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on Social Norms and Social Capital |
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Issue of 2025–08–18
nine papers chosen by Fabio Sabatini, Università degli Studi di Roma “La Sapienza” |
| By: | Berlingieri, Francesco; d'Hombres, Béatrice; Kovacic, Matija |
| Abstract: | This paper explores the relationship between loneliness, trust, and populist voting across both extremes of the ideological spectrum. The contribution of this research is mainly two-fold. First, it considers different dimensions of loneliness and accounts for its predetermined component stemming from social isolation in childhood and adverse childhood experiences. Second, it disentangles the effects of loneliness and trust by incorporating actual trust behaviour from a large-scale trust game experiment conducted in 27 European member states, involving more than 25, 000 individuals. The richness of the data allows to account for and disentangle the impact of competitive explanatory factors such as emotions, objective social isolation, social media use and economic preferences. The main findings suggest the following: (i) social loneliness significantly impacts populist voting, particularly on the extreme right, whereas the emotional dimension of loneliness is associated with more left-leaning, but non-populist, voting preferences; (ii) higher levels of actual trust are associated with lower support for right-wing populist parties; (iii) loneliness and trust operate through distinct channels: loneliness exerts a greater impact on women and older individuals, while trust plays a more significant role among men and middle-aged individuals, and (iv) the effect of social loneliness on support of populist parties is significantly attenuated in contexts with a history of recurrent economic crises, suggesting a potential experience-based learning mechanism. |
| Keywords: | Loneliness, interpersonal trust, political polarisation, populism |
| JEL: | D72 D91 P00 C91 Z13 |
| Date: | 2025 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:glodps:1634 |
| By: | Andrews, Michael J.; Marble, William; Russell, Lauren |
| Abstract: | Social theorists and education advocates have long argued for the civic benefits of education. As large, durable institutions, universities are especially likely to affect the civic life of their communities. We investigate how the establishment of a university alters the civic and political trajectory of the surrounding area. For identification, we leverage historical site selection processes in which multiple locations were considered for new colleges. We bring together data on social capital, political preferences, and elections to assess the long-run impacts of college establishment. Communities with colleges exhibit higher levels of civic engagement and greater social trust today, relative to “runner-up” locations without colleges. These counties are also more politically liberal — a gap that has grown substantially since 2000. Our findings suggest understanding universities as place-based policies that shape the long-run civic and political development of their communities. They also shed light on current political battles over higher education policy. |
| Date: | 2025–07–17 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:osf:socarx:5v9zw_v1 |
| By: | Leonardo Bursztyn; Matthew Gentzkow; Rafael Jimenez-Duran; Aaron Leonard; Filip Milojevic; Christopher Roth; Matthew Gentzkow |
| Abstract: | Market definition is essential for antitrust analysis, but challenging in settings with network effects, where substitution patterns depend on changes in network size. To address this challenge, we conduct an incentivized experiment to measure substitution patterns for TikTok, a popular social media platform. Our experiment, conducted during a time of high uncertainty about a potential U.S. TikTok ban, compares changes in the valuation of other social apps under individual and collective TikTok deactivations. Consistent with a simple framework, the valuations of alternative social apps increase more in response to a collective TikTok ban than to an individual TikTok deactivation. Our framework and estimates highlight that individual and collective treatments can even lead to qualitatively different conclusions about which alternative goods are substitutes. |
| Keywords: | markets, network goods, coordination, collective interventions |
| JEL: | D83 D91 P16 J15 |
| Date: | 2025 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ces:ceswps:_12049 |
| By: | Rodríguez-Pose, Andrés; Sandu, Alexandra |
| Abstract: | In this paper we investigate what determines access to banking in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE). The research uses different waves of the OeNB Euro Survey – covering over 91, 000 individuals during the period 2012–2020 – and pooled and multilevel logit models to analyse how the interplay of trust in institutions, socio-economic attributes and geographic contexts shapes access to bank accounts, savings deposits and loans across 10 CEE countries. The findings reveal significant disparities in banking inclusion across products: while institutional trust enhances access to current accounts and savings deposits, its impact on loans is weaker. Socio-economic factors and geographical contexts, particularly at the local NUTS3 level, also matter enormously for financial inclusion. National and local economic conditions are key in shaping variations in financial inclusion/exclusion across CEE. |
| Keywords: | banking access; institutional trust; financial inclusion; Central and Eastern Europe; multilevel analysis |
| JEL: | G21 O16 R11 |
| Date: | 2025–07–28 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ehl:lserod:128413 |
| By: | Wu, Fengyu; Sarracino, Francesco |
| Abstract: | This study examines how subjective well-being (SWB), specifically life satisfaction, influences household consumption expenditures, and the moderating role of social capital. While previous research has largely focused on how consumption affects well-being, we explore the reverse direction, motivated by the hypothesis that higher well-being may reduce consumption needs, particularly among individuals with strong social relations. Using fixed-effects panel regressions on data from the 2006-2010 waves of the Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) Survey, we examine two types of consumption-conspicuous and basic-and three indicators of social capital: social support, low loneliness, and active group membership. Results indicate that the relationship between life satisfaction and consumption expenditures changes significantly with individuals' social capital. Among those with low social support or high loneliness, greater life satisfaction is linked to increased spending on both conspicuous and basic goods and services. However, this positive association weakens or reverses among individuals with strong social ties or low levels of loneliness. These findings suggest that social capital can buffer the link between well-being and consumption, implying that policies fostering social ties and reducing loneliness may help decouple well-being from consumption growth and promote more sustainable lifestyles. |
| Keywords: | Consumption Expenditures, Subjective Well-being, Life Satisfaction, Social Capital, Loneliness |
| JEL: | D12 I31 Z13 A13 |
| Date: | 2025 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:glodps:1647 |
| By: | Quynh Huynh (Univsersity College London); Hyejin Ku (University College London) |
| Abstract: | We examine the relationship between economic development and female labor force participation, with a focus on the impact of gender norms. Analyzing quasi-random variation in provincial exports in reunified Vietnam from 2002 to 2018, we find that a positive economic shock led to a significant decline in women’s labor market engagement, particularly among married women from wealthier households and those with husbands in more skilled occupations. This trend is more pronounced in the South (formerly capitalist) than in the North (always socialist), and among native Southerners compared to Northerners relocated to the South after the war. Our findings highlight the importance of gender role attitudes in shaping women’s responses to rising incomes. |
| Keywords: | female labor force participation, social norms, gender role attitudes, income andsubstitution effects, trade liberalization |
| JEL: | J16 J22 O12 |
| Date: | 2025–05 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:crm:wpaper:2516 |
| By: | Okara, Assi; Tani, Massimiliano; Mbaye, Linguère Mously |
| Abstract: | We investigate whether having a daughter in a patriarchal society gives fathers a reason to reject prevailing social norms favouring gender discrimination against women. In particular, we develop a utility (rather than behavioural) model to frame the problem and derive hypotheses that can be empirically tested using cross-sectional data from the Senegal 2023 Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS). We find that fathering daughters can positively influence men's attitudes toward gender equity. In particular, men with daughters exhibit more positive attitudes toward women compared to their peers without daughters. This finding is robust across various sub-samples, particularly regarding violence-related outcome variables. |
| Keywords: | Men, daughters, perception about women, gender norms, utility |
| JEL: | D63 J16 Z13 |
| Date: | 2025 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:glodps:1640 |
| By: | Ferrara, Andreas (University of Pittsburgh, Department of Economics, and NBER); Dippel, Christian (Western University, Ivey Business School, and NBER); Heblich, Stephan (University of Toronto, Department of Economics, and NBER) |
| Abstract: | This paper presents new evidence on the critical role of lower-level organizational leaders. Unlike top managers, frontline leaders are essential for implementing organizational strategies by maintaining team cohesion when shirking is profitable for workers. We study this in the context of the Union Army during the U.S. Civil War, using data on 2.2 million soldiers and tracking captains and their 100-soldier companies at weekly frequency throughout the conflict. We estimate leader fixed effects during non-combat weeks to measure leadership quality in a leader value-added framework. We validate this measure by showing that captains were not assigned based on prior unit performance or observable pre-war characteristics. High-quality leaders earned more after the war, but not before, and were more frequently recognized as good leaders in their postwar biographies. Daily event-study estimates around major battles show that better captains significantly reduced desertions in combat. Exploiting quasi-random leader turnover, we find evidence that this effect is causal. Using digitized battle maps, we rule out risk aversion as a mechanism and find instead that better leaders had higher mortality rates, consistent with a leading-by-example explanation. We also document modest learning-by-doing effects. These findings highlight the often-overlooked importance of frontline leadership, where direct supervision and interpersonal influence are strongest. |
| Keywords: | Leadership, Leader Value-Added, Group Cohesion, Social Capital JEL Classification: N11, J24, D9, M12 |
| Date: | 2025 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cge:wacage:762 |
| By: | Elisabeth Beckmann; Söhnke Bergmann; Christa Hainz; Sarah Kiesl-Reiter |
| Abstract: | Loan guarantees can enhance access to credit, but serving as a private guarantor may also increase financial vulnerability. We examine, through a randomized information experiment in the UK, how providing information about the legal ramifications and risks of loan guarantees affects individuals’ willingness to act as guarantors. We find that providing information about legal risks reduces the willingness to guarantee loans, with stronger effects for larger loan amounts. Social preferences influence individuals’ willingness to act as guarantors. Information about legal ramifications increases the willingness to grant a guarantee among altruists but decreases it among those high in positive reciprocity. While information about the UK default rate reduces willingness, individuals are less likely to update their expectations for someone they know personally, indicating in-group bias. |
| Keywords: | third-party loan guarantees, survey experiment, social preferences, loan default expectations |
| JEL: | D14 G41 G51 G53 |
| Date: | 2025 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ces:ceswps:_12022 |