University of Chicago Big Ideas Generator

Project

Big Question: Experimental Evidence on Social Capital and Group Dynamics

University of Chicago Big Questions

Principal Investigator: Leonardo Bursztyn, Economics

Funding Type: Vision 

Big Idea: This project aims to provide the first rigorous evidence on the effect of social capital on governance outcomes and to test interventions to increase social capital within heterogeneous communities. Leveraging a unique setting in New Delhi and a partnership with the ruling party, we create neighborhood "grievance groups" on WhatsApp and randomize their composition along caste, religious, and gender lines. We study whether heterogenous groups, particularly those composed of communities that have historeically been in conflict, are less effective than homogeneous groups in influencing public policy outcomes due to differences in trust and social capital. We then run interventions that increase levels of social capital by emphasizing commonalities between heterogeneous members and assess effects on groups' ability to aggregate political information and advocate for public policy outcomes. Beyond their academic contributions, our findings will have policy implications for governments aiming to use social media to more effectively communicate with constituents and for institutions seeking to reduce conflict between heterogeneous communities. BIG support will enable running several hundred groups through the upcoming 2020 elections, affording enough statistical power to detect the effects of interest.

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