Doctoral Dissertation Research: Social Structure and Entrepreneurship in Ghana

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This project examines how social identities and network ties in Ghana affect the success of small-scale entrepreneurs. Ghana has an uncertain economy where warranties on manufactured products are not common. In order to sell products, manufacturers must earn trust from customers and convince them that their products are good quality and that they will take good care of them when the products have problems. Like other African countries, however, Ghana is an ethnically divided society, and it is often difficult to develop trust relationships across ethnic groups. If such relationships were confined within one's own ethnic group, the market would be severely limited. However, pilot study results conducted by the investigator in Ghana indicate that some manufacturers have more customers from varied ethnic groups and more total sales than others. One possible explanation is that successful ones rely on broad identities based on religion rather that on narrower identities based on ethnicity. Building on data and analyses of the pilot study, the project collects and analyzes additional data on ethnic and religious identities in Ghana, and their influence on entrepreneurial success.