Social Capital and Economic Growth: A Meta-Analysis

This research provides a comprehensive, quantitative synthesis of the empirical literature on social capital and economic growth. It assesses 993 estimates from 81 studies. Utilizing a variety of estimation procedures, we draw the following conclusions: There is strong evidence to indicate that publication bias distorts the empirical literature, causing estimates of social capital's effects to be overstated. Initial, unadjusted estimates are positive, generally moderately sized, and consistently statistically significant. Correcting for publication bias reduces these estimates by half or more. Our preferred estimates indicate that the effects of social capital on economic growth, though statistically significant, are very small. This highlights that an uncritical acceptance of the empirical literature can lead to an inflated perception of the importance of social capital. Analysis of the different types of social capital (cognitive, structural, other) finds little evidence of differences in growth effects. Further investigation of moderating factors finds that most have estimated effects that are generally small to negligible, though social capital appears to have a substantially smaller effect on economic growth in the US compared to other parts of the world.