Education and Social Capital

Brendan Apfeld, Emanuel Coman, John Gerring and Stephen Jessee

Journal of Experimental Political Science, 2022, vol. 9, issue 2, 162-188

Abstract: Early research suggested that education was a major factor in structuring rates of political participation and social capital. More recent work based on experimental or quasi-experimental evidence offers mixed findings. In this study, we enlist a unique research setting in Romania, where passing the baccalaureate is required for entrance into university, setting up the occasion for a fuzzy RD design. The sample is drawn from a cross section of Romanians whose scores fall just above or below the cutoff. Because the sample is large and the measurement of exam scores are fine-grained, it is plausible to regard the outcome as continuous at the cutoff. Because the number of exam takers is enormous, we are able to focus on a very narrow bandwidth. The assumption of as-if random assignment is, therefore, plausible. We find that university attendance in Romania increases social capital as measured by our composite index, corroborating the main hypothesis.

Date: 2022
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:cup:jexpos:v:9:y:2022:i:2:p:162-188_2

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