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Economic Growth, Technological Progress, and Social Capital: The Inverted U Hypothesis

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  • Angelo Antoci
  • Fabio Sabatini
  • Mauro Sodini

Abstract

We set up a theoretical framework to analyze the possible role of economic growth and technological progress in the erosion of social capital. Under certain parameters, the relationship between technological progress and social capital can take the shape of an inverted U curve. We show the circumstances allowing the economy to follow trajectories where the stock of social capital grows endogenously and unboundedly.

Suggested Citation

  • Angelo Antoci & Fabio Sabatini & Mauro Sodini, 2011. "Economic Growth, Technological Progress, and Social Capital: The Inverted U Hypothesis," EERI Research Paper Series EERI_RP_2011_07, Economics and Econometrics Research Institute (EERI), Brussels.
    • Handle: RePEc:eei:rpaper:eeri_rp_2011_07
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    22. Erik Ingen & Paul Dekker, 2011. "Dissolution of Associational Life? Testing the Individualization and Informalization Hypotheses on Leisure Activities in The Netherlands Between 1975 and 2005," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 100(2), pages 209-224, January.
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    Cited by:

    1. Coppier, Raffaella & Sabatini, Fabio & Sodini, Mauro, 2021. "Social Capital, Human Capital, And Fertility," Macroeconomic Dynamics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 25(3), pages 632-650, April.
    2. Antoci, Angelo & Guerrini, Luca & Sodini, Mauro & Zarri, Luca, 2014. "A two-sector model of economic growth with social capital accumulation," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 53(C), pages 56-65.
    3. Fabio Sabatini & Francesco Sarracino, 2014. "E-participation: Social Capital and the Internet," Working Papers 2014.81, Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei.
    4. Angelo Antoci & Mauro Sodini & Luca Zarri, 2014. "Relational consumption and nonlinear dynamics in an overlapping generations model," Decisions in Economics and Finance, Springer;Associazione per la Matematica, vol. 37(1), pages 137-158, April.
    5. Angelo Antoci & Fabio Sabatini, 2018. "Online networks, social interaction and segregation: an evolutionary approach," Journal of Evolutionary Economics, Springer, vol. 28(4), pages 859-883, September.
    6. Francesco Sarracino & Kelsey J. O’Connor, 2023. "Neo-humanism and COVID-19: Opportunities for a socially and environmentally sustainable world," Applied Research in Quality of Life, Springer;International Society for Quality-of-Life Studies, vol. 18(1), pages 9-41, February.
    7. Fabio Sabatini & Francesco Sarracino, 2015. "Keeping up with the e-Joneses: Do online social networks raise social comparisons?," Papers 1507.08863, arXiv.org.
    8. Barış Alpaslan, 2017. "Are Human and Social Capital Linked? Evidence from India," Metroeconomica, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 68(4), pages 859-881, November.
    9. Angelo Antoci & Alexia Delfino & Fabio Paglieri & Fabio Sabatini, 2016. "The ecology of social interactions in online and offline environments," Papers 1601.07776, arXiv.org.
    10. Luca Andriani & Fabio Sabatini, 2013. "Trust and Prosocial Behaviour in a Process of State Capacity Building: the Case of the Palestinian Territories," Management Working Papers 6, Birkbeck Department of Management, revised Oct 2013.
    11. Fabio Sabatini & Francesca Modena & Ermanno Tortia, 2014. "Do cooperative enterprises create social trust?," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 42(3), pages 621-641, March.
    12. Oldřich Šubrt, 2022. "Relationship of Work-Related Stress and Offline Social Leisure on Political Participation of Voters in the United States," Social Sciences, MDPI, vol. 11(5), pages 1-35, May.
    13. Fabio Sabatini & Francesco Sarracino, 2019. "Online Social Networks and Trust," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 142(1), pages 229-260, February.
    14. Mikucka, Malgorzata & Sarracino, Francesco & Dubrow, Joshua K., 2017. "When Does Economic Growth Improve Life Satisfaction? Multilevel Analysis of the Roles of Social Trust and Income Inequality in 46 Countries, 1981–2012," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 93(C), pages 447-459.
    15. Fabio Sabatini & Francesco Sarracino, 2013. "Will Facebook save or destroy social capital? An empirical investigation into the effect of online interactions on trust and networks," Department of Economics University of Siena 692, Department of Economics, University of Siena.
    16. Angelo Antoci & Fabio Sabatini & Mauro Sodini, 2014. "Bowling alone but tweeting together: the evolution of human interaction in the social networking era," Quality & Quantity: International Journal of Methodology, Springer, vol. 48(4), pages 1911-1927, July.
    17. Fabio Sabatini & Francesco Sarracino & Eiji Yamamura, 2014. "Social norms on rent seeking and preferences for redistribution," Econometica Working Papers wp55, Econometica.
    18. Andriani, Luca & Sabatini, Fabio, 2015. "Trust and prosocial behaviour in a process of state capacity building: the case of the Palestinian territories1," Journal of Institutional Economics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 11(4), pages 823-846, December.
    19. Rotondi, Valentina & Stanca, Luca & Tomasuolo, Miriam, 2017. "Connecting alone: Smartphone use, quality of social interactions and well-being," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 63(C), pages 17-26.
    20. Francesco Sarracino & Marcin Piekałkiewicz, 2021. "The Role of Income and Social Capital for Europeans’ Well-Being During the 2008 Economic Crisis," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 22(4), pages 1583-1610, April.
    21. Giacomo Degli Antoni & Fabio Sabatini, 2017. "Social cooperatives, social welfare associations and social networks," Review of Social Economy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 75(2), pages 212-230, April.
    22. 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.
    23. Hung Quang Doan & Francesca Masciarelli & Andrea Prencipe & Nam Hoang Vu, 2023. "Social capital and firm performance in transition economies," Eurasian Business Review, Springer;Eurasia Business and Economics Society, vol. 13(4), pages 751-780, December.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Economic growth; social capital; social norms; technological progress.;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • O33 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - Technological Change: Choices and Consequences; Diffusion Processes
    • Z13 - Other Special Topics - - Cultural Economics - - - Economic Sociology; Economic Anthropology; Language; Social and Economic Stratification

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