This file is part of IDEAS, which uses RePEc data


[ Papers | Articles | Software | Books | Chapters | Authors | Institutions | JEL Classification | NEP reports | Search | New papers by email | Author registration | Rankings | Volunteers | FAQ | Blog | Help! ]

Education and Social Capital

Author info | Abstract | Publisher info | Download info | Related research | Statistics
Author Info
John F. Helliwell () (University of British Columbia, Canadian Institute for Advanced Research)
Robert D. Putnam (Harvard University, University of Manchester)
Abstract

Education is usually the most important predictor of political and social engagement. Over the last half Century, educational levels in the United States have risen sharply, yet levels of political and social participation have not. Norman Nie, Jane Junn and Kenneth Stehlik-Barry (NJS-B) have offered a resolution to this paradox based on the distinction between absolute and relative education, with only relative education having positive effects on education. Using a broad range of data, including that used by NJS-B, this paper shows that increases in average education levels increases trust and does not reduce average participation levels. These results are found when we use a dynamic regional comparison group, theoretically preferable to NJS-B’s static national measure. Our results provide an optimistic conclusion about the effects of increases in education levels, while leaving open the explanation of declining participation levels. Our results suggest that exposure to television during childhood may play an important role in that story.

Download Info
To download:

If you experience problems downloading a file, check if you have the proper application to view it first. Information about this may be contained in the File-Format links below. In case of further problems read the IDEAS help page. Note that these files are not on the IDEAS site. Please be patient as the files may be large.

File URL: http://college.holycross.edu/eej/Volume33/V33N1P1_19.pdf
File Format: application/pdf
File Function:
Download Restriction: no

Publisher Info
Article provided by Eastern Economic Association in its journal Eastern Economic Journal.

Volume (Year): 33 (2007)
Issue (Month): 1 (Winter)
Pages: 1-19
Download reference. The following formats are available: HTML (with abstract), plain text (with abstract), BibTeX, RIS (EndNote, RefMan, ProCite), ReDIF
Handle: RePEc:eej:eeconj:v:33:y:2007:i:1:p:1-19

Contact details of provider:
Postal: c/o Iona College, 715 North Avenue, New Rochelle, New York 10801-1890 USA
Phone: (914) 633-2088
Fax: (914) 633-2549
Email:
Web page: http://www.iona.edu/eea/
More information through EDIRC

Order Information:
Postal: Dr. Mary H. Lesser, Department of Economics, Iona College, New Rochelle, NY 10801-1890
Email:
Web: http://www.iona.edu/eea/publications/subandmem.htm

For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its listing, contact: (Victor Matheson, College of the Holy Cross).

Related research
Keywords:

References listed on IDEAS
Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.:

  1. Milligan, Kevin & Moretti, Enrico & Oreopoulos, Philip, 2004. "Does education improve citizenship? Evidence from the United States and the United Kingdom," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 88(9-10), pages 1667-1695, August. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  2. Card, David, 2001. "Estimating the Return to Schooling: Progress on Some Persistent Econometric Problems," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 69(5), pages 1127-60, September.
    Other versions:
  3. Kevin Milligan & Enrico Moretti & Philip Oreopoulos, 2003. "Does Education Improve Citizenship? Evidence from the U.S. and the U.K," NBER Working Papers 9584, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  4. Moretti, Enrico, 2004. "Estimating the social return to higher education: evidence from longitudinal and repeated cross-sectional data," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 121(1-2), pages 175-212. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
Full references

Cited by:
(explanations, Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.)

  1. Philippe Aghion & Yann Algan & Pierre Cahuc & Andrei Shleifer, 2009. "Regulation and Distrust," Working Papers hal-00396268_v1, HAL. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  2. Thierry Debrand & Nicolas Sirven, 2008. "Promoting Social Participation for Healthy Ageing - A Counterfactual Analysis from the Survey of Health, Ageing, and Retirement in Europe (SHARE)," Working Papers DT7, IRDES institut for research and information in health economics, revised Jan 2008. [Downloadable!]
Statistics
Access and download statistics

Did you know? RePEc also has a blog.

This page was last updated on 2009-12-13.

This information is provided to you by IDEAS at the Department of Economics, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, University of Connecticut using RePEc data on a server sponsored by the Society for Economic Dynamics.