The Economic Approach to Social Capital

Edward Glaeser, David Laibson and Bruce Sacerdote

No 7728, NBER Working Papers from National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc

Abstract: To identify the determinants of social capital formation, it is necessary to understand the social capital investment decision of individuals. Individual social capital should then be aggregated to measure the social capital of a community. This paper assembles the evidence that supports the individual-based model of social capital formation, including seven facts: (1) the relationship between social capital and age is first increasing and then decreasing, (2) social capital declines with expected mobility, (3) social capital investment is higher in occupations with greater returns to social skills, (4) social capital is higher among homeowners, (5) social connections fall sharply with physical distance, (6) people who invest in human capital also invest in social capital, and (7) social capital appears to have interpersonal complementarities.

JEL-codes: D0 J0 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2000-06
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-cdm and nep-pub
Note: LE LS
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (86)

Published as Glaeser, E. L., D. Laibson and B. Sacerdote. "An Economic Approach To Social Capital," Economic Journal, 2002, v112(483,Nov), 437-458.

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Journal Article: An Economic Approach to Social Capital (2002)
Working Paper: The Economic Approach to Social Capital (2001)
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