This paper is about social relations in customary lands for the matrilineal uxorilocal culture of the Lomwe, Nyanja and Yao tribes in Southern Malawi. The study was carried out in the districts of Chiradzulu and Phalombe. Qualitative methods were used to examine local histories and practices to...

This paper originates from a series of 'trust games' performed in Malawi during the summer of 2007. The results from the games are interpreted as pure stylized cases of a social dilemma. Some dilemmas, such as the prisoner's dilemma, are more difficult to resolve than others. These are also...

This paper is about land tenure relations among the matrilineal and patrilineal cultures in Malawi. Data from the National Agricultural and Livestock Census are used to characterize marriage systems and settlement and landholding patterns for local communities. Marriage systems correspond to...

Many empirical studies find a partial negative effect of market integration on cooperation in traditional poor small-scale farmer communities in developing countries, blaming an erosion of collective action enhancing norms (Social Capital). This paper takes the empirical analysis one step...

This paper originates from a series of “trust games” performed in Malawi during the summer of 2007. The results from the games are interpreted as pure stylized cases of a social dilemma. Some dilemmas, such as the prisoner’s dilemma, are more difficult to resolve than others. These are...

Gender equality has become an integral part of policies in poor developing countries. The perspective of women's rights as a human right not to be refuted by culture or political majority decision-making is rather new. In addition to being an aim in itself, gender equality seems to increase...