Measuring social capital
Essential readings
Durlauf, S. N., Fafchamps, M. (2004). Social capital. The Centre for the Study of African Economies Working Paper No. 214
This paper surveys research on social capital. We explore the concepts that motivate the social...
Glaeser, E. G., Laibson, D., Scheinkman, J. A., Soutter, C. L. (2000). Measuring Trust. Quarterly Journal of Economics 65, 811-846
Using a sample of Harvard undergraduates, we analyze trust and social capital in two experiments...
Important readings
Karlan, D. (2005). Using Experimental Economics to Measure Social Capital and Predict Financial Decisions. American Economic Review, 95 (5), 1688-1699
Economic theory suggests that market failures arise when contracts are difficult to enforce or...
Leigh, A. (2010). Disconnected. Sidney: University of New South Wales Press
Following in the footsteps of Robert Putnam’s Bowling Alone, Andrew Leigh’s book...
Reading list archive
Andriani, L. (2010). Putnam’s Instrument Revisited. The Community Network of the Industrial Districts and a New Proxy of Social Capital. mimeo
The aim of this paper is to propose a new proxy of social capital based on the density of the...
Beugelsdijk, S. (2006). A note on the theory and measurement of trust in explaining differences in economic growth. Cambridge Journal of Economics 30 (3): 371-387.
This paper takes issue with the trend to attribute differences in economic growth rates to...
Beugelsdijk, S. (2007). Trust, institutions and the ‘generally speaking question’: a reply to Uslaner. Cambridge Journal of Economics 32 (4): 633-638.
In his critical reply on my article, Uslaner points to several issues, amongst others the lack of...
Bjørnskov, C. (2006). The multiple facets of social capital. European Journal of Political Economy 22 (1), 22-40.
This paper examines whether Putnam's claim that social capital is a unitary concept has support...
Bjørnskov, C. (2010). How Comparable are the Gallup World Poll Life Satisfaction Data? Journal of Happiness Studies 11 (1), 41-60
This paper explores the degree to which the new data on life satisfaction from the Gallup World...
Carpenter, J. P., Daniere, A. G., Takahashi, L. M. (2003). Comparing Measures of Social Capital Using Data From Southeast Asian Slums. Middlebury College, Department of Economics, mimeo
We analyze behavioral measures of social capital gathered over three years in Thai and Vietnamese...
Carpiano, R., Hystad, P. (2011). Sense of community belonging in health surveys: What social capital is it measuring? Health and Place 17 (2), 606-617
Canadian national health surveys regularly ask respondents to rate their sense of belonging to...
De Figueiredo, L. (2011). Social capital literature and Durlauf´s criticism. Textos para Discussão Cedeplar-UFMG 430.
Despite the lack of consensus on the appropriate concept of ‘social capital’, research...
Felice, E. (2011). The determinants of Italy's regional imbalances over the long run: exploring the contributions of human and social capital. University of Oxford, Discussion Papers in Economic and Social History No. 88
The article aims to present and discuss estimates of levels of human and social capital in Italy...
Freitag, M., Bauer, P. C. (2013). Testing for Measurement Equivalence in Surveys. Dimensions of Social Trust across Cultural Contexts. Public Opinion Quarterly 77 (S1): 24-44
Our study evaluates the dimensionality and equivalence of social trust across cultural contexts,...
Freitag, M., Traunmüller, R. (2009). Spheres of trust: An empirical analysis of the foundations of particularised and generalised trust. European Journal of Political Research 48(6), 782–803
While the literature on trust has produced various conceptual models, there is also some confusion...
Garofalo, G., Sabatini, F. (2008). Homo Oeconomicus? Dinamiche imprenditoriali in laboratorio. Bologna: Il Mulino
In che modo gli imprenditori compiono le loro scelte? La teoria economica tradizionale presuppone...
Gillen, L., Coromina, L., Saris, W. E. (2011). Measurement of Social Participation and its Place in Social Capital Theory. Social Indicators Research 100 (2), 331-350
The concept of social capital has become very popular but its definition and measurement are...
Grootaert, C., van Bastelaer (2002). Understanding and Measuring Social Capital: A Multi-Disciplinary Tool for Practitioners. Washington: World Bank
The importance of social capital for sustainable development is well understood. However, the...
Guiso, L., Sapienza, P., Zingales, L. (2010). Civic capital as the missing link. NBER Working paper 15845
This chapter reviews the recent debate about the role of social capital in economics. We argue that...
