IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/ucn/oapubs/10197-733.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

The effects of human capital on social capital : a cross-country analysis

Author

Listed:
  • Kevin Denny

Abstract

This paper uses two sets of cross-country micro datasets to analyse individuals’ participation in voluntary and community activities and organisations. Analysing countries in the International Adult Literacy Survey and focusing on the impact of human capital I find a consistently positive effect of years of education on participation with the marginal effect of an additional year being around 2 or 3% for most countries. The effects are somewhat higher in English speaking countries. However controlling for functional literacy reduces this significantly with literacy accounting for around half the marginal effect of education. Labour market effects are generally very weak Using instrumental variables for a subset of countries we test and are unable to reject the hypothesis that education is exogenous. Using Eurobarometer data yields higher estimated impacts of schooling for most countries. It is also shown how attitudes towards the “third sector” predict higher participation in some forms of volunteering while a measure of religiosity often predicts more altruistic volunteering.

Suggested Citation

  • Kevin Denny, 2003. "The effects of human capital on social capital : a cross-country analysis," Open Access publications 10197/733, School of Economics, University College Dublin.
    • Handle: RePEc:ucn:oapubs:10197/733
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10197/733
    File Function: First version, 2003
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Kevin J Denny & Colm P Harmon, 2000. "Education Policy Reform and the Return to Schooling from Instrumental Variables," Working Papers 200012, School of Economics, University College Dublin.
    2. O. Ashenfelter & D. Card (ed.), 1999. "Handbook of Labor Economics," Handbook of Labor Economics, Elsevier, edition 1, volume 3, number 3.
    3. Carneiro, Pedro & Heckman, James J., 2003. "Human Capital Policy," IZA Discussion Papers 821, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    4. Dee, Thomas S., 2004. "Are there civic returns to education?," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 88(9-10), pages 1697-1720, August.
    5. Card, David, 1999. "The causal effect of education on earnings," Handbook of Labor Economics, in: O. Ashenfelter & D. Card (ed.), Handbook of Labor Economics, edition 1, volume 3, chapter 30, pages 1801-1863, Elsevier.
    6. James Banks & Tanner, Tanner, 1998. "Modelling voluntary labour supply," IFS Working Papers W98/17, Institute for Fiscal Studies.
    7. Sendhil Mullainathan & Marianne Bertrand, 2001. "Do People Mean What They Say? Implications for Subjective Survey Data," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 91(2), pages 67-72, May.
    8. Brown, Eleanor & Lankford, Hamilton, 1992. "Gifts of money and gifts of time estimating the effects of tax prices and available time," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 47(3), pages 321-341, April.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Jose Manuel Lasierra Esteban, 2014. "Una aproximación a los determinantes del Capital Social individual en España," Hacienda Pública Española / Review of Public Economics, IEF, vol. 210(3), pages 33-55, September.
    2. Denny, Kevin & Doyle, Orla, 2008. "Political Interest, Cognitive Ability and Personality: Determinants of Voter Turnout in Britain," British Journal of Political Science, Cambridge University Press, vol. 38(2), pages 291-310, April.
    3. Jingyue Zhang & Nan Lu, 2019. "What Matters Most for Community Social Capital among Older Adults Living in Urban China: The Role of Health and Family Social Capital," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(4), pages 1-14, February.
    4. Luis Aranda & Martin Siyaranamual, 2014. "Are Smarter People Better Samaritans? Effect of Cognitive Abilities on Pro-Social Behaviors," Working Papers 2014:06, Department of Economics, University of Venice "Ca' Foscari".
    5. Huang, Jian & Maassen van den Brink, Henriëtte & Groot, Wim, 2009. "A meta-analysis of the effect of education on social capital," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 28(4), pages 454-464, August.
    6. Hans-Jurgen Engelbrecht, 2004. "The transaction sector, the information economy, and economic growth in New Zealand: Taking hazledine seriously," New Zealand Economic Papers, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 38(1), pages 87-99.
    7. Brady, Gerard, 2013. "Network social capital and labour market outcomes Evidence from Ireland," MPRA Paper 47391, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    8. Anneli Kaasa, 2018. "Intangible factors and productivity: Evidence from Europe at the regional level," Business and Economic Horizons (BEH), Prague Development Center, vol. 14(2), pages 300-325, April.
    9. Francesca Borgonovi & Artur Pokropek, 2017. "Birthplace diversity, income inequality and education gradients in generalised trust: variations in the relevance of cognitive skills across 29 countries," JRC Research Reports JRC108582, Joint Research Centre.
    10. Kevin Denny & Orla Doyle, 2010. "Returns to basic skills in central and eastern Europe," The Economics of Transition, The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, vol. 18(1), pages 183-208, January.
    11. Jian Huang & Henriëtte Maassen van den Brink & Wim Groot, 2012. "Does education promote social capital? Evidence from IV analysis and nonparametric-bound analysis," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 42(3), pages 1011-1034, June.
    12. repec:ucn:wpaper:10197/946 is not listed on IDEAS
    13. Gerard Brady, 2015. "Network Social Capital and Labour Market Outcomes: Evidence For Ireland," The Economic and Social Review, Economic and Social Studies, vol. 46(2), pages 163-195.
    14. Giorgio Di Pietro & Marcos Delprato, 2009. "Education and Civic Outcomes in Italy," Public Finance Review, , vol. 37(4), pages 421-446, July.
    15. Kevin Denny & Patrick Orla Doyle, 2005. "Political Interest, Cognitive Ability and Personality - Determinants of Voter Turnout in Britain," Working Papers 200511, School of Economics, University College Dublin.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Kevin Denny, 2003. "The effects of human capital on social capital : a cross-country analysis (version 1.6)," Working Papers 200318, School of Economics, University College Dublin.
    2. repec:ucn:wpaper:10197/1106 is not listed on IDEAS
    3. Kevin Denny, 2003. "The effects of human capital on social capital : a cross-country analysis (Version 1.61)," Open Access publications 10197/1106, School of Economics, University College Dublin.
    4. Marc Piopiunik, 2011. "Microeconometric Analyses of Education Production in Germany," ifo Beiträge zur Wirtschaftsforschung, ifo Institute - Leibniz Institute for Economic Research at the University of Munich, number 40.
    5. Sonja Settele & Reyn van Ewijk, 2017. "The effect of cigarette taxes during pregnancy on educational outcomes of the next generation," IAAEU Discussion Papers 201703, Institute of Labour Law and Industrial Relations in the European Union (IAAEU).
    6. Christopher H. Wheeler, 2006. "Human capital growth in a cross section of U.S. metropolitan areas," Review, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, vol. 88(Mar), pages 113-132.
    7. Bishnu, Monisankar, 2013. "Linking consumption externalities with optimal accumulation of human and physical capital and intergenerational transfers," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 148(2), pages 720-742.
    8. Blomquist, Glenn C. & Coomes, Paul A. & Jepsen, Christopher & Koford, Brandon C. & Troske, Kenneth R., 2014. "Estimating the social value of higher education: willingness to pay for community and technical colleges," Journal of Benefit-Cost Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 5(1), pages 3-41, January.
    9. Gosta Esping-Andersen, 2008. "Childhood investments and skill formation," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 15(1), pages 19-44, February.
    10. Del Bono, Emilia & Galindo-Rueda, Fernando, 2006. "The long term impacts of compulsory schooling: evidence from a natural experiment in school leaving dates," ISER Working Paper Series 2006-44, Institute for Social and Economic Research.
    11. de Araujo, Pedro & Lagos, Stephen, 2013. "Self-esteem, education, and wages revisited," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 34(C), pages 120-132.
    12. Ludger Wößmann, 2006. "Bildungspolitische Lehren aus den internationalen Schülertests: Wettbewerb, Autonomie und externe Leistungsüberprüfung," Perspektiven der Wirtschaftspolitik, Verein für Socialpolitik, vol. 7(3), pages 417-444, August.
    13. Pedro Carneiro & Michael Lokshin & Nithin Umapathi, 2017. "Average and Marginal Returns to Upper Secondary Schooling in Indonesia," Journal of Applied Econometrics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 32(1), pages 16-36, January.
    14. Huggett, Mark & Ventura, Gustavo & Yaron, Amir, 2006. "Human capital and earnings distribution dynamics," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 53(2), pages 265-290, March.
    15. Berlinski, Samuel & Galiani, Sebastian & Manacorda, Marco, 2008. "Giving children a better start: Preschool attendance and school-age profiles," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 92(5-6), pages 1416-1440, June.
    16. Yuanyuan Ma, 2017. "Civic Returns to Education: Voter Turnout in Ireland," The Economic and Social Review, Economic and Social Studies, vol. 48(2), pages 145-169.
    17. Emilia Bedyk & Jacek Liwiński, 2016. "The wage premium from parents’ investments in the education of their children in Poland," Working Papers 2016-14, Faculty of Economic Sciences, University of Warsaw.
    18. Doug Miller & Jens Ludwig, 2005. "Does Head Start Improve Children?s Life Chances? Evidence from a Regression Discontinuity Design," Working Papers 534, University of California, Davis, Department of Economics.
    19. Ludger Wößmann, 2008. "Efficiency and equity of European education and training policies," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 15(2), pages 199-230, April.
    20. Angel de la Fuente & Antonio Ciccone, 2003. "Human capital in a global and knowledge-based economy," UFAE and IAE Working Papers 562.03, Unitat de Fonaments de l'Anàlisi Econòmica (UAB) and Institut d'Anàlisi Econòmica (CSIC).
    21. Jörn-Steffen Pischke & Till von Wachter, 2008. "Zero Returns to Compulsory Schooling in Germany: Evidence and Interpretation," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 90(3), pages 592-598, August.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Voluntarism; Literacy; Labor supply--Effect of education on;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D63 - Microeconomics - - Welfare Economics - - - Equity, Justice, Inequality, and Other Normative Criteria and Measurement

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:ucn:oapubs:10197/733. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Nicolas Clifton (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/educdie.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.