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on Social Norms and Social Capital |
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Issue of 2024‒09‒23
five papers chosen by Fabio Sabatini, Università degli Studi di Roma “La Sapienza” |
| By: | Andrés Barrios Fernández; Christopher Neilson; Seth Zimmerman |
| Abstract: | Do elite colleges help talented students join the social elite, or help incumbent elites retain their positions? We combine intergenerationally-linked data from Chile with a regression discontinuity design to show that, looking across generations, elite colleges do both. Lower-status individuals who gain admission to elite college programs transform their children's social environment. Children become more likely to attend high-status private schools and colleges, and to live near and befriend high-status peers. In contrast, academic achievement is unaffected. Simulations combining descriptive and quasi-experimental findings show that elite colleges tighten the link between social and human capital while decreasing intergenerational social mobility. |
| Keywords: | elite universities, intergenerational mobility, human capital, social capital |
| Date: | 2024–08–28 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cep:cepdps:dp2026 |
| By: | Rustagi, Devesh (University of Warwick) |
| Abstract: | Does self-governance, a hallmark of democratic societies, foster norms of generalized cooperation? Does this effect persist, and if so, why? I investigate these questions using a natural experiment in Switzerland. In the middle-ages, the absence of an heir resulted in the extinction of a prominent noble dynasty. As a result, some Swiss municipalities became self-governing, whereas the others remained under feudalism for another 600 years. Evidence from a behavioral experiment, World Values Survey, and Swiss Household Panel consistently shows that individuals from historically self-governing municipalities exhibit stronger norms of cooperation today. Referenda data on voter-turnout allow me to trace these effects on individually costly and socially beneficial actions for over 150 years. Furthermore, norms of cooperation map into prosocial behaviors like charitable giving and environmental protection. Uniquely, Switzerland tracks every family’s place of origin in registration data, which I use to demonstrate persistence from cultural transmission in a context of historically low migration. |
| Keywords: | Self-governance ; norms of cooperation ; cultural transmission ; public goods game ; referendum ; Switzerland JEL Codes: D02 ; H41 ; N43 ; Z10 |
| Date: | 2024 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wrk:warwec:1510 |
| By: | Jessica Mahoney; Lara Fleischer; Gaia Bottura; Katherine Scrivens |
| Abstract: | Social connections refer to the ways that people interact with and relate to one another. Their role in shaping well-being is increasingly recognised by government, alongside an understanding of the role public policy plays in creating the structures that promote or hinder connectedness. To improve the evidence base on this emerging policy priority and lay the groundwork for full measurement recommendations, this paper reviews a selection of official surveys fielded in OECD countries to understand patterns in data collection, establish priority areas for harmonisation, and create an inventory of available measures. The results are encouraging, in that all countries measure social connections. Yet challenges remain: (1) despite policy attention, loneliness is included in fewer than half of surveys, (2) there is little convergence in the actual indicators used to measure concepts like “loneliness”, “social support” or "frequency of socialising", and (3) survey frequency, particularly for time use, could be improved. |
| Keywords: | loneliness, social connections, social isolation |
| JEL: | I12 I31 C83 |
| Date: | 2024–09–04 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:oec:wiseaa:28-en |
| By: | Etienne Dagorn (INED - Institut national d'études démographiques); Martina Dattilo (Department of Economics "S. Cognetti de Martiis" - UNITO - Università degli studi di Torino = University of Turin); Matthieu Pourieux (CREM - Centre de recherche en économie et management - UNICAEN - Université de Caen Normandie - NU - Normandie Université - UR - Université de Rennes - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique) |
| Abstract: | Substantial heterogeneity in behavioral traits has been observed across human societies, which have been linked to important differences in individual as well as societal outcomes. In this paper, we complement the existing literature by investigating the role of key behavioral traits, i.e. risk-taking, patience, altruism, and trust, at the population level in the design of new policies and institutions during an unexpected global crisis. Combining granular data on policy responses to the COVID-19 crisis with several pre-pandemic survey measures of behavioral traits in 109 countries, we observe robust relationships of significant magnitude. In particular, our findings underline that countries with higher levels of trust tended to respond later to the crisis; while populations that are patient, altruistic, and trusting are more likely to implement stringent policies in the medium and long-term. These results improve our understanding of how countries deal with global crises. They also supply an explanation for the lack of coordinated response at the international level during such events. |
| Keywords: | COVID-19, Policy responses, Trust, Patience, Risk-taking, Altruism |
| Date: | 2024–10 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:hal-04679593 |
| By: | Annalisa Tassi |
| Abstract: | I study the relationship between changes in community needs and the supply of voluntary work. I present basic theoretical considerations, which suggest that the relationship between voluntary work and an increase in community needs is ambiguous. Then, I test the relationship empirically by proxying community needs with the number of needy people, i.e., refugees, in a county, and by exploiting the quasi-experiment of refugees’ allocation within Germany. I find that doubling the number of refugees increases the probability of volunteering by about 2 percentage points. These estimates imply that 1.45 million people additionally volunteered during the refugee crisis, i.e., more than one person per refugee. |
| Keywords: | Voluntary Work; Community Needs; Refugee Crisis; Quasi-experiment |
| JEL: | D64 J22 H49 |
| Date: | 2024–09 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bav:wpaper:238_annalisa_tassi.rdf |