NEP-SOC 2024-01-01, eight papers
In this issue we feature 8 current papers on the theme of social capital, chosen by Fabio Sabatini (Università degli Studi di Roma “La Sapienza”):
- The Persistent Effect of Competition on Prosociality By Fabian Kosse; Ranjita Rajan; Michela Tincani
- Human Capital Affects Religious Identity: Causal Evidence from Kenya By Livia Alfonsi; Michal Bauer; Julie Chytilová; Edward Miguel
- Inflation Literacy, Inflation Expectations, and Trust in the Central Bank: A Survey Experiment By Dräger, Lena; Nghiem, Giang
- Fight, flight or friction? The effect of population density on general trust in China By Chen, Yunsong; Ju, Guodong
- The endogamy tradition and the performance of informal owner-manager ventures in Sub-Saharan Africa By Zhang, Peng; Estrin, Saul; Mickiewicz, Tomasz marek
- Accounting for preferences and beliefs in social framing effects By Bernold, Elizabeth; Gsottbauer, Elisabeth; Ackermann, Kurt A.; Murphy, Ryan
- Right in the Middle: A Field Experiment On The Role Of Integrity Training And Norms In Combating Corruption By Oana Borcan; Nikita Grabher-Meyer; Stephanie Heger; Amrish Patel
- The Dynamics of Social Identity, Inequality and Redistribution By Ghiglino, C.; Muller, A.
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By: Fabian Kosse (University of Würzburg, briq); Ranjita Rajan (The Karta Initiative); Michela Tincani (University College London) Abstract: We present the first causal evidence on the persistent impact of enduring competition on prosociality. Inspired by the literature on tournaments within firms, which shows that competitive compensation schemes reduce cooperation in the short-run, we explore if enduring exposure to a competitive environment persistently attenuates prosociality. Based on a large-scale randomized intervention in the education context, we find lower levels of prosociality for students who just experienced a 2-year competition period. 4-year follow-up data indicate that the effect persists and generalizes, suggesting a change in traits and not only in behavior. Keywords: prosociality; competition; cooperation; social skills; socio-emotional skills; tournaments; comparative pay; incentive schemes; JEL: D64 C90 Date: 2023–11–11 URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rco:dpaper:449&r=soc -
By: Livia Alfonsi; Michal Bauer; Julie Chytilová; Edward Miguel Abstract: We study how human capital and economic conditions causally affect the choice of religious denomination. We utilize a longitudinal dataset monitoring the religious history of more than 5, 000 Kenyans over twenty years, in tandem with a randomized experiment (deworming) that has exogenously boosted education and living standards. The main finding is that the program reduces the likelihood of membership in a Pentecostal denomination up to 20 years later when respondents are in their mid-thirties, while there is a comparable increase in membership in traditional Christian denominations. The effect is concentrated and statistically significant among a sub-group of participants who benefited most from the program in terms of increased education and income. The effects are unlikely due to increased secularization, because the program does not reduce measures of religiosity. The results help explain why the global growth of the Pentecostal movement, sometimes described a “New Reformation”, is centered in low-income communities. Keywords: religion, identity, human capital, Kenya JEL: C93 O12 Z12 Date: 2023 URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ces:ceswps:_10772&r=soc -
By: Dräger, Lena; Nghiem, Giang JEL: E52 E31 D84 Date: 2023 URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:vfsc23:277587&r=soc -
By: Chen, Yunsong; Ju, Guodong Abstract: Population density affects human behavior. A dense population has been shown to exacerbate impulses such as, “fight” (aggression stimulated by crowding) or “flight” (withdrawal from social life for escape). This paper explores the impact of population density on the level of generalized trust that lies in China, a topic understated by extant empirical studies so far. Drawing data from Chinese General Social Survey (2010–2013), we attempt to examine the density-trust link. China provides a context-specific case because: (1) the narrow “radius” of generalized trust (people’s notion of “most people” is more in-group connoted than out-group connoted) derived from Confucian tradition decreases the probability of interacting with out-group members, suggesting that both “fight” and “flight” that rely on out-group interactions have little effect in this context, and (2) hukou (household registration) restrictions force rural-to-urban migrants into the secondary labor market, leading to social segregation producing distrust in cities. The results of hierarchical models on data from 17, 331 individuals and panel models on data from four waves of 114 counties both revealed that (1) population density negatively predicts the level of generalized trust among urban residents and (2) it is “friction, ” or occupational segregation by hukou restrictions, that mediates the density-trust relation, neither “fight” nor “flight” does. Keywords: Taylor & Francis deal JEL: J1 Date: 2023–05–24 URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ehl:lserod:118836&r=soc -
By: Zhang, Peng; Estrin, Saul; Mickiewicz, Tomasz marek Abstract: Informal businesses, ubiquitous in developing countries, operate on the fringes of the (often ineffective) state, and are instead influenced by informal institutions. This paper applies a cultural anthropology perspective to provide explanations on the origins and dynamics of informal institutions and their effects on informal business performance. We posit that informal institutions originate from the traditions embedded in family systems, and we consider endogamy - the practice of marrying within a specific social group or local community - as a key dimension of family traditions relevant for performance of informal entrepreneurs. First, endogamy can make bridging trust more difficult to establish, limiting wider market opportunities for informal businesses in Sub-Saharan Africa and lowering their performance. Second, the evolution of informal institutions can be driven by external cultural interventions that are antipathetic to the pre-existing family systems. For example, the effect of endogamy might be attenuated by specific experiences of Africa’s colonial past, especially if the colonial powers were characterised by individualistic cultures. Our hypotheses are supported by the empirical analysis based on surveys of informal entrepreneurs in multiple regions of eight African countries. JEL: J50 Date: 2022–08–01 URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ehl:lserod:120862&r=soc -
By: Bernold, Elizabeth; Gsottbauer, Elisabeth; Ackermann, Kurt A.; Murphy, Ryan Abstract: Past experiments show systematic differences in contributions to public goods under various framing conditions. Several explanations of these differences have been presented. Some suggest that social frames affect subjects' preferences, while others suggest that framing changes subjects' beliefs about others, and thus in turn affects behavior. In this paper, we test the effect of framing on the level of contributions in a series of public goods games designed to separate the impact of preferences from beliefs in shaping cooperative decisions. This is achieved by implementing a social value orientation measure to elicit social preferences from decision makers, which are then analyzed in concert with reported beliefs about others’ cooperation and own contribution decisions from the linear public goods games. While we find mixed results on framing effects, our study demonstrates that preferences and beliefs are significant predictors of cooperation. Furthermore, the degree to which they influence cooperation is either strengthened or weakened by framing. Keywords: cooperation; framing; public good game; social value orientation (svo); beliefs; 100014 143199/1 JEL: M40 J1 Date: 2023–06–13 URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ehl:lserod:119353&r=soc -
By: Oana Borcan (School of Economics, University of East Anglia); Nikita Grabher-Meyer (School of Economics, University of East Anglia); Stephanie Heger (University of Bologna); Amrish Patel (School of Economics, University of East Anglia) Abstract: Although integrity education and awareness is touted as an important solution to combat corruption, there is little evidence on its effectiveness. To fill this gap, we conduct a lab-in-the-field experiment where law students in Ukraine are randomly assigned to an innovative and interactive integrity training programme to enhance students awareness and behaviour around ethical issues. We collect data on attitudes towards corruption and actual corrupt behaviour through a series of surveys and a novel experimental game, in which both the integrity-trained students and those who did not get assigned to integrity training play the role of middlemen in a bribe exchange between firms and public officials. We show that integrity training had a significant impact on attitudes towards corruption but only significantly reduced corrupt behaviour in the game when the students knew they were playing alongside other integrity-trained students. Date: 2023–12 URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:uea:ueaeco:2023-05&r=soc -
By: Ghiglino, C.; Muller, A. Abstract: We provide a politico-economic theory of income redistribution with endogenous social identity of voters. Our analysis uncovers a non-monotonic relationship between market income inequality and redistributive taxation in line with the mixed evidence on the sign of their empirical relationship: taxation first increases with wage inequality as all voters identify with others, but then drops sharply as affluent voters switch to identify in-group. We further add ethnicity as an identification attribute. Consistent with existing empirical evidence, our model predicts that the presence of ethnic minorities and across ethnic group inequality reduce redistribution, while within ethnic group wage inequality increases it. Keywords: Inequality, Probabilistic Voting, Redistribution, Social Class, Social Identity, Tax Rate JEL: D64 D71 D72 H20 Date: 2023–11–14 URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cam:camdae:2371&r=soc
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This nep-soc issue is ©2023 by Fabio Sabatini. It is provided as is without any express or implied warranty. It may be freely redistributed in whole or in part for any purpose. If distributed in part, please include this notice.
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