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Education and Social Capital

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Author Info
John F. Helliwell
Robert D. Putnam
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 an elegant resolution to this paradox based on a distinction between the relative education having positive effects on participation. Using a broad range of evidence, including the data used by NJS-B, this paper shows that increases in average education levels improve trust and do not reduce participation levels. The contrast with the NJS-B participation results is found to be due to the definition of the educational environment. We use a changing regional comparison group, theoretically preferable to NJS-B's static national measure. Our results point to a more optimistic conclusion about the consequences of increases in average education levels, while leaving open the puzzle of sluggish participation.

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Paper provided by National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc in its series NBER Working Papers with number 7121.

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Date of creation: May 1999
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Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberwo:7121

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I2 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education
J0 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - General

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  2. Ronald MacDonald & Paul Hallwood, 2004. "The Economic Case for Fiscal Federalism in Scotland," Working papers 2004-42, University of Connecticut, Department of Economics. [Downloadable!]
  3. Jan Fidrmuc & Klarita Gërxhani, 2007. "Mind the Gap! Social Capital, East and West," CEDI Discussion Paper Series 07-10, Centre for Economic Development and Institutions(CEDI), Brunel University. [Downloadable!]
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  4. William Fischel, 2006. "Why Voters Veto Vouchers: Public Schools and Community-Specific Social Capital," Economics of Governance, Springer, vol. 7(2), pages 109-132, May. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  5. The Treasury, 2001. "Human Capital and the Inclusive Economy," Treasury Working Paper Series 01/16, New Zealand Treasury. [Downloadable!]
  6. Anneli Kaasa & Eve Parts, 2007. "Individual-Level Determinants Of Social Capital In Europe: Differences Between Country Groups," University of Tartu - Faculty of Economics and Business Administration Working Paper Series 56, Faculty of Economics and Business Administration, University of Tartu (Estonia). [Downloadable!]
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  8. Fidrmuc, Jan & Gërxhani, Klarita, 2005. "Formation of Social Capital in Central and Eastern Europe: Understanding the Gap Vis-a-Vis Developed Countries," CEPR Discussion Papers 5068, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  9. Hojman, Daniel & Szeidl, Adam, 2006. "Core and Periphery in Endogenous Networks," Working Paper Series rwp06-022, Harvard University, John F. Kennedy School of Government. [Downloadable!]
  10. Daniel Lederman, 2005. "Income Wealth, and Socialization in Argentina," Cuadernos de Economía (Latin American Journal of Economics), Instituto de Economía. Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile., vol. 42(125), pages 3-30. [Downloadable!]
  11. Alesina, Alberto F & La Ferrara, Eliana, 2000. "Who Trusts Others?," CEPR Discussion Papers 2646, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  12. Edward L. Glaeser & David Laibson & Bruce Sacerdote, 2002. "An Economic Approach to Social Capital," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 112(483), pages 437-458, November. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  13. Barbara L. Wolfe & Robert H. Haveman, 2002. "Social and nonmarket benefits from education in an advanced economy," Conference Series ; [Proceedings], Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, issue Jun, pages 97-142. [Downloadable!]
  14. Andrea Galeotti & Gerrit Müller, 2005. "Friendship Relations in the School Class and Adult Economic Attainment," Tinbergen Institute Discussion Papers 05-032/3, Tinbergen Institute, revised 08 Aug 2005. [Downloadable!]
  15. Eleanor Brown, 2001. "Making Philanthropy Work: Social Capital and Human Capital as Predictors of Household Giving," Claremont Colleges Working Papers 2001-37, Claremont Colleges. [Downloadable!]
  16. Lederman, Daniel, 2002. "Income, wealth, and socialization in Argentina : provocative responses from individuals," Policy Research Working Paper Series 2821, The World Bank. [Downloadable!]
  17. Uschi Backes-Gellner & Petra Moog, 2007. "Who chooses to become an entrepreneur? The Jacks-of-all-Trades in Social and Human Capital," Working Papers 0076, University of Zurich, Institute for Strategy and Business Economics (ISU). [Downloadable!]
  18. Gonzalo Vargas Forero, 2002. "Hacia una teoría del capital social," Revista de Economía Institucional, Universidad Externado de Colombia - Facultad de Economía, vol. 4(6), pages 71-108, January-J. [Downloadable!]
  19. Abigail Barr, 2004. "Rational and Biased Trust," Development and Comp Systems 0409068, EconWPA. [Downloadable!]
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