Collaborative Research: HNDS-R: Economic Networks and the Dynamics of Wealth Inequality: A Longitudinal Cross-Cultural Investigation

该项目考察了人类社会物质财富不平等的社会决定因素。特别是，该研究考察了个人和家庭利用其社会网络来缓冲生计风险和实现经济机会的方式。该奖项支持在小型社区的不同样本中进行纵向实地调查，合作者收集关于物质财富、社会网络、人口统计、教育程度、食品安全和亲属关系等变量的标准化数据。比较结果有助于跨学科学术研究导致财富不平等的过程以及不平等对经济生计和相关结果（如粮食安全）的影响。该项目支持不同合作者的工作和培训，包括妇女、未被充分代表的少数民族和早期职业研究人员，有助于实现扩大科学参与的目标。研究结果通过开放获取经济学课程的教育模块与当地社区和更广泛的受众分享。为该项目开发的方法工具可以促进类似的比较研究。这个合作项目考察了导致物质财富不平等的动态社会过程。该研究收集了40多个社区的数据，这些社区在生存取向、政治组织、亲属关系和血统以及人口统计方面各不相同。研究设计一般侧重于社会支持网络结构变化的经济后果。该研究特别表明，在社区网络中的有利地位可以在多大程度上减轻经济风险并实现物质收益。同时，研究人员收集并分析了其他变量的数据，这些变量被假设会影响物质财富的动态变化，包括教育和技能的变化、职业和地位的变化以及家庭结构的变化。这些数据有助于进行比较分析，考虑这些变量对物质财富和不平等变化的相对影响。这些发现与历史和当代社会中关于财富不平等的决定因素和后果的辩论有关。在方法上，正在开发组织和分析纵向数据的方法，并在各研究团体之间共享，以建立类似多地点项目的能力。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

This project examines the social determinants of material wealth inequality in human communities. In particular, the research examines the ways that individuals and households leverage their social networks to buffer livelihood risks and realize economic opportunities. This award supports longitudinal fieldwork in a diverse sample of small communities, where collaborators collect standardized data on variables such as material wealth, social networks, demographics, educational attainment, food security, and kinship relationships. The comparative findings contribute to interdisciplinary scholarship on the processes that lead to wealth inequality and the consequences of inequality for economic livelihoods and related outcomes, such as food security. The project supports work and training among diverse collaborators, including women, underrepresented minorities, and early-career researchers, contributing to the goals of broadening participation in science. The findings are shared with local communities and with broader audiences via educational modules in open-access economics courses. The methodological tools being developed for the project can facilitate similar comparative studies.This collaborative project examines the dynamic social processes that contribute to material wealth inequality. The research includes data collection in over forty communities that vary in terms of subsistence orientations, political organization, kinship and descent, and demographics. The research design focuses in general on the economic consequences of variation in the structure of social support networks. In particular, the study shows the extent to which advantageous positions in community networks can mitigate economic risks and enable material gains. Simultaneously, the researchers collect and analyze data on other variables that are hypothesized to effect dynamic variation in material wealth, including variation in education and skills, occupations and status, and family structures. These data contribute to comparative analyses that consider the relative effects of these variables on changes in material wealth and inequality. The findings have relevance for debates about the determinants and consequences of wealth inequality in both historical and contemporary societies. Methodologically, approaches for organizing and analyzing longitudinal data are being developed and shared across research communities to build capacity for similar multi-sited projects.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.