The aim of this paper is to propose a new proxy of social capital based on the density of the industrial districts network at the regional level. The methodology used is very similar to that one formalised by Paldam (2000) in order to construct the Putnam’s instrument (PI). This new proxy should, at least conceptually, better deal with the main three problems related to the PI advanced by Paldam (2000) which are: the definition of voluntary associations, the intensity of the contacts and the so called “Benignness-weight problem”. In our analysis we will compare empirically the behaviour of our index with that one of the PI across the Italian regions by using regional data in the 2001 derived from the Italian National Bureau of Statistics (ISTAT). One of the interesting results from the empirical application is that the new proxy and the Putnam’s instruments presents similar patterns, even though with some exceptions.
Andriani, L. (2010). Putnam’s Instrument Revisited. The Community Network of the Industrial Districts and a New Proxy of Social Capital. mimeo