Activating social capital among young people in South Africa

Join our next Brown Bag Lunch presented by Prof. Malcom Keswell.

We study the behavioural and psycho-social impacts of a novel empowerment programme targeted to young people living in distressed neighbourhoods in South Africa. By the end of the programme, participants that are initially randomly assigned to the programme are more altruistic, less risk averse, less pessimistic, and less likely to be at risk for depression. We then investigate whether these changes serve as effect modifiers for social capital outcomes; specifically, for trust and trustworthiness. We find no evidence that risk aversion explains the impact of the programme on trust but robust evidence of a belief updating channel that works through trustworthiness. These findings have implications for targeted interventions in low trust societies. We discuss some of these implications.

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