Relational Capability as a Measure of Development.

Summary This paper documents the paradoxical short-term effects of training and job programmes implemented by oil companies in the region of Onelga, Rivers State (Nigeria). We use two multidimensional indexes as dependent variables: the UNDP's Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) and a ‘Relational Deprivation Index’ (RDI) that measures the quality of social fabric. We find that while the programmes significantly reduce conventional poverty, their impact on RDI is twofold: the beneficiaries' integration into networks improves at the expense of deteriorated private relations. These different effects promote measuring poverty and development as multidimensional phenomena and taking into consideration social aspects of development.