• touko 05
  Skype

  tiistai 5.5.2020, 14.30

  Lisää kalenteriin

Ekaterina Borisova (National Research University Higher School of Economics): Unexpected Consequences of Policy: Social Capital Accumulation and the Moscow Housing Renovation Program

Co-authors: Regina Smyth (Indiana University Bloomington) and Alexei Zakharov (National Research University Higher School of Economics)

Abstract
This paper relies on original data from a survey of 2000 Muscovites in 2018 to explore the accumulation of social capital in response to the regime’s housing renovation program. Aimed at a class of five-story buildings constructed between the late 1950s and early 1970s (so-called “khrushchevki”), the vague and ill-defined renovation policy imposed significant costs and uncertainty to beneficiaries. The program prompted residents of included buildings to engage in patterns of interactions in order to secure better housing or even to resist the program. These interactions increased social capital relative to residents of five-story buildings not included in the program or those who lived in buildings that were never eligible for renovation. We test a model of social capital accumulation, exploring the influence of residents’ attributes, the nature of interactions, and contextual factors. Finally, we find that the accumulation of social capital led to greater political participation. Our findings contribute to theories of short- to medium-term formation of social capital. In particular, we show that some types of policies can produce social capital in autocratic systems.

Online BOFIT seminars are open to all researchers interested in the subjects covered. Those wishing to attend a seminar are kindly asked to register in advance, by filling in the online registration form. The registration for each seminar is open until 9:00 am the day of the seminar. You will receive a link to join the seminar by email at the latest one hour before the seminar is scheduled to begin.