Social capital and economic growth
Essential readings
Knack, S., Keefer, P. (1997). Does Social Capital Have an Economic Payoff? A Cross-Country Investigation. Quarterly Journal of Economics 112 (4): 1251-1288
This paper presents evidence that “social capital” matters for measurable economic...
Routledge, B.R., von Amsberg, J. (2002). Social Capital and Growth. Journal of Monetary Economics 50 (1), 167-193.
We define and characterize social capital in a simple growth model. We capture social capital in a...
Antoci, A., Sabatini, F., Sodini, M. (2011). The Solaria Syndrome: Social Capital in a Hypertechnological Growing Economy. Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization. In press.
We develop a dynamic model to analyze the sources and the evolution of social participation and...
Important readings
Putnam, R. (1993). Making Democracy Work: Civic Traditions in Modern Italy
Why do some democratic governments succeed and others fail? In a book that has received attention...
Algann, Y., Cahuc, P. (2010). Inherited Trust and Growth. American Economic Review, 100(5): 2060–92.
This paper develops a new method to uncover the causal e¤ect of trust on economic growth, by...
Zak, P. J., Knack, S. (2001). Trust and Growth. The Economic Journal 111 (470), 295-321
Why does trust vary so substantially across countries? This paper presents a general equilibrium...
Reading list archive
Fafchamps, M. (2006). Development and social capital. Journal of Development Studies 42 (7), 1180-1198
This paper examines social capital and its relation with economic development. We focus on the role...
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...
Fisk, D. (2005). Limits to growth may be subtle but still inexorable. Nature 434, 271
Dick Taverne, in his review of James Gustave Speth's recent book Red Sky at Morning, comments...
Fisk, D. (2010). Economic growth: A gross measure. Nature 468 (7327), 1041
Gross domestic product (GDP) is as poor a measure of the economy as it is of welfare (Nature 468,...
Giordani, P. E. (2005). Decision-Making under Strong Uncertainty: Five Applications to Sunspot Theory and neo-Schumpeterian Growth Theory. Sapienza University of Rome, PhD Thesis
Paolo Giordani PhD Programme in Economics University of Rome La Sapienza, Department of Public...
Gradstein, M., Justman, M. (2002). Education, social cohesion, and economic growth. American Economic Review 92 (4), 1192-1204
Analysis of the contribution of education to growth through its role in promoting a common culture...
Growiec, J., Growiec, K. (2009). Social Capital, Trust, and Multiple Equilibria in Economic Performance. MPRA Paper 19518
We propose a novel mechanism giving rise to poverty traps and multiple equilibria in economic...
Guiso, L. (2010). A trust-driven financial crisis. Implications for the future of financial markets. EUI Working paper ECO2010/07
Luigi Guiso (European University Institute) Abstract The financial crisis has brought to light...
Guiso, L. Sapienza, P., Zingales, L. (2009). Cultural biases in Economic Exchange? Quarterly Journal of Economics 124 (3): 1095-1131.
How much do cultural biases affect economic exchange? We answer this question by using data on...
Guiso, L., Sapienza, P-, Zingales, L. (2006). Does Culture Affect Economic Outcomes? Journal of Economic Perspectives 20(2): 23-48
Until recently, economists have been reluctant to rely on culture as a possible determinant of...
Guiso, L., Sapienza, P., Zingales, L. (2004). The role of social capital in financial development. American Economic Review 94(3): 526–556.
To identify the effect of social capital on financial development, we exploit social capital...
Guiso, L., Sapienza, P., Zingales, L. (2009). Cultural biases in economic exchange? Quarterly Journal of Economics, 124 (3), 1095-1131.
How much do cultural biases affect economic exchange? We try to answer this questio by using data...
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...
Guiso, L., Sapienza, P., Zingales, L. (2016). Long term persistence. Journal of the European Economic Association 14-6, 1401–1436
We study whether a positive historical shock can generate long-term persistence in development. We...
Horváth, R. (2012). Does Trust Promote Growth? IESEES Working Paper 319
We examine the effect of generalized trust on long-term economic growth. Unlike in previous studies...