Dissertation Research: Collective Action Theory Explanations of Cooperative Association's Behavior

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This dissertation project involves an anthropology student from Washington University-St. Louis. The study will be conducted among rural African women involved in cooperative saving and loan associations in Hausa territory, Niger, West Africa. Using a combination of ethnographic participant observation, open-ended interviews and formal questionnaires, the student will test several hypotheses about the conditions necessary for successful cooperation in these circumstances (of economic poverty and inadequate social and economic infrastructure). The hypotheses involve the role of information, group size, excludability of non-contributors, and the presence of leadership on the success of cooperatives. This project is important because it advances our understanding of the general principles explaining success or failure in collective action. Increases in our theoretical sophistication in this area that will come from theoretically-informed intensive case studies such as this project will allow policy makers to facilitate more effective economic development. In addition training new professional social scientists adds to the nation's store of expertise about this important area of the world.