ABSTRACT
The paper addresses the issue whether assistance to persons in need can be left to the “family” and the “community”, as is suggested in some Asian countries. In that case people depend on their social networks. The support a person receives through a given network of social ties is examined. Social ties are not uniform and static, but diverse and subject to build up and decline. By means of a model based on the hypothesis that ties are formed by prolonged functional interaction in local communities, the determinants and dynamics of ties are described. An incentive to lend support only exists if the interaction leads to positive ties, and the conditions for this follow from the model. The sustainability of private support over time is examined by extending the model to include the impact on social ties of lending and receiving support. Voluntary assistance suffers much less from the problems that plague social security/welfare systems. However, it is shown that such support is only an effective alternative in a limited number of situations. Communities must be homogeneous in preferences as well as income, and needs must be infrequent, short term and, preferably, alternating among the inhabitants.
