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on Social Norms and Social Capital |
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Issue of 2024‒03‒04
nine papers chosen by Fabio Sabatini, Università degli Studi di Roma “La Sapienza” |
| By: | Maarten van Rooij; Olivier Coibion; Dimitris Georgarakos; Bernardo Candia; Yuriy Gorodnichenko |
| Abstract: | How strong are peer effects on the beliefs and spending decisions of individuals? We use a randomized control study in which treated households are told about either average income or debt of individuals like them to assess how peer effects influence their beliefs and spending. The information treatments are successful at moving respondents’ beliefs about peers’ incomes and debt levels. We find that individuals with exogenously higher perceived relative income become more opposed to redistribution and increase the amount of time they spend socializing with peers. In addition, we find some evidence of reallocative “keeping up with the Joneses†on spending, as those who learn their peers earn more than they thought tend to reallocate their spending toward durable goods and away from non-durables. However, the quantitative magnitude of peer effects on spending is small in the months following the information experiment. Peer effects also matter for labor supply decisions and ex-post employment outcomes. Finally, believing that one earns more than peers causally leads to large positive effects on happiness, above and beyond effects coming from spending more time with peers, changing beliefs about redistribution, or changes in spending patterns. |
| Keywords: | Peer effects; surveys |
| JEL: | D3 D6 D1 E21 |
| Date: | 2024–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:dnb:dnbwpp:804&r=soc |
| By: | De Grauwe, Paul; Ji, Yuemei |
| Abstract: | We analyze how trust affects the transmission of negative demand and supply shocks using a behavioural macroeconomic model. We define trust to have two dimensions: trust in the central bank’s inflation target and trust in the central bank’s capacity to stabilize the business cycle. We find, first, that when large negative shocks occur the subsequent trajectories taken by output gap and inflation typically coalesce around a good and a bad trajectory. Second, these good and bad trajectories are correlated with movements in trust. In the bad trajectories trust collapses, in the good trajectories it is not affected. This feature is stronger when a negative supply shock occurs than in the case of a negative demand shock. Third, initial conditions, in particular the initial state of inflation and output expectations matters. Unfavorable initial expectations drive the economy into a bad trajectory, favorable initial expectations produce good trajectories. Fourth, we analyze the sensitivity of our results with respect to the size of the shocks. Fifth, we derive implications of our results for our capacity of making forecasts about the effects of large demand and supply shocks. |
| Keywords: | behavioral macroeconomics; monetary policy; trust; Wiley deal |
| JEL: | E32 E52 |
| Date: | 2024–01–26 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ehl:lserod:120871&r=soc |
| By: | Donner, Herman (Department of Real Estate and Construction Management, Royal Institute of Technology); Kulander, Maria (University of Gävle) |
| Abstract: | Utilizing a large-scale public health survey in Sweden, this paper analyzes the relationship between the fraction of elderly above the age of 80 who live in various tenure forms, and their social engagement. Social engagement is a measure of both social interaction with others, and overall engagement in society. This measure has an established relationship with mental and physical health, even as the causal mechanism are still understudied. Across 130 municipalities, we find that a higher fraction of elderly living in elderly housing is associated with a lower fraction of elderly classified as having a low level of social engagement. We also find that a higher fraction of elderly living in single-family houses is associated with a higher fraction of elderly classified as having a low level of social engagement. The results support that closer proximity to neighbors, and potentially the engagement offered through services in elderly care, increases overall social engagement among the elderly, thereby also assumably promoting better mental and physical health. The findings can inform housing policies towards elderly populations. |
| Keywords: | Elderly; Housing; Mental Health; Social Engagement; Social Interactions; Well-Being |
| JEL: | I31 J14 J26 |
| Date: | 2024–02–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:kthrec:2024_001&r=soc |
| By: | Guthmuller, Sophie; Heger, Dörte; Hollenbach, Johannes; Werbeck, Anna |
| Abstract: | We investigate the short- and long-term effects of retirement on loneliness using panel data from the Survey of Health, Aging, and Retirement in Europe. To estimate causal effects, we exploit differences in retirement eligibility rules across and within countries and use retirement thresholds in an instrumental variable setting. On average, we find that entering retirement leads to a significant reduction in loneliness in the long run, although our results show no clear effect in the short run. The reduction is driven by individuals being less likely to feel socially isolated and lacking companionship. Our results suggest that individuals adapt to retirement by increasing their activity levels and reap the benefits in terms of reduced loneliness and social isolation. Heterogeneity analysis by gender reveals that retirement increases feelings of loneliness for women in the short term, and that this effect appears to be driven by women lacking companionship when their partner is not yet retired. |
| Abstract: | Wir untersuchen die Auswirkungen von Renteneintritt auf Einsamkeit in der kurzen und langen Frist mit Hilfe von Fragebogendaten der Survey of Health, Aging, and Retirement in Europe. Um einen kausalen Zusammenhang aufzuzeigen, nutzen wir die Unterschiede in den Altersgrenzen der Rentenberechtigungsregelungen zwischen und innerhalb der Länder in einer Instrumentenvariablenschätzung. Kurzfristig zeigen unsere Analysen keine Auswirkungen. Langfristig reduziert der Renteneintritt aber das Einsamkeitsgefühl, da sich die Menschen weniger sozial isoliert fühlen und weniger enge Kontakte vermissen. Unsere Ergebnisse legen nahe, dass Menschen nach einer gewissen Zeit im Ruhestand ihr Aktivitätsniveau erhöhen, was Einsamkeit und sozialer Isolation entgegenwirkt. Unsere geschlechtsspezifische Analyse zeigt allerdings, dass Frauen sich nach Renteneintritt kurzfristig einsamer fühlen und enge Kontakte vermissen, wenn ihr Partner zu dem Zeitpunkt noch nicht im Ruhestand ist. |
| Keywords: | Loneliness, social isolation, retirement, instrumental variable, causal effect |
| JEL: | J26 J14 I10 |
| Date: | 2023 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:rwirep:282008&r=soc |
| By: | Andre Groeger; Yanos Zylberberg |
| Abstract: | This paper studies how social networks (might fail to) shape agricultural practices. We exploit (i) a unique census of agricultural production nested within delineated land parcels and (ii) comprehensive social network data within four repopulated villages of rural Vietnam. In a first step, we extract exogenous variation in network formation from home locations within the few streets that compose each village (populated through staggered population resettlement), and we estimate the return to social links in the adoption of highly-productive crops. We find a large network multiplier, in apparent contradiction with lowadoption rates. In a second step, we study the structure of network formation to explain this puzzle: social networks display large homophily, and valuable links between heterogeneous households are rare. Due to the clustered nature of networks and the dynamic, endogenous propagation of agricultural practices, there are decreasing returns to social links, and policies targeting “inbetweeners” are most able to mitigate this issue. |
| Keywords: | technology adoption, social networks |
| JEL: | D85 O13 |
| Date: | 2024–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bge:wpaper:1426&r=soc |
| By: | Mosleh, Mohsen; Eckles, Dean (MIT); Rand, David Gertler |
| Abstract: | Empirical social networks are characterized by a high degree of triadic closure (i.e. transitivity, clustering), whereby network neighbors of the same individual are also likely to be directly connected. It is unknown to what degree this results from dispositions to form such relationships (i.e. to close open triangles) per se or whether it reflects other processes, such as homophily and more opportunities for exposure. These are difficult to disentangle in many settings, but in social media not only can they be decomposed, but platforms frequently make decisions that can depend on these distinct processes. Here, using a field experiment on social media, we randomize the existing network structure that a user faces when followed by a target account that we control, and we examine whether they reciprocate this tie formation. Being randomly assigned to have an existing tie to an account that follows the target user increases tie formation by 35%. Through the use of multiple control conditions in which the relevant tie is absent (never existent or removed), we are able to attribute this effect specifically to a small variation in the stimulus that indicates the presence (or absence) of a potential mutual follower. Theory suggests that triadic closure should be especially likely in open triads of strong ties, and we find evidence of larger effects when the subject has interacted more with the existing follower. These results indicate a substantial role for dispositions toward triadic closure, which platforms and others can choose to leverage in encouraging tie formation, with implications for network structure and the diffusion of information in online networks. |
| Date: | 2024–01–24 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:osf:socarx:ys8zw&r=soc |
| By: | Grunewald, Andreas; Klockmann, Victor; von Schenk, Alicia; von Siemens, Ferdinand |
| Abstract: | This paper examines the potential reinforcement of motivated beliefs when individuals with identical biases communicate. We propose a controlled online experiment that allows to manipulate belief biases and the communication environment. We find that communication, even among like-minded individuals, diminishes motivated beliefs if it takes place in an environment without previously declared external opinions. In the presence of external plural opinions, however, communication does not reduce but rather aggravates motivated beliefs. Our results indicate a potential drawback of the plurality of opinions-it may create communication environments wherein motivated beliefs not only persist but also become contagious within social networks. |
| Keywords: | Belief bias, Social interaction, Motivated beliefs |
| JEL: | C91 C92 D83 |
| Date: | 2024 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:wuewep:282999&r=soc |
| By: | Antonio Rafael Ramos-Rodriguez; Jose Aurelio Medina-Garrido; Jose Daniel Lorenzo-Gomez; Jose Ruiz-Navarro |
| Abstract: | The recognition of business opportunities is the first stage in the entrepreneurial process. The current work analyzes the effects of individuals' possession of and access to knowledge on the probability of recognizing good business opportunities in their area of residence. The authors use an eclectic theoretical framework consisting of intellectual and social capital concepts. In particular, they analyze the role of individuals' educational level, their perception that they have the right knowledge and skills to start a business, whether they own and manage a firm, their contacts with other entrepreneurs, and whether they have been business angels. The hypotheses proposed here are tested using data collected for the GEM project in Spain in 2007. The results show that individuals' access to external knowledge through the social networks in which they participate is fundamental for developing the capacity to recognize new business opportunities. |
| Date: | 2024–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:arx:papers:2401.17448&r=soc |
| By: | Busch, Christian; Barkema, Harry |
| Abstract: | Previous research has shown that networks are vital for scaling the impact of social enterprises. However, at present, insight into how and why social enterprises successfully orchestrate networks over time as they scale, particularly in the Sub-Saharan African emerging economy context, is scant. Theoretically sensitized by social network theory, our inductive study of six Kenyan social enterprises analyzed their phase-contingent network orchestration. Our findings show how and why entrepreneurial contextual bridging and circumventing social liability are important for initial scaling, whereas aligned capacity building as well as aligning incentives with political actors become necessary to develop and navigate social business ecosystems. In sum, we contribute a deeper understanding of how and why agentic network actions help social entrepreneurs achieve success as they scale in an emerging economy context. |
| Keywords: | Business ecosystem; Comparative case study; Emerging economy; Kenya; Low-income context; Scaling; Social embeddedness; Social entrepreneurship; Social impact; Social networks; AAM requested |
| JEL: | R14 J01 L81 |
| Date: | 2022–03–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ehl:lserod:115350&r=soc |