Is There Reciprocity in a Reciprocal‐exchange Economy? Evidence of Gendered Norms From a Slum in Nairobi, Kenya

Abstract

"Norms of reciprocity help enforce cooperative agreements in bilateral sequential exchange. We examine the norms that apply in a reciprocal-exchange economy. In our one-shot investment game in a Nairobi slum, people adhered to the norm of "balanced reciprocity," which obligates quid-pro-quo returns for any level of trust. The norm is gendered, with people more likely to comply when confronted with women rather than men, and differs from "conditional reciprocity," prevalent in developed countries, according to which greater trust is rewarded with proportionally larger returns. Balanced reciprocity produces less trust and trustworthiness and smaller gains from trade than conditional reciprocity. "("JEL "C72, C91) Copyright (c) 2008 Western Economic Association International.

Opportunistic Behaviour and Trust: Experimental Results from Broccoli Farmers in Ecuador

“…() for American students (50% of their endowment) and the values compiled by Cardenas and Carpenter () from different studies (40% of the initial endowment or higher). However, our result is similar to that found by Greig and Bohnet () in the slums of Nairobi (30% of the initial endowment). According to these authors, this low level of trust is influenced by severe poverty and harsh conditions that create the need for participants to insure against income shocks by keeping as much money as possible.…”

“…Our results reveal that overall trust levels are very low in our sample. Following Greig and Bohnet (), such low trust levels may be the result of high poverty levels, as prevalent in our study area. But they may also stem from the market conditions, to which farmers were exposed in the past, including payment delays and other hold‐ups in the export chain and volatile prices in the local market: according to Siziba and Bulte () ‘premature’ market entrance can decrease trust in a society.…”

“…However, the average ratio of return observed ( Z / X = 1.19) is not significantly different from one . This result is characteristic of balanced reciprocity, whereby the B players perceive that the money sent by A is an interest‐free loan, and the profits need not be shared (Greig and Bohnet, ). Similar to low trust, balanced reciprocity may prevail when players keep as much money as possible to protect themselves against external shocks.…”

Similarities and differences when building trust: the role of cultures

“…There is mixed evidence in the literature on whether there is such a relationship in one shot games. While some find no such effect (Berg et al 1995, Willinger et al 2003, Csukás et al 2008, others do (Bohnet and Greig 2006). In particular, Burks et al (2003), Altmann et al (2007) and Ananish and Gangadharan (2007) find such a positive correlation within participants.…”

Exploring gendered behavior in the field with experiments: Why public goods are provided by women in a Nairobi slum

“…Recruitment occurred at different times of the day and different days of the week to mitigate sample bias.9 The results of the Investment game are discussed inGreig and Bohnet (2008).10 In a mixed-sex session, for example, women would find themselves seated in a row facing a row of men, and each group of four was comprised of two women and two men.11 The instructions are available from the authors upon request.12 In other words, each participant's identity and contribution were unknown to other participants but known to the experimenter.…”