Social capital and economic growth in the regions of Europe

Jonathan Muringani, Rune Fitjar and Andrés Rodríguez-Pose

No 2108, Papers in Evolutionary Economic Geography (PEEG) from Utrecht University, Department of Human Geography and Spatial Planning, Group Economic Geography

Abstract: Social capital is an important factor explaining differences in economic growth among regions. However, the key distinction between bonding social capital, which can lead to lock-in and myopia, and bridging social capital, which promotes knowledge flows across diverse groups, has been overlooked in growth research. In this paper, we address this shortcoming by examining how bonding and bridging social capital affect regional economic growth, using data for 190 regions in 21 EU countries, covering eight waves of the European Social Survey between 2002 and 2016. The findings confirm that bridging social capital is linked to higher levels of regional economic growth. Bonding social capital is highly correlated with bridging social capital and associated with lower growth when this is controlled for. We do not find significantly different effects of bonding social capital in regions with more or less bridging social capital, or vice versa. We examine the interaction between social and human capital, finding that bridging social capital is fundamental for stimulating economic growth, especially in low-skilled regions. Human capital also moderates the relationship between bonding social capital and growth, reducing the negative externalities imposed by excessive bonding.

Keywords: social capital; bonding; bridging; regions; economic growth; EU (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021-02, Revised 2021-02
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-geo and nep-tid
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (13)

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Related works:
Journal Article: Social capital and economic growth in the regions of Europe (2021)
Working Paper: Social capital and economic growth in the regions of Europe (2021)
Working Paper: Social capital and economic growth in the regions of Europe (2021)
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