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on Social Norms and Social Capital |
| By: | Angelo Antoci; Fabio Sabatini; Mauro Sodini |
| Abstract: | This paper addresses two hot topics of the contemporary debate, social capital and economic growth. Our theoretical analysis sheds light on decisive but so far neglected issues: how does social capital accumulate over time? Which is the relationship between social capital, technical progress and economic growth in the long run? The analysis shows that the economy may be attracted by alternative steady states, depending on the initial social capital endowments and cultural exogenous parameters representing the relevance of social interaction and trust in well-being and production. When material consumption and relational goods are substitutable, the choice to devote more and more time to private activities may lead the economy to a “social poverty trap”, where the cooling of human relations causes a progressive destruction of the entire stock of social capital. In this case, the relationship of social capital with technical progress is described by an inverted U-shaped curve. However, the possibility exists for the economy to follow a virtuous trajectory where the stock of social capital endogenously and unboundedly grows. Such result may follow from a range of particular conditions, under which the economy behaves as if there was no substitutability between relational activities and material consumption |
| Keywords: | Economic growth, Technical progress, Transitional dynamics, Social capital, Social norms |
| JEL: | A13 O33 O49 Z13 |
| Date: | 2009–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:usi:wpaper:551&r=soc |
| By: | Fabio Sabatini |
| Abstract: | Which kind of social capital fosters the diffusion of development-oriented trust? This paper carries out an empirical investigation into the causal relationships connecting four types of social capital (i.e. bonding, bridging, linking, and corporate), and different forms of trust (knowledge-based trust, social trust, trust towards public services and political institutions), in a community of entrepreneurs located in the Italian industrial district of the Tuscia. Our results suggest that the main factors fostering the diffusion of social trust among entrepreneurs are the perception that the local community is a safe place, and the establishment of corporate ties through professional associations. Trust in people is positively and significantly correlated also to higher levels of satisfaction and confidence in public services. Participation in voluntary organizations does not appear to increase trust in people. Rather, we find evidence of the other way round: interpersonal trust seems to encourage civic engagement |
| Keywords: | Trust, Social capital, Safety, Professional associations, Entrepreneurship, Corporate ties, Group and Interpersonal Processes, Social Perception and Cognition |
| JEL: | A13 J24 O15 Z13 |
| Date: | 2009–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:usi:wpaper:552&r=soc |
| By: | Björn Frank (University Kassel, Nora-Platiel-Str. 4, 34109 Kassel, Germany) |
| Abstract: | The notion of face-to-face contacts has recently become very popular in regional economics and in economic geography. This is the most obvious way to explain why firms still locate in proximity to others after the "death of distance", i.e., the shrinking costs for transportation, especially transportation of messages' pure information content. While this is intuitive, controlled laboratory experiments provide much more direct and reliable evidence on the importance of face-to-face contacts. They tackle the question what personal contacts are good for, and in which cases their effects are negligible. To the best of my knowledge, regional economists and geographers are not aware of this new and developing string of literature; it is the purpose of this paper to survey and to organize the relevant experimental research with a special focus on its importance for regional economics. However, the paper might also serve to alert more experimentalists to the importance of their work for current regional science, of which they seem not to be aware either. |
| Keywords: | Cooperation, death of distance, face-to-face, localized spillovers, trust |
| JEL: | C90 D83 R19 |
| Date: | 2009 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mar:magkse:200904&r=soc |
| By: | David Goldbaum (School of Finance and Economics, University of Technology, Sydney) |
| Abstract: | A social pyramid is show to be the unique steady state social structure when agents gain utility from being early adopters of subsequently popular trends. The environment is related to a majority game, but introduces the importance of the timing of adoption. Utility derived from making a popular choice independent of timing is demonstrated as essential to support the hierarchy. The proposed environment is relevant to a number of settings in which leadership and timing of decisions are important or where being perceived as a trend setter is rewarded. The leadership position can be self-reinforcing. For a professional critic, for example, a cult-of personality can dictate popular tastes, such as in art, food, and wine markets. A social hierarchy can also apply to the introduction of new products or ideas including academic research and financial market analysts. |
| Keywords: | dynamic network; social interaction; consumer choice |
| Date: | 2009–01–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:uts:wpaper:158&r=soc |
| By: | Rowthorn, Robert E.; Guzmán, Ricardo Andrés; Rodríguez-Sickert, Carlos |
| Abstract: | Gratuitous cooperation (in favour of non-relatives and without repeated interaction) eludes traditional evolutionary explanations. In this paper we survey the various theories of cooperative behaviour, and we describe our own effort to integrate these theories into a self-contained framework. Our main conclusions are as follows. First: altruistic punishment, conformism and gratuitous cooperation co-evolve, and group selection is a necessary ingredient for the co-evolution to take place. Second: people do not cooperate by mistake, as most theories imply; on the contrary, people knowingly sacrifice themselves for others. Third: in cooperative dilemmas conformism is an expression of preference, not a learning rule. Fourth, group-mutations (e.g., the rare emergence of a charismatic leader that brings order to the group) are necessary to sustain cooperation in the long run. |
| Keywords: | Cooperation; altruism; altruistic punishment; conformism; group-selection |
| JEL: | H41 Z13 |
| Date: | 2009–01–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:12574&r=soc |
| By: | Kene Boun My; Benoît Chalvignac |
| Abstract: | We study the effect of voluntary participation in the context of a collective-good experiment. We investigate whether the freedom to participate in the game or not increases contribution levels and enhances their evolution. The analysis of two voluntary participation treatments supports a positive effect of an attractive exit option on both contribution levels and their sustainability. We conclude that the voluntary contribution mechanism can provide sustainable cooperation levels and that the usually observed decay of average contribution levels can be counteracted by voluntary participation in the game.. |
| Keywords: | Collective Goods; Cooperation; Voluntary participation ; Laboratory experiments. |
| JEL: | H41 C92 |
| Date: | 2009 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ulp:sbbeta:2009-01&r=soc |
| By: | Shiqing Jiang; Ming Lu; Hiroshi Sato |
| Abstract: | This paper studies the impact of income inequality on the subjective well-being of different social groups in urban China. We classify urban social groups according to their hukou status: rural migrants, gbornh urban residents, and gacquiredh urban residents who once changed their hukou identity from rural to urban. We focus on how the horizontal inequality-income disparity between migrants and urban residents-affects individual happiness. The main results are as follows. First, migrants suffer from unhappiness when the horizontal inequality increases, but urban residents show a much smaller aversion to the horizontal inequality. Second, migrants will not be happier if their relative incomes within their migrant group increase, while urban residents do become happier when their incomes increase within their groupfs income distribution. Third, gacquiredh urban residents have traits of both migrants and gbornh urban residents. They have an aversion to the horizontal inequality like migrants, and they also favor higher relative income among urban residents. Fourth, gbornh urban residents have lower happiness scores when they are old. People who are Communist Party members strongly dislike the horizontal inequality. Our findings suggest that migrants, gacquiredh urban residents, elderly people and Party members from gbornh urban residents are the potential proponents of social integration policies in urban China. |
| Keywords: | Horizontal inequality, Happiness, Hukou identity, Migration, Social integration |
| JEL: | I31 O15 R23 |
| Date: | 2009–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hst:ghsdps:gd08-020&r=soc |
| By: | Lucy F. Ackert; Ann B. Gillette; Jorge Martinez-Vazquez; Mark Rider |
| Abstract: | We use an experimental method to investigate whether systematic relationships exist across distinct aspects of individual preferences: risk aversion in monetary outcomes, altruism in a twoperson context, and social preferences in a larger group context. Individual preferences across these three contexts are measured, and there is no possibility for risk sharing, wealth effects, or updating expectations of the population choices. We find that social preferences are related to demographic variables, including years of education, gender, and age. Perhaps most importantly, self allocation in a two-person dictator game is related to social preferences in a group context. Participants who are more generous in a dictator game are more likely to vote against their selfinterest in a group decision-making task which we interpret to be expressions of social preferences. |
| JEL: | C91 C92 D63 H21 |
| Date: | 2009–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:exc:wpaper:2009-04&r=soc |
| By: | Hiroshi Sato |
| Abstract: | This paper examines the economic and noneconomic determinants of growth disparity among Chinese villages between 1990 and 2002. By estimating a growth equation, first, we confirm a significant positive effect of the initial level of human capital, as well as the initial condition of physical infrastructure. Second, social capital measured by the degree of stable social relations at the village level is also a significant growth-promoting factor. The policy implications of our findings are that public policy promoting social stability in rural areas should be strengthened, as well as increasing financial support for rural education and infrastructure construction, especially in lower income regions. |
| Keywords: | regional disparity, growth regression, social capital, rural China |
| JEL: | D31 O18 R11 |
| Date: | 2009–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hst:ghsdps:gd08-023&r=soc |
| By: | Masako Hasegawa (Osaka School of International Public Policy (OSIPP),Osaka University) |
| Abstract: | Who borrows Micro Credit (MC) is the information needed to improve not only MC programs but also policies of poverty alleviation. This paper analyzes the MC use determinants taking social ties into account using data in Guatemalan Living Standard Measurement Study. It shows that the determinants are relatively different between the poor and the non-poor. It also shows that social ties could raise the possibility of MC utilization especially among the poor, which would verify the function of social ties as collateral of creditworthiness. Those excluded from MC may not be the poorest but the socially weakest. |
| Keywords: | Micro Credit (MC), social ties, information asymmetry, creditworthiness, Guatemala, |
| JEL: | C25 D14 Q14 |
| Date: | 2009–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:osp:wpaper:09e002&r=soc |
| By: | Paul Frijters (QUT); Amy Y.C. Liu (ANU); Xin Meng (ANU) |
| Abstract: | In this paper we study the e¤ect of optimistic income expectations on life satisfaction amongst the Chinese population. Using a large scale household survey conducted in 2002 we find that the level of optimism about the future is particularly strong in the countryside and amongst rural-to-urban migrants. The importance of these expectations for life satisfaction is particularly pronounced in the urban areas, though also highly significant for the rural area. If expectations were to reverse from positive to negative, we calculate that this would have doubled the proportion of unhappy people and reduced proportion of very happy people by 48%. We perform several robustness checks to see if the results are driven by variations in precautionary savings or reverse causality. |
| Keywords: | Expectations; Happiness; Consumption and Savings; China; Political Economy |
| JEL: | C35 D63 D91 P2 |
| Date: | 2008–11–24 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:qut:auncer:2008-26&r=soc |
| By: | Brams, Steven J.; Kilgour, D. Marc |
| Abstract: | Democracy resolves conflicts in difficult games like Prisoners’ Dilemma and Chicken by stabilizing their cooperative outcomes. It does so by transforming these games into games in which voters are presented with a choice between a cooperative outcome and a Pareto-inferior noncooperative outcome. In the transformed game, it is always rational for voters to vote for the cooperative outcome, because cooperation is a weakly dominant strategy independent of the decision rule and the number of voters who choose it. Such games are illustrated by 2-person and n-person public-goods games, in which it is optimal to be a free rider, and a biblical story from the book of Exodus. |
| Keywords: | Democracy; voting; social choice; public goods; game theory; Prisoners' Dilemma; Bible |
| JEL: | D7 D6 C72 |
| Date: | 2008–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:12751&r=soc |
| By: | Nayak, Purusottam; Mahanta, Bidisha |
| Abstract: | The present paper is an attempt to analyze the status of women empowerment in India using various indicators like women’s household decision making power, financial autonomy, freedom of movement, political participation, acceptance of unequal gender role, exposure to media, access to education, experience of domestic violence etc based on data from different sources. The study reveals that women of India are relatively disempowered and they enjoy somewhat lower status than that of men in spite of many efforts undertaken by government. Gender gap exists regarding access to education and employment. Household decision making power and freedom of movement of women vary considerably with their age, education and employment status. It is found that acceptance of unequal gender norms by women are still prevailing in the society. More than half of the women believe wife beating to be justified for one reason or the other. Fewer women have final say on how to spend their earnings. Control over cash earnings increases with age, education and with place of residence. Women’s exposure to media is also less relative to men. Rural women are more prone to domestic violence than that of urban women. A large gender gap exists in political participation too. The study concludes by an observation that access to education and employment are only the enabling factors to empowerment, achievement towards the goal, however, depends largely on the attitude of the people towards gender equality. |
| Keywords: | Women Empowerment; Gender |
| JEL: | O15 |
| Date: | 2009–01–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:12685&r=soc |