Firm-level productivity growth returns of social capital: Evidence from Western Europe

Roberto Ganau and Andrés Rodríguez-Pose

No 2305, Papers in Evolutionary Economic Geography (PEEG) from Utrecht University, Department of Human Geography and Spatial Planning, Group Economic Geography

Abstract: We analyse the firm-level labour productivity growth returns of social capital —defined as a synthetic measure of ‘generalised trust’, ‘active participation’, and ‘social norms’— using a large sample of manufacturing firms in France, Germany, Italy, Portugal, and Spain. We find that firms’ labour productivity growth is higher in areas with a better social capital endowment. The positive returns of social capital are, nevertheless, unevenly distributed across firms, with smaller, less productive, less capital-endowed, and low-tech firms benefitting the most from operating in strong social capital ecosystems.

Keywords: Firm labour productivity growth; Social capital; Manufacturing industry; Western Europe. (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: C36 D24 R10 Z13 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023-02, Revised 2023-02
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-bec, nep-eec, nep-eff, nep-eur, nep-geo, nep-sbm, nep-soc, nep-tid and nep-ure
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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Working Paper: Firm-level productivity growth returns of social capital: Evidence from Western Europe (2023)
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