Explaining the Success of Community and Informal Economies: Shared Altruistic Values or Effective Social Control?
Author(s)
Nienhaus, Volker; Brauksiepe, Ralf
Abstract
The disappointing results of external and formal development aid in recent decades have drawn increasing attention to co-operatives and other community or informal economies which are often attributed a more promising developmental potential due to the shared values of the group members and their identification with collectable goals. The Grameen Bank in Bangladesh often serves as the prime example of this assumption. These factors, which are beyond the scope of traditional economic theory, influence the success of organizations. Mutual social control conditions of a geographically immobile and homogeneous population in a small rural community must be regarded as the basis of the success of community and informal economies.
