Spending for special family occasions as an investment in informal social networks
Date
2010-03
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Abstract
The purpose of this study is to investigate the use of spending for special occasions as an investment in informal social networks. The objective is to determine whether there is a system of reciprocity that works among households, as there may be returns to such investment in the form of gifts a household receives. The hypothesis was tested using data from the 2006 Family Income and Expenditures Survey conducted by the National Statistics Office. We used the Heckman procedure to predict the amount that a household spends for special occasions. The rate of return was estimated using the ratio of total gifts received by the household over the predicted spending. Our results suggest that, on average, a household only gets back 73.7% of the amount invested. Spending for special occasions may not be profitable as an investment however, it is still beneficial because they can expect at least some financial and/or in kind returns should they need help in the future.
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Keywords
Family occasions, Investment, Informal social networks, Social networks, Household behavior