In this issue we feature 13 current papers on the theme of social capital:

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1. Trust the Police? Self-Selection of Motivated Agents into the German Police Force - Friebel, Guido; Kosfeld, Michael; Thielmann, Gerd
2. Measuring Social Interaction Effects when Instruments are Weak - Stephen L. Ross; Zhentao Shi
3. Indirect Reciprocity and Prosocial Behaviour: Evidence from a natural field experiment - Andreas Leibbrandt; Redzo Mujcic
4. Macroeconomic Conditions and Well-being: Do Social Interactions Matter? Emilio, Colombo; Valentina, Rotondi; Luca, Stanca;
5. When the two ends meet: an experiment on cooperation across the Italian North-South divide - Pietro Battiston; Simona Gamba
6. Profit with purpose? A theory of social enterprise - Timothy Besley; Maitreesh Ghatak
7. On the relevance of psychological motives, values, and norms for socially responsible investments: An econometric analysis - Gunnar Gutsche; Anja Köbrich León; Andreas Ziegler
8. Network Structure of an Aids-Denailists Online Community: Identifying Core Members and the Risk Group - Yuri G. Rykov; Peter A. Meylakhs; Yadviga E. Sinyavskaya
9. Social Interactions in Voting Behavior: Evidence from India - Umair Khalil; Sulagna Mookerjee; Ryan Tierney
10. Discrimination against female migrants wearing headscarves - Doris Weichselbaumer
11. Diversity and Neighbourhood Satisfaction - Monica Langella; Alan Manning
12. Social Interactions and Aspirations Formation in Rural Ethiopia - Mekonnen, Daniel Ayalew
13. Asymmetric Social Norms - Gabriele Camera; Alessandro Gioffre

 1. Trust the Police? Self-Selection of Motivated Agents into the German Police Force

    Friebel, Guido

    Kosfeld, Michael

    Thielmann, Gerd

 We conduct experimental games with police applicants in Germany to  investigate whether intrinsically motivated agents self-select into public  service. Our focus is on trustworthiness and the willingness to enforce norms  as key dimensions of intrinsic motivation in the police context. We find that  police applicants are more trustworthy than non-applicants, i.e., they return  higher shares as second-movers in a trust game. Furthermore, they invest more  in rewards and punishment when they can enforce cooperation as a third party.

 Our results provide clear evidence for advantageous self-selection into the  German police force, documenting an important mechanism by which the match  between jobs and agents in public service can be improved.

    Keywords: intrinsic motivation; norm enforcement; Public Service; Self-selection; trustworthiness

    JEL: C9 D64 D73 J45

URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:11697&r=soc

 2. Measuring Social Interaction Effects when Instruments are Weak

    Stephen L. Ross (University of Connecticut)

    Zhentao Shi (Chinese University of Hong Kong)  Studies that can distinguish between exogenous and endogenous peer effects of  social interactions are relatively rare. One recent identification strategy  exploits partial overlapping groups of peers. If a student has two groups of  separated peers, the peer choices are correlated through that specific  student's choice, but one group's attributes are assumed to directly  influence neither the other peer group's attributes nor the choices. In the  context of academic performance in higher education, however, the evidence of  peer effects on academic outcomes has been mixed, creating a potential for  weak instruments. We utilize a period of transition when students were being  reassigned to dormitories from a new campus to an old campus. Many groups of  roommates were broken up at the end of freshman year, and then combined with  other groups of students from the same school in the sophomore year. We find  reduced-form evidence that information about a student's previous year  roommates can explain the current test scores of their new roommates.

 However, due to weak instruments, the estimated endogenous effects appear  unreasonably large. We draw on weak-IV robust tests, namely the  Anderson-Rubin-type S-test (Stock and Wright, 2000) and Kleibergen's  Lagrangian multiplier test (Kleibergen, 2005), to provide properly-sized  tests for the endogenous effects between the test scores of current roommates  and to calculate lower bounds of such effects. These tests strongly reject  the null hypothesis of no endogenous effects. JEL Classification: C26, C51,  I23, J00 Key words: academic performance, hypothesis testing, endogenous peer  effects, random assignment, weak instruments

URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:uct:uconnp:2016-37&r=soc

 3. Indirect Reciprocity and Prosocial Behaviour: Evidence from a natural field experiment

    Andreas Leibbrandt

    Redzo Mujcic

 Some of the greatest human achievements are difficult to imagine without  pro-sociality. This paper employs a natural field experiment to investigate  indirect reciprocity in natural social interactions. We find strong evidence  of indirect reciprocity in one-shot interactions among drivers. Subjects for  whom other drivers stopped were more than twice as likely to extend a similar  act to a third party. This result is robust to a number of factors including  age, gender, social status, presence of onlookers, and the opportunity cost  of time. We provide novel evidence for the power of indirect reciprocity to  promote prosocial behavior in the field.

URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:feb:natura:00581&r=soc

 4. Macroeconomic Conditions and Well-being: Do Social Interactions Matter?

    Emilio, Colombo

    Valentina, Rotondi

    Luca, Stanca

 This paper investigates the role played by social interactions in explaining  the effects of macroeconomic conditions on well-being. Using survey data for  a representative sample of Italian individuals, we find that social  interactions play a dual role as both moderators and mediators of the effects  of macroeconomic conditions. On the one hand, the well-being of people who  spend more time with their friends or go out more often is less sensitive to  the effects of macroeconomic fluctuations. On the other hand, social  interactions are negatively affected by worsening macroeconomic conditions,  thus playing a relevant role in the transmission of macroeconomic shocks to  subjective well-being. More specifically, the negative impact of  macroeconomic downturns on frequency of going out and active participation in  associations contributes to explain the adverse effects of recessions on  satisfaction with life and with individual life domains.

    Keywords: macroeconomic fluctuations, unemployment, subjective well-being

    JEL: E32 I31 I38

URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mib:wpaper:355&r=soc

 5. When the two ends meet: an experiment on cooperation across the Italian North-South divide

    Pietro Battiston

    Simona Gamba

 We study the behavior of individuals coming from different geographic regions  of Italy, in a same public good game. We confirm previous findings according  to which, faced with the same incentives and experimental conditions,  Southern citizens exhibit a lower propensity to cooperate than Northern ones.

 This difference is mainly explained by a gap in the impact of coordination  devices available to participants, as we show by manipulating them. Most  importantly, when subjects with different geographic origins are teamed up  together, their contributions decrease with respect to homogeneous groups,  again because of a reduced effect of coordination devices. These findings  reinforce the interpretation of the Italian South-North divide as related to  trust, prejudice and a consequent path-dependence in levels of social  capital, rather than due to the mere effect of differences in institutions  and economic opportunities.

    Keywords: public good, cooperation, social capital, cultural differences, laboratory experiment

URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ssa:lemwps:2016/41&r=soc

 6. Profit with purpose? A theory of social enterprise

    Timothy Besley

    Maitreesh Ghatak

 When social benefits cannot be measured, an organization that selects  managers based on pro-social motivation can be used to balance profits with a  social purpose. This paper develops a model of social enterprise based on  selection of citizen-managers to run firms with flexible missions. We analyze  organizational choice between social enterprise, for-profits, and  non-profits. The paper also develops the implications of matching between  founders and managers based on their preferences for the mission.

    JEL: N0 J50

URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ehl:lserod:68572&r=soc

 7. On the relevance of psychological motives, values, and norms for socially responsible investments: An econometric analysis

    Gunnar Gutsche (University of Kassel)

    Anja Köbrich León (University of Kassel)

    Andreas Ziegler (University of Kassel)  Based on unique data from a representative computer-based survey among  financial decision makers in Germany, this paper empirically examines the  determinants of socially responsible investments (SRI). Our econometric  analysis implies that the perceived financial performance of SRI matters for  the shares of investments in SRI among all investments. However, our main  result is that psychological motives, values, and norms like warm glow  motives and expectations of the social environment are even more relevant and  thus have strong significant effects on SRI. This suggests that SRI investors  gain strong non-financial utility from sustainable investments. While the  membership in Christian churches and the strength of Christian religiosity  also seem to be positively correlated with SRI, these correlations become  insignificant if other psychological motives, values, and norms are included  in the econometric analysis. Furthermore, a left-wing political orientation  rather has significant negative effects on SRI. An explanation for this  surprising result is the general aversion of a left-wing identification to  the participation in stock markets, which is dominant in SRI.

    Keywords: Socially responsible investments; psychological motives; values; social norms; econometric analysis

    JEL: G02 G11 M14 A13 Q56 Z12

URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mar:magkse:201641&r=soc

 8. Network Structure of an Aids-Denailists Online Community: Identifying Core Members and the Risk Group

    Yuri G. Rykov (National Research University Higher School of Economics)

    Peter A. Meylakhs (National Research University Higher School of Economics)

    Yadviga E. Sinyavskaya (National Research University Higher School of

     Economics)

 Background: With the rapid growth of online social network sites (SNS), the  issue of health-related online communities and its social and behavioral  implications have become increasingly important for public health and  healthcare. Unfortunately, online communities often become vehicles for  promotion of pernicious misinformation, for example, alleged harm of  vaccination or that HIV-virus is a myth (AIDS-denialism). This study seeks to  explore the social structure and participants' behavior of the  AIDS-denialists online community to identify and estimate the those who  potentially are most susceptible to AIDS-denialists arguments - “the risk  group” in terms of becoming AIDS-denialists. Methods: Social network analysis  was used for examining the most numerous AIDS-denialist community in the most  popular Russian SNA “VKontakte”, which numbered 13 000 – 15 000 members  during the various stage of analysis. Qualitative content analysis was also  used for collecting relevant for this study members’ attributes, such as HIV  status and the extent of belief in AIDS-denialists arguments. Two datasets  were collected to analyze friendship relations between community members and  their communication relations. Results: Using social network analysis  combined with content-analysis we have identified the core of online  community - cohesive and dedicated AIDS-denialists, and the risk group, which  is not equal in composition to all peripheral members appeared in the online  group. The risk group is the circle of users who engage with core members  through online communication and may be more susceptible the AIDS-denialist  propaganda. Analysis allowed to significantly reduce the target audience for  possible intervention campaign and simultaneously increase the accuracy of  user selection into the risk group (1369 users from the risk group is more  than 10 times less than whole online group population counting over 15 000  users). Thus, online information interventions should be aimed at this risk  group audience in the first place to prevent their adoption of AIDS-denialism  beliefs, further spread of AIDS-denialism, and pernicious health consequences  associated with being an HIV-positive AIDS-denialist. Conclusion: More  research on influence of AIDS-denialism on HIV-positive online group members  is needed. Of particular interest are longitudinal or case control studies  that could detect the size of effect of AIDS-denialist propaganda that is  communicated from hard-core denialists to the risk group, different factors  associated with higher or lower susceptibility to AIDS-denialist views, and  real health behavior change that occurs with becoming an AIDS-denialist

    Keywords: online community, HIV/AIDS, online social networks, social networks analysis, social contagion, risk groups

    JEL: Z19 I12

URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hig:wpaper:71/soc/2016&r=soc

 9. Social Interactions in Voting Behavior: Evidence from India

    Umair Khalil (West Virginia University, Department of Economics)

    Sulagna Mookerjee (Georgetown University School of Foreign Service Qatar)

    Ryan Tierney (Université de Montréal)  Using the unique staggered nature of the Indian General Elections, where  voting takes place in several different phases spanning several weeks, we  investigate how spatial variation in electoral dynamics affects subsequent  voter turnout. Exploiting quasirandom assignment of constituencies to  electoral phases each election, we assess the impact of average voter turnout  in a given phase, on turnout in the subsequent phase. Standard endogeneity  concerns in the estimation of social interactions are dealt by employing two  distinct instrumental variables: 1) constituency specific average historical  turnout in elections from the pre-staggered era, 2) voter density as measured  by number of voters per polling location in a given constituency. Our  estimates from both IVs, show that a 1 percentage point (pp) increase in  turnout in a given phase depresses turnout in the subsequent phase by 0.3-0.5  pp. Crucially, falsification tests examining the effect on turnout in the  current phase, of constituencies in the same phase or in future phases in the  same election, produce no such effect. We find the data broadly support an  ethical voter model, in which each agent acts as if setting an example for  all and seek to maximize social welfare.

    Keywords: Voting Behavior, Staggered Elections, Election Spillovers

URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wvu:wpaper:16-21&r=soc

10. Discrimination against female migrants wearing headscarves

    Doris Weichselbaumer

 Germany is currently experiencing a high influx of Muslim migrants. From a  policy perspective, integration of migrants into the labor market is crucial.

 Hence, a field experiment was conducted that examined the employment chances  of females with backgrounds of migration from Muslim countries, and  especially of those wearing headscarves. It focused on Turkish migrants, who  have constituted a large demographic group in Germany since the 1970s. In the  field experiment presented here, job applications for three fictitious female  characters with identical qualifications were sent out in response to job

 advertisements: one applicant had a German name, one a Turkish name, and one  had a Turkish name and was wearing a headscarf in the photograph included in  the application material. Germany was the ideal location for the experiment  as job seekers typically attach their picture to their résumé. High levels of  discrimination were found particularly against the migrant wearing a  headscarf.

    Keywords: Discrimination, Muslim religion, Headscarf, Hiring, Experiment

    JEL: C93 J15 J71

URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:jku:econwp:2016_09&r=soc

11. Diversity and Neighbourhood Satisfaction

    Monica Langella

    Alan Manning

 This paper investigates the impact of ethnic diversity on individuals'

 overall satisfaction with and other aspects of their neighbourhood. It uses  panel data and a variety of empirical methods to control for potential  endogeneity of diversity and of the location choices. We find that a higher  white share in the neighbourhood raises overall satisfaction with the  neighbourhood in our (overwhelming white) sample, but has no significant  impact on generalised trust or other commonly-used measures of social  capital. We suggest that part of the impact of diversity on overall  neighbourhood satisfaction may be through an effect on a fear of crime and  the quality of social life.

    Keywords: neighbourhood satisfaction, social capital, diversity, deprivation

    JEL: Z1

URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cep:cepdps:dp1459&r=soc

12. Social Interactions and Aspirations Formation in Rural Ethiopia

    Mekonnen, Daniel Ayalew

 The recent literature postulates that aspirations are one of the key  determinants of economic decision making, and that aspirations are formed  socially through observations and by learning from ‘relevant others’ (or the  ‘reference group’). This study empirically examines the latter using survey  data collected from sample households in rural Ethiopia. Specifically, the  study examines the effect of social interactions on aspirations. Based on  several definitions of a ‘reference group’, we find that aspirations are  indeed socially determined through observations as well as social  interactions. Results also indicate that the social network size is an  important determinant of aspirations, attesting to the importance of widening  the aspirations window – a person’s cognitive world that shapes their  aspirations. Across gender, results indicate that the effect of social  interactions on aspirations is larger for females.

    Keywords: social interactions, aspirations, Ethiopia, Institutional and

     Behavioral Economics, D03, D62, Z1,

URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:ubzefd:250150&r=soc

13. Asymmetric Social Norms

    Gabriele Camera (Chapman University and University of Basel)

    Alessandro Gioffre (Goethe University)  Studies of cooperation in infinitely repeated matching games focus on  homogeneous economies, where full cooperation is efficient and any defection  is collectively sanctioned. Here we study heterogeneous economies where  occasional defections are part of efficient play, and show how to support  those outcomes through contagious punishments.

    Keywords: cooperation, repeated games, social dilemmas

    JEL: C6 C7

URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:chu:wpaper:16-30&r=soc

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