سرمایه اجتماعی و کالاهای عمومی

Previous literature suggests positive relationships between social capital, pro-social behavior and subsequent economic development. We analyze the relationship between social networks and trust (two measures of social capital) and self-reported charitable contributions of time and/or money (pro-social behavior) using data collected from two ethnically distinct, low-income neighborhoods. We find that large social networks are positively related to charitable contributions, but that the effects of trust are less robust. We also find that social networks that are more geographically dispersed tend to be larger. Our results indicate that the social capital in a neighborhood is more important than ethnicity, ethnic diversity, or other demographic information in understanding public goods contributions.

Previous literature suggests positive relationships between social capital, pro-social behavior and subsequent economic development. We analyze the relationship between social networks and trust (two measures of social capital) and self-reported charitable contributions of time and/or money (pro-social behavior) using data collected from two ethnically distinct, low-income neighborhoods. We find that large social networks are positively related to charitable contributions, but that the effects of trust are less robust. We also find that social networks that are more geographically dispersed tend to be larger. Our results indicate that the social capital in a neighborhood is more important than ethnicity, ethnic diversity, or other demographic information in understanding public goods contributions.

Our objective was to examine the role of social capital in influencing the voluntary provision of local public goods. Our study is the first to analyze the impact of social capital in the form of both social networks and trust on real voluntary community contributions in poor neighborhoods. We find that social networks and trust impact voluntary contribution behavior differently. While social network size increases contribution propensity robustly across the two neighborhoods, the results for trust are contextually dependent. The key results center on a means for increasing voluntary contributions by increasing network size that is facilitated by encouraging the formation of extra-neighborhood social networks. Additionally, religiosity is a powerful driving force for increased donation propensity in both neighborhoods and this provides some support for encouraging faith based charitable initiatives in low-income communities. We conclude that policy makers should recognize the social environment when making policy prescriptions rather than analyzing summary demographic information alone. For example, ethnicity had no role in explaining charitable contributions or social network size across the two neighborhoods. As a whole, the results point to a greater need for economists to recognize the complex social relationships in which economic activities occur and to measure the impact of these relationships in explaining and predicting outcomes and forming policy prescriptions.