ABSTRACT
Economic diversification and social networks affect the social choices and human agency of people in a multitude of positive, negative and ambiguous ways. Having limited social contacts and few occupational choices tends to limit the opportunities people have in choosing and determining their own lives. Even assuming that people had the same level of education and health, an eighteen-year-old person living in a city with an advanced economy (for example which produces cars, software and multiple services), tends to have more social choices and opportunities for lifelong capability upgrading compared to a person living in an local economy showing a low-level of economic complexity with a few disconnected economic sectors, small-scale agriculture, informal mining and some garment-trading activities. Improving the educational level of and the health services available to people living in an economy with a low-level of complexity and productive capabilities is an important factor, but on its own is not enough to achieve a sustained convergence of the development and social choice capabilities of these two different economies. The type and quality of the occupational choices in an economy, as well as the type of personal networks, are essential for the agency and life quality of the people. Yet high levels of economic diversity and large social networks can also lead to difficult decision processes and the high opportunity costs of activities which were not chosen by the individuals may result in a negative impact on their quality of life.
