Social Capital and Collective Water Management: Social Norms Perspectives

Community-based management approaches in the Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WASH) sector have been widely implemented in low- and middle-income countries, particularly in rural areas, due to their cost-effectiveness and sustainability. Despite their popularity since the 1990s, the outcomes of such interventions have not always been successful. In the context of WASH, both community water facilities and household sanitation can be viewed as common-pool resources, which inherently face theoretical challenges in management due to externalities in collective governance. This research examines the interplay between collective water management and social capital, focusing on a community toilet development project in the urban slums of Bangladesh as a case study. While social capital is expected to play a pivotal role in community management, the mechanisms through which it fosters collective action remain largely unexplained. The study introduces a framework to delineate social capital through the lens of social norms, employing behavioral game theoretical perspectives. This framework aims to provide a more nuanced understanding of local value systems and underscores their importance in achieving sustainable resource management and good governance. The research builds on findings published in Sakamoto’s (2024) “The Role of Social Capital in Community Development: Insights from Behavioral Game Theory and Social Network Analysis” in the Journal of Sustainable Development.