 Considering the Role of Social Capital for Economic Development Outcomes in U.S. CountiesMichele Hoyman, Jamie McCall, Laurie Paarlberg and John Brennan Economic Development Quarterly, 2016, vol. 30, issue 4, 342-357 Abstract: The authors examine major aspects of the connection between social capital and economic development in U.S. counties. They test the conclusions of Putnam, who saw associations as a force for positive development, and Olson, who concluded the opposite. The authors find that Putnam organizations have a negative effect on income, while Olson organizations have a positive effect by decreasing levels of income inequality. Drawing on the literature distinguishing between bridging versus bonding, the authors show that bridging capital has a positive effect on development by increasing per capita income, while bonding capital has a neutral effect on both per capita income and income inequality. Finally, religious variables are tested for their relationship with economic development. Overall, congregation density has a negative influence by increasing per capita income and income inequality, controlling for geographic type. Congregations with bridging characteristics have a mixed effect on development by decreasing income and decreasing inequality. Keywords: social capital; Putnam organizations; Olson organizations (search for similar items in EconPapers) Downloads: (external link) Related works: Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:sae:ecdequ:v:30:y:2016:i:4:p:342-357 Access Statistics for this article More articles in Economic Development Quarterly |
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