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An Economic Approach to Social Capital (2002)
| Venue: | Economic Journal |
| Citations: | 209 - 1 self |
BibTeX
@ARTICLE{Glaeser02aneconomic,
author = {Edward L. Glaeser and David Laibson and Bruce Sacerdote},
title = {An Economic Approach to Social Capital},
journal = {Economic Journal},
year = {2002},
pages = {437--458}
}
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Abstract
A standard optimal investment model can be used to analyse an individual’s decision to ac-cumulate social capital. We analyse six facts that support the predictions of this individual-based approach: (1) social capital first rises and then falls with age, (2) social capital declines with expected mobility, (3) social capital rises in occupations with greater returns to social skills, (4) social capital is higher among homeowners, (5) social connections fall sharply with physical distance, (6) people who invest in human capital also invest in social capital. We fail to find robust evidence that social capital investments fall with the value of time or that geo-graphic/religious groups generate social capital complementarities. A growing body of research documents significant correlations between ‘social capital ’ variables, such as membership in organisations, and important economic outcomes.1 Putnam (1993) jump-started the research on social capital when he found a strong correlation between measures of civic engagement and government quality across regions in Italy. Many authors have contributed to this literature. For example, Knack and Keefer (1997) find that a one-standard deviation increase in a survey-based measure of country-level trust increases economic growth by more
Keyphrases
social capital economic approach standard optimal investment model strong correlation social capital investment fall important economic outcome social capital complementarity physical distance social skill social capital first rise survey-based measure social capital decline individual decision robust evidence geo-graphic religious group government quality civic engagement human capital social capital variable social connection research document significant correlation country-level trust increase economic growth ac-cumulate social capital one-standard deviation increase many author individual-based approach social capital rise
