Job Market Paper

Disentangling Social Capital: Lab-in-the-Field Evidence on Coordination, Networks and Cooperation

Abstract

My job market paper examines the role of a Conditional Cash Transfer (CCT) program in overcoming coordination failures. I design and conduct a laboratory economic experiment in the field based on a ‘Weak-link’ Coordination game. By estimating a structural choice model of the individual decision to coordinate, I identify beliefs about others’ behavior as the main determinant of equilibrium effort: high effort is only sustained under high beliefs. I also estimate the effect of exposure to the CCT program on the coordination effort: longer exposure to the program increases the likelihood to exert the highest level of effort.