality rate during the famine years is significantly less in counties with a higher clan density. Analysis using a nationally representative household survey corroborates this finding. Investigation of potential mechanisms suggests that social capital's impact on famine may have operated through enabling collective action against excessive government procurement. These results provide evidence that societal forces can ameliorate damages caused by faulty government policies in times of crisis.