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

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  • Cao, Jiarui
  • Xu, Yiqing
  • Zhang, Chuanchuan

Abstract

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.

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  • Cao, Jiarui & Xu, Yiqing & Zhang, Chuanchuan, 2022. "Clans and calamity: How social capital saved lives during China's Great Famine," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 157(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:deveco:v:157:y:2022:i:c:s0304387822000396
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jdeveco.2022.102865
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Social capital; Disasters; Family clans; China's great famine; Mortality;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • O15 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Economic Development: Human Resources; Human Development; Income Distribution; Migration
    • P32 - Political Economy and Comparative Economic Systems - - Socialist Institutions and Their Transitions - - - Collectives; Communes; Agricultural Institutions
    • Z13 - Other Special Topics - - Cultural Economics - - - Economic Sociology; Economic Anthropology; Language; Social and Economic Stratification

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