Group Size and Social Capital Impact on Free Riding Behavior in Padang’s Self-Guards Managed Railway Crossing

An unguarded railway level crossing in Padang, Indonesia, presents a critical safety risk. This study investigates how community group size, social capital, and duration of residence in the neighborhood interact to influence collective action for shared safety. The collective action takes the form of conscious participation in an initiative to finance railway crossing guards, provided by and for the community. Using two-stage probit regression, the analysis uses the duration of residence in the neighborhood as an instrumental variable for social capital to address potential endogeneity. Not necessarily, the longer residents live in the neighborhood, the greater the willingness to participate. It is possible that living longer in an area leads to a decline in social capital due to economic stagnation and social fragmentation. Especially in disadvantaged neighborhoods. These dynamics illustrate the complex interactions between the duration of residence, group size, and social capital. These interactions will lead to a wide variety of responses in maintaining grassroots safety efforts.