Does Finance Make Us Less Social?
43 Pages Posted: 13 Aug 2018 Last revised: 17 Nov 2020
Date Written: August 13, 2018
Abstract
Informal risk sharing within social networks and formal financial contracts both enable households to manage risk. We find that financial contracting reduces participation in social networks. Specifically, increased crop insurance usage decreased local religious adherence and congregation membership in agricultural communities. Our identification utilizes the Federal Crop Insurance Reform Act of 1994 that doubled crop insurance usage nationally within a year, although changes in usage varied across counties. Difference-in-Difference and Spatial First Difference tests, with urban and neighboring counties as respective control groups, confirm that households substituted insurance for religiosity. This substitution was associated with reductions in crop diversification and crop yields, indicating an increase in moral hazard.
Keywords: Household Risk Management, Social Networks, FinTech
JEL Classification: G02, G28
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation