IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/usi/wpaper/552.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Does social capital create trust? Evidence from a community of entrepreneurs

Author

Listed:
  • Fabio Sabatini

Abstract

Which kind of social capital fosters the diffusion of development-oriented trust? This paper carries out an empirical investigation into the causal relationships connecting four types of social capital (i.e. bonding, bridging, linking, and corporate), and different forms of trust (knowledge-based trust, social trust, trust towards public services and political institutions), in a community of entrepreneurs located in the Italian industrial district of the Tuscia. Our results suggest that the main factors fostering the diffusion of social trust among entrepreneurs are the perception that the local community is a safe place, and the establishment of corporate ties through professional associations. Trust in people is positively and significantly correlated also to higher levels of satisfaction and confidence in public services. Participation in voluntary organizations does not appear to increase trust in people. Rather, we find evidence of the other way round: interpersonal trust seems to encourage civic engagement

Suggested Citation

  • Fabio Sabatini, 2009. "Does social capital create trust? Evidence from a community of entrepreneurs," Department of Economics University of Siena 552, Department of Economics, University of Siena.
  • Handle: RePEc:usi:wpaper:552
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://repec.deps.unisi.it/quaderni/552.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Zak, Paul J & Knack, Stephen, 2001. "Trust and Growth," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 111(470), pages 295-321, April.
    2. Fabio Sabatini, 2008. "Does social capital improve labour productivity in Small and Medium Enterprises?," International Journal of Management and Decision Making, Inderscience Enterprises Ltd, vol. 9(5), pages 454-480.
    3. Stephen Knack & Philip Keefer, 1997. "Does Social Capital Have an Economic Payoff? A Cross-Country Investigation," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 112(4), pages 1251-1288.
    4. Sabatini, Fabio, 2009. "Social capital as social networks: A new framework for measurement and an empirical analysis of its determinants and consequences," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 38(3), pages 429-442, June.
    5. Oguzhan Dincer & Eric Uslaner, 2010. "Trust and growth," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 142(1), pages 59-67, January.
    6. Antoci, Angelo & Sacco, Pier Luigi & Vanin, Paolo, 2007. "Social capital accumulation and the evolution of social participation," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 36(1), pages 128-143, February.
    7. Alessia Amighini & Roberta Rabellotti, 2004. "How do Italian footwear industrial districts face globalization?," European Planning Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 14(4), pages 485-502, November.
    8. Paola Bertolini & Enrico Giovannetti, 2006. "Industrial districts and internationalization: the case of the agri-food industry in Modena, Italy," Entrepreneurship & Regional Development, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 18(4), pages 279-304, July.
    9. Sabatini Fabio, 2007. "The empirics of social capital and economic development: A critical perspective," wp.comunite 0031, Department of Communication, University of Teramo.
    10. Fabio, Sabatini, 2005. "The empirics of social capital and economic development: a critical perspective," MPRA Paper 2366, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised Mar 2007.
    11. Fabio Sabatini, 2008. "Social Capital and the Quality of Economic Development," Kyklos, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 61(3), pages 466-499, August.
    12. Durlauf,S.N., 1999. "The case "against" social capital," Working papers 29, Wisconsin Madison - Social Systems.
    13. Fabio Sabatini, 2006. "The Empirics of Social Capital and Economic Development: A Critical Perspective," Working Papers 2006.15, Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei.
    14. Foley, Michael W. & Edwards, Bob, 1999. "Is It Time to Disinvest in Social Capital?," Journal of Public Policy, Cambridge University Press, vol. 19(2), pages 141-173, May.
    15. Coates, Dennis & Heckelman, Jac C, 2003. "Interest Groups and Investment: A Further Test of the Olson Hypothesis," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 117(3-4), pages 333-340, December.
    16. Sergio Mariotti & Marco Mutinelli & Lucia Piscitello, 2008. "The Internationalization of Production by Italian Industrial Districts' Firms: Structural and Behavioural Determinants," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 42(5), pages 719-735.
    17. Fabio Sabatini, 2006. "Social Capital and Labour Productivity in Italy," Working Papers 2006.30, Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei.
    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. Tunku Alina Alias, 2014. "The gift economy: waqf in the Islamic world today," Chapters, in: M. Kabir Hassan & Mervyn K. Lewis (ed.), Handbook on Islam and Economic Life, chapter 24, pages iii-iii, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    2. Sytske Groenewald & Erwin Bulte, 2013. "Trust and livelihood adaptation: evidence from rural Mexico," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 30(1), pages 41-55, March.

    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. Eiji Yamamura, 2011. "Differences in the effect of social capital on health status between workers and non-workers," International Review of Economics, Springer;Happiness Economics and Interpersonal Relations (HEIRS), vol. 58(4), pages 385-400, December.
    2. Fabio Sabatini, 2009. "The relationship between trust and networks. An exploratory empirical analysis," Economics Bulletin, AccessEcon, vol. 29(2), pages 661-672.
    3. Antoci Angelo & Sabatini Fabio & Sodini Mauro, 2009. "Will growth and technology destroy social interaction? The inverted U-shape hypothesis," wp.comunite 0057, Department of Communication, University of Teramo.
    4. Charlie Karlsson, 2012. "Entrepreneurship, social capital, governance and regional economic development: an introduction," Chapters, in: Charlie Karlsson & Börje Johansson & Roger R. Stough (ed.), Entrepreneurship, Social Capital and Governance, chapter 1, pages 1-26, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    5. Angelo Antoci & Fabio Sabatini & Mauro Sodini, 2009. "The fragility of social capital," Department of Economics University of Siena 551, Department of Economics, University of Siena.
    6. Isabel Neira Gómez & Marta Portela, 2011. "Determinantes del capital social," Investigaciones de Economía de la Educación volume 6, in: Antonio Caparrós Ruiz (ed.), Investigaciones de Economía de la Educación 6, edition 1, volume 6, chapter 60, pages 986-1001, Asociación de Economía de la Educación.
    7. Argentiero, Amedeo & Cerqueti, Roy & Sabatini, Fabio, 2021. "Does social capital explain the Solow residual? A DSGE approach," Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Elsevier, vol. 58(C), pages 35-53.
    8. Fabio, Sabatini, 2005. "The empirics of social capital and economic development: a critical perspective," MPRA Paper 2366, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised Mar 2007.
    9. Fabio Sabatini, 2008. "Social Capital and the Quality of Economic Development," Kyklos, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 61(3), pages 466-499, August.
    10. Sabatini, Fabio, 2009. "Social capital as social networks: A new framework for measurement and an empirical analysis of its determinants and consequences," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 38(3), pages 429-442, June.
    11. Antonio C. David & Carmen A. Li, 2010. "Exploring the links between HIV|AIDS, social capital and development," Journal of International Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 22(7), pages 941-961.
    12. Sabatini, Fabio, 2014. "The relationship between happiness and health: Evidence from Italy," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 114(C), pages 178-187.
    13. Fabio Sabatini & Francesca Modena & Ermanno Tortia, 2014. "Do cooperative enterprises create social trust?," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 42(3), pages 621-641, March.
    14. Sabatini Fabio, 2011. "Who trusts Berlusconi? An econometric analysis of the role of television in the political arena," wp.comunite 0075, Department of Communication, University of Teramo.
    15. Antoci, Angelo & Sabatini, Fabio & Sodini, Mauro, 2012. "The Solaria syndrome: Social capital in a growing hyper-technological economy," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 81(3), pages 802-814.
    16. Karlsson, Charlie & Rouchy, Philippe, 2015. "Regional Economic Development, Social Capital and Governance: A Buchanian Approach," Working Paper Series in Economics and Institutions of Innovation 390, Royal Institute of Technology, CESIS - Centre of Excellence for Science and Innovation Studies.
    17. Sabatini, Fabio, 2009. "Work status and family planning: insights from the Italian puzzle," MPRA Paper 18851, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    18. Francesco Pasimeni & Paolo Pasimeni, 2016. "An Institutional Analysis of the Europe 2020 Strategy," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 127(3), pages 1021-1038, July.
    19. Brenda Gannon & Jennifer Roberts, 2020. "Social capital: exploring the theory and empirical divide," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 58(3), pages 899-919, March.
    20. Mikucka, Malgorzata & Sarracino, Francesco, 2014. "Making economic growth and well-being compatible: the role of trust and income inequality," MPRA Paper 59695, University Library of Munich, Germany.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Trust; Social capital; Safety; Professional associations; Entrepreneurship; Corporate ties; Group and Interpersonal Processes; Social Perception and Cognition;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • A13 - General Economics and Teaching - - General Economics - - - Relation of Economics to Social Values
    • J24 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity
    • O15 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Economic Development: Human Resources; Human Development; Income Distribution; Migration
    • Z13 - Other Special Topics - - Cultural Economics - - - Economic Sociology; Economic Anthropology; Language; Social and Economic Stratification

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    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:usi:wpaper:552. 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: Fabrizio Becatti (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/desieit.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.