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on Social Norms and Social Capital |
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Issue of 2017‒10‒01
nine papers chosen by Fabio Sabatini Università degli Studi di Roma “La Sapienza” |
| By: | James B. Ang (Department of Economics, Nanyang Technological University, 14 Nanyang Drive, Singapore 637332.); Per G. Fredriksson (Department of Economics, University of Louisville, Louisville, KY 40292, USA.) |
| Abstract: | Several recent contributions to the literature have suggested that the strength of family ties is related to various economic and social outcomes. For example, Alesina and Giuliano (2014) highlight that the strength of family ties is strongly correlated with lower GDP and lower quality of institutions. However, the forces shaping family ties remain relatively unexplored in the literature. This paper proposes and tests the hypothesis that the agricultural legacy of a country matters for shaping the strength of its family ties. Using data from the World Values Survey and the European Values Study, the results show that societies with a legacy in cultivating wheat tend to have weaker family ties. Analysis at the sub-national level (US data) and the country level corroborate these ?ndings. The estimations allow for alternative hypotheses which propose that pathogen stress and climatic variation can potentially also give rise to the formation of family ties. The results suggest that the suitability of land for wheat production is the most influential factor in explaining the variation in the strength of family ties across societies and countries. |
| Keywords: | Family ties; agriculture; long-run comparative development |
| JEL: | O1 Q1 Z1 |
| Date: | 2017–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nan:wpaper:1705&r=soc |
| By: | Julien Benistant (GATE Lyon Saint-Étienne - Groupe d'analyse et de théorie économique - ENS Lyon - École normale supérieure - Lyon - UL2 - Université Lumière - Lyon 2 - UCBL - Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1 - UJM - Université Jean Monnet [Saint-Etienne] - Université de Lyon - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique); Marie Claire Villeval (GATE Lyon Saint-Étienne - Groupe d'analyse et de théorie économique - ENS Lyon - École normale supérieure - Lyon - UL2 - Université Lumière - Lyon 2 - UCBL - Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1 - UJM - Université Jean Monnet [Saint-Etienne] - Université de Lyon - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique) |
| Abstract: | Using a real-effort experiment, we studied how minimal group identity affects unethical behavior in a contest game. We varied (i) whether individuals had to report their own output or the output of their competitor, (ii) whether group identity was induced or not, and (iii) whether pairs of competitors shared the same group identity or not. We show that individuals misreported in the same proportion and to the same extent by inflating their output or by decreasing their opponent's output. Misreporting was affected neither by the competitor's group identity nor by the individual's beliefs about misreporting. This suggests that in such competitive settings, unethical behavior is mainly driven by an unconditional desire to win. Abstract: Using a real-effort experiment, we studied how minimal group identity affects unethical behavior in a contest game. We varied (i) whether individuals had to report their own output or the output of their competitor, (ii) whether group identity was induced or not, and (iii) whether pairs of competitors shared the same group identity or not. We show that individuals misreported in the same proportion and to the same extent by inflating their output or by decreasing their opponent's output. Misreporting was affected neither by the competitor's group identity nor by the individual's beliefs about misreporting. This suggests that in such competitive settings, unethical behavior is mainly driven by an unconditional desire to win. |
| Keywords: | lying, group identity, competition, experiment,Unethical behavior |
| Date: | 2017 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:wpaper:halshs-01592007&r=soc |
| By: | Fuhai HONG (Division of Economics, Nanyang Technological University, 14 Nanyang Drive, Singapore 637332.); Yohanes E. RIYANTO (Division of Economics, Nanyang Technological University, 14 Nanyang Drive, Singapore 637332.); Ruike ZHANG (Division of Economics, Nanyang Technological University, 14 Nanyang Drive, Singapore 637332.) |
| Abstract: | Social identity is embedded in social structures, generated by various social processes, and has multiple dimensions. We report ?ndings from a laboratory experiment eliciting two-dimensional social identities: a horizontal identity determined either randomly or by preferences and a vertical identity de?ned by income status and determined either by luck or performance. We also vary income gaps between vertical identity groups. Participants make redistributive allocation decisions between two others di¤ering in identity attributes. We ?nd robust evidence of in-group favoritism and that both the identity distance between the allocator and the in-group recipient and income gaps in?uence the degree of in-group favoritism. |
| Keywords: | Social Identities, Horizontal and Vertical Identity Attributes, In-group Favoritism, Income Inequality |
| JEL: | C91 D03 |
| Date: | 2016–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nan:wpaper:1701&r=soc |
| By: | Amiraslani, Hami; Lins, Karl; Servaes, Henri; Tamayo, Ane |
| Abstract: | We investigate whether a firm's social capital, and the trust that it engenders, are viewed favorably by bondholders. Using the financial crisis as an exogenous shock to trust, and firms' corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities as a proxy for social capital, we show that high-CSR firms benefited from lower bond spreads in the secondary market during the financial crisis compared to low-CSR firms. These findings are more pronounced for firms that, when in distress, have a greater opportunity to engage in asset substitution or divert cash to shareholders. High-CSR firms were also able to raise more debt capital on the primary market during this period, and those high-CSR firms that raised more debt were able to do so at lower at-issue bond spreads, better initial credit ratings, and for longer maturities. Our results suggest that debt investors believe that high-CSR firms are less likely to engage in asset substitution and diversion that would be detrimental to stakeholders, including debtholders. These findings also indicate that the benefits of CSR that accrued to shareholders during the financial crisis carry across to another important asset class, debt capital. |
| Keywords: | corporate bonds; cost of debt; CSR; financial crisis; social capital; Trust |
| JEL: | G12 G21 G32 M14 |
| Date: | 2017–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:12321&r=soc |
| By: | Lisa D. Cook; Trevon D. Logan; John M. Parman |
| Abstract: | The literature on ethnic fractionalization and conflict has not been extended to the American past. In particular, the empirical relationship between racial residential segregation and lynching is unknown. The existing economic, social, and political theories of lynching contain hypotheses about the relationship between racial segregation and racial violence, consistent with theories of social conflict. Since Southern lynching occurred in rural and urban areas, traditional urban measures of racial segregation cannot be used to estimate the relationship. We use a newly developed household-level measure of residential segregation (Logan and Parman 2017), which can distinguish between racial homogeneity of a location and the tendency to racially segregate, to estimate the correlation between racial segregation and lynching in the southern counties of the United States. We find that conditional on racial composition, racially segregated counties were much more likely to experience lynchings. Consistent with the hypothesis that segregation is related to interracial violence, we find that segregation is highly correlated with African American lynching, but uncorrelated with white lynching. These results extend the analysis of racial/ethnic conflict into the past and show that the effects of social interactions and interracial proximity in rural areas are as important as those in urban areas. |
| JEL: | I1 J1 N3 |
| Date: | 2017–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:23813&r=soc |
| By: | Valentino Larcinese; Luke Miner |
| Abstract: | What are the political consequences of the diffusion of broadband internet? We address this question by studying the 2008 US presidential election, the first political campaign where the internet played a key role. Drawing on data from the FEC and the FCC, we provide robust evidence that internet penetration in US counties is associated with an increase in turnout, an increase in campaign contributions to the Democrats and an increase in the share of Democratic vote. We then propose an IV strategy to deal with potential endogeneity concerns: we exploit geographic discontinuities along state borders with different right-of-way laws, which constitute the main determinant of the cost of building new infrastructure. IV estimates confirm a positive impact of broadband diffusion on turnout, while the pro-Democratic Party effect of the internet appears to be less robust. |
| Keywords: | internet diffusion, political economy of the media, United States elections, turnout, campaign contributions |
| JEL: | D72 L86 |
| Date: | 2017–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cep:stieop:63&r=soc |
| By: | Shoji, Masahiro |
| Abstract: | This study tests guilt aversion by experimentally eliciting guilt sensitivity of villagers in Bangladesh and evaluating its impact on real-world behavior. In a trust game with hidden action, villagers in this study are asked about their reciprocal behavior toward seven potential opponents with different levels of trusting belief. Guilt sensitivity is elicited from the threshold belief to switch from selfish to reciprocal behavior. It appears that males exhibit higher guilt sensitivity. I also find robust supporting evidence for guilt aversion but not for pure altruism or trustworthiness; guilt-averse villagers can borrow from and repay to community members after a disaster. Individuals also suffer less from property crime in villages with a higher guilt-sensitivity neighborhood. However, guilt sensitivity is uncorrelated with contribution to community events. A potential reason for the insignificant effect is discussed. |
| Keywords: | Guilt aversion; peer effects; antisocial behavior; experiment; Bangladesh |
| JEL: | C91 C93 |
| Date: | 2017–09–19 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:81451&r=soc |
| By: | de Vuijst, Elise (Delft University of Technology); van Ham, Maarten (Delft University of Technology) |
| Abstract: | In the Netherlands, obtaining a higher education increases the chance to move to a better neighbourhood for native Dutch adults who grew up in a deprived parental neighbourhood. For non-Western minorities, education does not have this positive effect on socio-spatial mobility. In this study we investigate potential explanations for these ethnic differences in the relationship between educational attainment and neighbourhood outcomes over time. We use longitudinal register data from the Netherlands to study a complete cohort of parental home leavers who attained a higher education by the end of the measurement period (1999 to 2012). We supplemented this data with information gathered in the WoON-survey. We examined differences in income trajectories for highly-educated native Dutch and non-Western ethnic minorities; investigated the strength of intergenerational transmission of income for both groups; and assessed individual neighbourhood experiences and contentment. We find that the highly-educated native Dutch in our subpopulation have a substantially higher average income over time, and a weaker association to the income of their parents compared to the non-Western ethnic minorities. Additionally, for ethnic minorities, our results show that the level of contentment with their neighbourhood is highest in deprived neighbourhoods compared to more affluent residential environments, and they more often reside in close proximity to their parents compared to the native Dutch, both suggesting an element of choice in neighbourhood selection. |
| Keywords: | neighbourhood histories, intergenerational transmission, income, education, ethnicity, longitudinal data |
| JEL: | I30 J60 P46 R23 |
| Date: | 2017–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp10999&r=soc |
| By: | Donald R. Davis; Jonathan I. Dingel; Joan Monras; Eduardo Morales |
| Abstract: | We provide measures of ethnic and racial segregation in urban consumption. Using Yelp reviews, we estimate how spatial and social frictions influence restaurant visits within New York City. Transit time plays a first-order role in consumption choices, so consumption segregation partly reflects residential segregation. Social frictions also have a large impact on restaurant choices: individuals are less likely to visit venues in neighborhoods demographically different from their own. While spatial and social frictions jointly produce significant levels of consumption segregation, we find that restaurant consumption in New York City is only about half as segregated as residences. Consumption segregation owes more to social than spatial frictions. |
| JEL: | D12 J15 L83 R2 |
| Date: | 2017–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:23822&r=soc |