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on Social Norms and Social Capital |
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Issue of 2006‒10‒07
fifteen papers chosen by Fabio Sabatini Universita degli Studi di Roma, La Sapienza |
| By: | Veselý, Arnošt (Institute of Sociology of the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic) |
| Abstract: | The article analyzes the extent of the transmission of social capital from parents to their children. Three measures of social capital are used: social trust, participation in social activities and useful social connections. The data from the longitudinal extension of the PISA collected in the Czech Republic in 2003 are used. First, bivariate correlations of three types of social capital are analyzed. Second, using logistic regression, four theoretical models (the social capital model, the family background model, the personality model and the contextual model) are tested. As dependent variables we use the social trust of fifteen-year-olds and their participation in four types of extra-curricular activities. The analysis reveals only a weak intergenerational transmission of the same social capital types (“intergenerational line-up”) and almost no intergenerational transmission of different social capital types (“intergenerational cross-over”). No theoretical model is particularly strong in explaining the social trust of children. The social trust of youths remains largely unexplained and is created irrespectively of family cultural and financial capital. Conversely, participation in extra-curricular activities is highly socially stratified. It is substantially better predicted by all theoretical models, though their effect is dependent upon the activity at stake. The author concludes that social capital is comprised of several different forms of capital, which are only distantly related. The finding that family background has a relatively weak impact on children’s social trust but a strong effect on their participation of extra-curricular activities has profound implications for public policy. |
| Keywords: | Social capital; social trust; political socialization; generations; the Czech Republic; youths |
| JEL: | A12 Z00 Z13 |
| Date: | 2006–10–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:ratioi:0105&r=soc |
| By: | Traxler, Christian |
| Abstract: | This paper incorporates tax morale into the Allingham Sandmo (1972) model of income tax evasion. Tax morale is interpreted as a social norm for tax compliance. The norm strength, depending on the share of evaders in the society, is endogenously derived. Taxpayers act conditionally cooperative, as their evasion decision depends on the other agents' compliance. We characterize an equilibrium which accounts for this interdependence and study the impact of tax and deterrence policies on compliance. Our analysis is then extended to the case of a society which consists of heterogenous communities where individual evasion decisions are embedded in a complex social structure. In this scenario, behavior is crucially influenced by the norm compliance among morale reference groups. Within this framework, we discuss the role of belief management and belief leadership as alternative policy tools. |
| Keywords: | Tax Evasion; Tax Morale; Social Norms; Conditional Cooperation |
| JEL: | H26 Z13 K42 |
| Date: | 2006–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:lmu:muenec:1202&r=soc |
| By: | Sahin, Mediha (Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Faculteit der Economische Wetenschappen en Econometrie (Free University Amsterdam, Faculty of Economics Sciences, Business Administration and Economitrics); Nijkamp, Peter; Baycan-Levent, Tuzin |
| Abstract: | The phenomenon of migrant entrepreneurship refers to business activities undertaken by migrants with a specific socio-cultural and ethnic background or migrant origin. The studies on migrant entrepreneurship in both the US and Europe have recognized the significant share of immigrants in SME activities. In the context of migrant entrepreneurship several scholars have highlighted the impact of different migrant group cultures on entrepreneurship. They emphasize the importance of values like social or business attitude, close family and religious ties and trust, which enable some immigrant groups to compete successfully in business. Against this background, the aim of this paper is to review and evaluate migrant entrepreneurship from the perspective of cultural diversity. The paper investigates key socio-economic and cultural aspects of migrant entrepreneurship and next addresses different migrant group entrepreneurs in the Netherlands in order to compare the differences between various migrant groups and to explore cultural diversity in migrant entrepreneurship. |
| Keywords: | Entrepreneurship; Migrant entrepreneurship; Cultural diversity |
| JEL: | A13 E24 |
| Date: | 2006 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:dgr:vuarem:2006-16&r=soc |
| By: | Federico Cingano (Bank of Italy - Economic Research Department); Alfonso Rosolia (Bank of Italy - Economic Research Department) |
| Abstract: | We examine the role of information networks in job-search outcomes of displaced individuals. We draw on longitudinal Social Security records covering the universe of worker-firm matches in a tight labor market in Northern Italy. Unlike previous research, we focus on workplace networks whose labor market attributes we are able to describe extensively. A workplace network is defined as all coworkers a displaced individual worked with prior to displacement. Estimates of network effects are thus affected by omitted variable bias if the labor market sorts workers across firms along relevant determinants of search outcomes and network characteristics or if past coworkers are exposed to the same shocks. The empirical strategy accounts for these possibilities by comparing subsequent outcomes of workers displaced by the same firm; in addition, we exploit the longitudinal dimension to develop controls for potential residual within-firm heterogeneity. In particular, we control for pre-displacement wages and employment status as well as descriptions of pre-displacement firms and their workforce. Contacts’ labor market attributes have a significant effect on a variety of job search outcomes. Employed contacts significantly increase the probability of re-employment. They are more effective if they experienced a recent job change and when geographically and technologically closer to the displaced. Stronger ties and lower competition for the available information also speed up re-employment. While largely irrelevant for unemployment duration, contacts’ quality is a significant determinant of entry wages and subsequent job stability. |
| Keywords: | Unemployment, Wages, Job Stability, Social Networks |
| JEL: | J23 J64 |
| Date: | 2006–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bdi:wptemi:td_600_06&r=soc |
| By: | Korhonen, Iikka (BOFIT) |
| Abstract: | In this paper we utilise a large and reasonably detailed dataset to show that a greater level of democracy in a country's political institutions can alleviate the widely known resource curse. Raw material abundance affects per capita growth negatively, an effect that seems to work through several different channels. Resource-abundant countries have a lower degree of democracy and political rights, and also a lower level of educational attainment. These factors inhibit growth. On the other hand, countries with large extractive industries exhibit high levels of investment. The effects of resource abundance differ for different raw material types, and the largest negative effect on growth appears to come from non-fuel extractive raw materials. |
| Keywords: | economic growth; resource curse; cross-country regression; development; governance; institutions |
| Date: | 2004–11–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:bofitp:2004_018&r=soc |
| By: | Rafael Lalive; Alejandra Cattaneo |
| Abstract: | The aim of this paper is to study whether schooling choices are affected by social interactions. Such social interactions may be important because children enjoy spending time with other children or parents learn from other parents about the ability of their children. Identification is based on a randomized intervention that grants a cash subsidy encouraging school attendance among a sub-group of eligible children within small rural villages in Mexico. Results indicate that (i) the eligible children tend to attend school more frequently, (ii) but also the ineligible children acquire more schooling when the subsidy is introduced in their local village, (iii) social interactions are economically important, and (iv) they may arise due to changes in parents’ perception of their children’s ability. |
| Keywords: | peer effects, schooling, field experiment, PROGRESA |
| JEL: | C93 I21 I28 |
| Date: | 2006 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ces:ceswps:_1787&r=soc |
| By: | Juurikkala, Tuuli (BOFIT); Lazareva, Olga (Centre for Economic and Financial Research, Moscow) |
| Abstract: | IIn the planned economy firms were made responsible for providing their workers with so-cial services, such as housing, day care and medical care. In the transforming Russia of the 1990s, social assets were to be transferred from industrial enterprises to the public sector. The law on divestment provided little more than general principles. Thus, for a period of several years, property rights concerning a major part of social assets, most notably hous-ing, were not properly defined, as transfer decisions were largely left to the local level players. Strikingly, the time when assets were divested varied considerably across firms. In this paper we utilize recent survey data from 404 medium and large industrial enterprises in 40 Russian regions and apply survival data analysis to explore the determinants of dives-titure timing. Our results show that in municipalities with higher shares of own revenues in their budget and thus weaker fiscal incentives, firms used their social assets as leverage to extract budget assistance and other forms of preferential treatment from local authorities. We also find evidence that less competitive firms were using social assets to cushion them-selves from product market competition. At the same time, we do not find any role for lo-cal labor market conditions in the divestment process. |
| Keywords: | housing divestment; lobbying; firms; muncipalities; Russia |
| Date: | 2006–04–13 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:bofitp:2006_001&r=soc |
| By: | John Foot (University College London) |
| Abstract: | An historical and spatial approach is crucial to the understanding of any city. Waves of immigration and population movements from different sources have constructed the cultural mix of this financial, industrial and market city over time. To focus just on the new foreign immigration into Milan over the last 25 years or so risks omitting the deep historical fissures created by previous (and bigger) waves of population movements – the traces left by these populations in the urban fabric and their role in subjective experience. Moreover, the historical and spatial comparison of various types and moments of population movement can help us to understand the changes to this city at macro and micro-levels. This paper uses a mixture of approaches in order to understand and map diversity in Milan, its province and its region. It is intended as a discussion paper to be looked at in conjunction with the work and arguments laid out in other research projects and published work. Methodologies used in this paper range from straightforward historical research (using documents and archives) to photography, micro-history (the examination of one small area – in this case one housing block) and oral historical interviews. |
| Keywords: | Immigration, Urban Space, Periphery (Periferia), Memory, Housing |
| Date: | 2006–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fem:femwpa:2006.110&r=soc |
| By: | Piero Cipollone (Bank of Italy); Alfonso Rosolia (Bank of Italy) |
| Abstract: | We provide new evidence on the impact of peer effects on the schooling decisions of teenagers. In November 1980 a major earthquake hit Southern Italy. In the aftermath, young men from certain towns were exempted from compulsory military service. We show that the exemption raised high school graduation rates of boys by more than 2 percentage points by comparing high school graduation rates of young exempt men and older not exempt men from the least damaged areas and men of the same age groups from nearby towns that were not hit by the quake. Similar comparisons show that graduation rates of young women in the affected areas rose by about 2 percentage points. Since in Italy women are not subject to drafting, we interpret these findings as evidence of social effects of the decision of teenage boys of staying longer in school on that of teenage girls. Our estimates suggest that an increase of 1 percentage point of male graduation rates raises female probability of completing high school by about 0.7-0.8 percentage points. A series of robustness checks, including comparisons across different age groups and with different definitions of the comparison areas, suggest that the rise was due to the earthquake-related exemption, rather than other factors. |
| Keywords: | istruzione, interazione sociale, peer effects, servizio militare obbligatorio |
| JEL: | I21 C23 C90 |
| Date: | 2006–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bdi:wptemi:td_596_06&r=soc |
| By: | Gerard Llobet; Michael Manove (CEMFI, Centro de Estudios Monetarios y Financieros) |
| Abstract: | Most types of networks, over time, spawn the creation of complementary stocks that enhance network value. Computer operating systems, for example, induce the development of the complementary stock of software applications that increase the value of the operating system. In this paper, we challenge the conventional wisdom that a large network, which induces the creation of large complementary stocks, serves as a barrier to entry that protects the incumbent from competition or network capture. We show that a larger network may either deter or attract entry depending on the relation between the network quality and the cost of an innovator's network product. The probability of entry also depends on the level of compatibility between the potential entrant's technology and existing complementary stocks, which in turn is influenced by the strength of the intellectual-property-rigths environment. Intellectual property rigths and the associated threat of entry may affect and incumbent's choice of network size in counterintuitive ways. |
| JEL: | L41 O34 |
| Date: | 2006–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cmf:wpaper:wp2006_0604&r=soc |
| By: | Petersen, Verner C. (Department of Management, Aarhus School of Business) |
| Abstract: | No abstract |
| Keywords: | No keywords; |
| Date: | 2006–09–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhb:aardom:2006_004&r=soc |
| By: | Avner Ben-Ner (University of Minnesota); Brian P. McCall (University of Minnesota); Massoud Stephane (University of Minnesota); Hua Wang (University of Minnesota) |
| Abstract: | We show that the distinction between Self and Other, ‘us’ and ‘them,’ or in-group and out-group, affects significantly economic and social behavior. In a series of experiments with approximately 200 Midwestern students as our subjects, we found that they favor those who are similar to them on any of a wide range of categories of identity over those who are not like them. Whereas family and kinship are the most powerful source of identity in our sample, all 13 potential sources of identity in our experiments affect behavior. We explored individuals’ willingness to give money to imaginary people, using a dictator game setup with hypothetical money. Our experiments with hypothetical money generate essentially identical data to our experiments with actual money. We also investigated individuals’ willingness to share an office with, commute with, and work on a critical project critical to their advancement with individuals who are similar to themselves (Self) along a particular identity dimension than with individuals who are dissimilar (Other). In addition to family, our data point to other important sources of identity such as political views, religion, sports-team loyalty, and music preferences, followed by television-viewing habits, dress type preferences, birth order, body type, socio-economic status and gender. The importance of the source of identity varies with the type of behavior under consideration. |
| Keywords: | Identify, Diversity, Experimental Economics, Conflict |
| Date: | 2006–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fem:femwpa:2006.103&r=soc |
| By: | Michael Kosfeld; Akira Okada; Arno Riedl |
| Abstract: | Centralized sanctioning institutions are of utmost importance for overcoming free-riding tendencies and enforcing outcomes that maximize group welfare in social dilemma situations. However, little is known about how such institutions come into existence. In this paper we investigate, both theoretically and experimentally, the endogenous formation of institutions in a public goods game. Our theoretical analysis shows that players may form sanctioning institutions in equilibrium, including those where institutions govern only a subset of players. The experiment confirms that institutions are formed frequently as well as that institution formation has a positive impact on cooperation rates and group welfare. However, the data clearly reveal that players are unwilling to implement institutions in which some players have the opportunity to free ride. In sum, our results show that individuals are willing and able to create sanctioning institutions, but that the institution formation process is guided by behavioral principles not taken into account by standard theory. |
| Keywords: | public goods, institutions, sanctions, cooperation |
| JEL: | C72 C92 D72 |
| Date: | 2006 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ces:ceswps:_1794&r=soc |
| By: | K. SUNDARAM (Delhi School of Economics) |
| Abstract: | Against the backdrop of policy of reservation of seats in Higher Education for the Other Backward Castes in India, this paper examines two inter-related yet distinct issues: (i) the use of economic criteria for assessing the backwardness of different social groups and (ii) assessment of fairness of access to higher education of an identified “backward” social group. On an analysis of the NSS 55th Round Surveys for 1999-2000 we show that on a range of economic criteria there is a clear hierarchy across (essentially) caste-based social groups with the Scheduled Castes (in Urban India) and the Scheduled Tribes (in Rural India) at the bottom, the Other Backward Castes (OBCs) in the middle and the non-SC/ST Others at the top. However, for the poor among them, there is more of a continuum across caste-groups with surprisingly small differences between the OBCs and the non-SC/ST Others. On the issue of fair access to higher education, it is argued that the extent of under-(or over-) representation of a social group can only be judged by a comparison of a social group’s share in enrollments in a given level of education with its share in the population eligible for entry into that level of education. And it is shown that for the OBCs as a group, and especially for over 70 percent of them who are above the poverty line, the extent of under-representation of the OBCs in enrollments at the under-graduate and post-graduate levels is less than 5 percent. We conclude, therefore, that a 27 percent quota for the OBCs, which would effectively raise their share in enrollments to over 50 percent when their share in the eligible population is 30 percent or less, is totally unjustified. |
| Keywords: | India, Social Groups, Backwardness, Poverty, Caste-based Reservations, Fair Access to Higher Education. |
| JEL: | I |
| Date: | 2006–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cde:cdewps:151&r=soc |
| By: | Diego Prior; Jordi Surroca; Josep A. Tribo |
| Abstract: | Drawing on stakeholder-agency theory and the earnings management framework, we explore the relationship between discretionary accounting accruals and corporate social responsibility. We hypothesize a positive connection between corporate social responsibility and earnings management. We argue that managers may satisfy the interest of stakeholders as an entrenchment strategy once these managers have followed earnings management practices, thereby damaging the long-term interests of shareholders. Also, we expect that the positive connection between corporate social responsibility and financial performance is negatively moderated when combined with earnings management practices. We empirically demonstrate our theoretical contention making use of a database comprising of 599 firms from 32 different nations for the period 2002-2004. |
| Date: | 2006–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cte:wbrepe:wb062306&r=soc |