Do we need to worry if people bowl alone? Results from a field experiment with voluntary association members

Giacomo Degli Antoni ()

No wp51, Econometica Working Papers from Econometica

Abstract: Trust in strangers is key for economic development. Social capital theory posits that participation in associations is essential to propagate trust in society, because membership instils trust both towards other members and generalised others. We provide an experimental test for this thesis. We measure members' trust and trustworthiness when interacting with fellow members or with people from the general population, who are not association members. We find that members trust and reward trust more than non- members, and do not discriminate between members and the general population. However, we find no correlation between the intensity of associational participation and increased pro-sociality.Length: 17

Keywords: trust; voluntary associations; ingroup favouritism; field experiment (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: C93 D03 D69 D71 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2014-04
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-dem, nep-evo, nep-exp, nep-hrm and nep-soc
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