Social capital is widely studied as determinants of economic growth and development. This dissertation examines the role of family clan heterogeneity and ideological divisions in different levels of social capital observed in rural communities. To date, no systematic investigation has considered these two determinants of social capital. By providing empirical evidence that family clan heterogeneity and ideological divisions explain social capital, this dissertation advances the understanding of why the level of social capital differs across communities. In the first chapter, I study the relationship between family clan diversity in South Korean villages and the voluntary production of public goods and contributions of private resource for village projects. Under the 1970-1971 New Village Beautification Project, the government distributed resources to each village for the production of village public goods. Subsequently, the government systematically evaluated how well these resources were applied. I combine these data with information on village family clan structures collected by the Japanese Colonial Government, as well as records of land donations for village projects between 1970 and 1980. I find an inverted-U-shaped effect of group heterogeneity on the improvement of public goods and on the average amount of donated land per household. I suggest that the concave relationship reflects the trade-off between better coordination among clan members and less accountability of clan leaders as village clan homogeneity increases. In the second chapter, I investigate whether increased ideological and social division as a result of war produce persistent economic and social outcomes. I investigate the effect of the 1950-1953 Korean War on cooperation within rural communities in South Korea. Combining census data and unique data on village level collective action, I find that residents of townships that experienced more intense conflicts due to the prolonged presence of the North Korean Army and communist influences during the war were less likely to cooperate 20 years after the war ended. Further, I provide evidence that the reductions in township populations due to the conflict persisted over 40 years.
Yang, Hyunjoo,
"Essays on Economic Development and Social Capital"
(2016).
Economics Theses and Dissertations.
Brown Digital Repository. Brown University Library.
https://doi.org/10.7301/Z0SF2TMF
