ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the 'forced solidarity hypothesis' by using a large sample of informal entrepreneurs covering seven economic capitals in West Africa. It derives the following proxies of the potential intensity of family and kinship ties, which in turn should determine the size of the solidarity tax, but also the possible positive network effects in case of imperfect capital and labour markets. The chapter discusses the results of each regression starting with the model that looks at the association between family and kinship ties and the total stock of physical capital used. It sheds the new light on the debate about the 'dark side of social capital'. Thus the further argument for the roll out of social health insurance with which some African countries have recently started to experiment. The chapter points to one particular constraint which so far has received a lot of attention in the anthropological literature but only little in private sector development approaches.
