Inequalities and social capital
Essential readings
Alesina, A., La Ferrara, E. (2006). Who Trusts Others? Journal of Public Economics 85, 207–234
Both individual experiences and community characteristics influence how much people trust each...
Costa, D., Kahn, M. (2003). Cowards and Heroes: Group Loyalty in the American Civil War. Quarterly Journal of Economics. 118 (2): 519-548
What motivated men to risk death in the most horrific war in U.S. history when pay was low and...
Knack, S., Keefer, P. (1997). Does Social Capital Have an Economic Payoff? A Cross-Country Investigation. Quarterly Journal of Economics 112 (4): 1251-1288
This paper presents evidence that “social capital” matters for measurable economic...
Important readings
Tesei, A. (2012). Racial Fragmentation, Income Inequality and Social Capital: New Evidence from the US
Existing studies of social capital formation in US metropolitan areas have found that social...
Reading list archive
Bjørnskov, C. (2006). Determinants of generalized trust: A cross-country comparison. Public Choice 130 (1), 1-21.
The paper explores the determinants of generalized trust across countries. The findings suggest...
Christoforou, A. (2011). Social Capital Across European Countries: Individual and Aggregate Determinants of Group Membership. American Journal of Economics and Sociology 70 (3), 699–728.
Social capital refers to norms and networks of reciprocity, trust, and cooperation that facilitate...
Corneo, G., Neher, F. (2012). Income Inequality and Self-Reported Values. Discussion Paper SFB/TR 15 N. 382
This paper offers a comprehensive econometric investigation of the impact of income inequality on...
Keefer, P., Knack, S. (2002). Polarization, politics and property rights: Links between inequality and growth. Public Choice 111, 127–154.
We argue that social polarization reduces the security of property and contract rights and, through...
Leigh, A. (2006). Trust, Inequality and Ethnic Heterogeneity. Economic Record 82 (258), 268-280.
Using a large Australian social survey, combined with precise data on neighbourhood characteristics...
Quintelier, E., Solle, D., Harell, A. (2011). Politics in Peer Groups: Exploring the Causal Relationship between Network Diversity and Political Participation. Political Research Quarterly July 19, 2011.
Social capital researchers have suggested that bridging ties are important for political...
Robison, L. J., Siles, M. E., Jin, S. (2011). Social capital and the distribution of household income in the United States: 1980, 1990, and 2000. Journal of Socio-Economics 40 (5), 538–547.
Social capital is a person or group's sympathy or sense of obligation for another person or...
Small, M. L. (2004). Villa Victoria: The Transformation of Social Capital in a Boston Barrio. Chicago: University of Chicago Press
Villa Victoria examines how of a group of low-income Puerto Rican migrants with little formal...
Small, M. L. (2009). Unanticiped Games: Origins of Network Inequality in Everyday Life. Oxford, Oxford University Press.
Social capital theorists have shown that some people do better than others in part because they...
Stolle, D., Hooghe, M. (2009). Shifting Inequalities? Patterns of Exclusion and Inclusion in Emerging Forms of Political Participation. WZB Discussion paper 2009-204
Previous research has found a steady increase in the number of people involved in emerging forms of...
Subramanian, S. V., Kim, D. J., Kawachi, I. (2002). Social trust and self-rated health in US communities: a multilevel analysis. Journal of Urban Health 79 (1), S21-S34.
This study assessed the contextual and individual effects of social trust on health. Methods...
Tassier, T., Menczer, F. (2008). Social network structure, segregation, and equality in a labor market with referral hiring. Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization 66, 514–528.
We examine the effects of social network structure on inequality in a model of referral hiring that...
