Standalone, Collective or Both? How Low-income Urban Households Employ Strategies to Secure Basic Service Access in Hyderabad, India

Abstract

Basic service security remains grossly insufficient for many urban slum households in low-income and middle-income countries. While participation in collective action has often been hailed as the most effective means to secure improvements, households also employ standalone strategies to enhance service provision. Yet potential trade-offs or complementarities between individual and collective strategies have rarely been considered. Using data from a survey of 752 households in the core urban area of Hyderabad, India, this study uses both the exit, voice and loyalty and collective action frameworks to jointly consider household participation in standalone and groups efforts to improve basic service security. Findings show that, contrary to most past conceptualizations, households employ several strategies simultaneously. While there is some evidence of substitution in strategies employed by households, there appears to be little strategic complementarity. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.