This study investigates the impact of individual and community social capital (SC) on individual behavior and group dynamics in a series of public goods games conducted in three urban slums in Bangladesh. These slums were part of a development project introducing WASH facilities through a participatory process, with each community actively involved in selecting and managing specific resources such as drinking water facilities and community toilets. After installation, hygiene conditions varied across community toilets: one community achieved successful maintenance, while others did not meet anticipated standards.
Three groups from each slum—a total of nine groups, each consisting of 6 to 10 participants—participated in ten rounds of the game. Prior to the experiment, a questionnaire survey was conducted to assess SC using standard SC questions, social network analysis indicators, and adherence to social norms, with the latter evaluated through behavioral game theory questions on altruism, trust, and reciprocity. By triangulating community members’ SC, the foundations of communities’ SC were also assessed. The groups for the game experiments were categorized as village committees, popular women’s groups, and popular men’s groups, with popularity determined by social network centrality measures.
We employ Dynamic Structural Equation Modeling (DSEM) to analyze both the static and dynamic effects of individual and community SC on participants' contribution behaviors over time, collective dynamics within each group, and their associations with real-world WASH outcomes. DSEM enables us to assess dynamic causal relationships and feedback loops across repeated interactions. Thus, this study examines how individual and community SC influence cooperative behaviors.
