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Civic Capital and the Size Distribution of Plants: Short-Run Dynamics and Long-Run Equilibrium

Author

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  • Burker, Matthias
  • Minerva, G. Alfredo

Abstract

We characterize how the size distribution of plants, within narrowly defined industries, changed in Italy over a ten-year time span, and relate this to the stock of civic capital at the provincial level. Data on plant size come from the 1991 and 2001 Italian censuses. Civic capital turns out to have a positive effect on both the average and standard deviation of size. Looking at several precise points of the plant size distribution, we find that it shifts toward the right and becomes more dispersed where civic capital is high. The potential endogeneity of current civic capital is addressed by instrumenting it with historical variables. Our main conclusion is that the geographic variation in the stock of civic capital poses substantial constraints on plants’ ability to expand. Understanding this is the key for the implementation of effective industrial policies.

Suggested Citation

  • Burker, Matthias & Minerva, G. Alfredo, 2012. "Civic Capital and the Size Distribution of Plants: Short-Run Dynamics and Long-Run Equilibrium," Economy and Society 142893, Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei (FEEM).
    • Handle: RePEc:ags:feemso:142893
    DOI: 10.22004/ag.econ.142893
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    Cited by:

    1. Yann Algan & Pierre Cahuc, 2010. "Inherited Trust and Growth," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 100(5), pages 2060-2092, December.
    2. Matthias Buerker & Gaetano Alfredo Minerva, 2013. "Civic Capital and the Vertical Integration of Service Provision: Evidence from Italy," ERSA conference papers ersa13p1209, European Regional Science Association.
    3. Yann Algan & Pierre Cahuc, 2010. "Inherited Trust and Growth," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 100(5), pages 2060-2092, December.
    4. Mattia Balestra & Giulio Cainelli & Roberto Ganau & Nadiia Matsiuk & Mario Pasquato & Roberto Pierdicca, 2025. "Sovereignty, Civic Capital, and Local Development. A Historical Perspective in Economic Geography," Papers in Evolutionary Economic Geography (PEEG) 2504, Utrecht University, Department of Human Geography and Spatial Planning, Group Economic Geography, revised Feb 2025.
    5. Roberto Antonietti & Maria Rosaria Ferrante & Riccardo Leoncini, 2016. "Local market size, social capital and outsourcing: evidence from Emilia Romagna," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 47(1), pages 243-260, June.
    6. Christoph Hauser & Urban Perkmann & Sibylle Puntscher & Janette Walde & Gottfried Tappeiner, 2016. "Trust Works! Sources and Effects of Social Capital in the Workplace," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 128(2), pages 589-608, September.
    7. Riccardo Leoncini & Giulia Vecchiato & Luca Zamparini, 2020. "Triggering cooperation among firms: an empirical assessment of the Italian Network Contract Law," Economia Politica: Journal of Analytical and Institutional Economics, Springer;Fondazione Edison, vol. 37(2), pages 357-380, July.
    8. Charlie Karlsson & Urban Gråsjö & Sofia Wixe (ed.), 2015. "Innovation and Entrepreneurship in the Global Economy," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, number 15906, August.
    9. Sean M. Dougherty, 2014. "Legal Reform, Contract Enforcement and Firm Size in Mexico," Review of International Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 22(4), pages 825-844, September.
    10. Roberto Antonietti & Maria Rosaria Ferrante & Riccardo Leoncini, 2014. "Trust your neighbour. Industrial relatedness, social capital and outsourcing," Papers in Evolutionary Economic Geography (PEEG) 1403, Utrecht University, Department of Human Geography and Spatial Planning, Group Economic Geography, revised Jan 2014.
    11. Daniel A. Brent & Katie Lorah, 2017. "The Geography of Civic Crowdfunding: Implications for Social Inequality and Donor-Project Dynamics," Departmental Working Papers 2017-09, Department of Economics, Louisiana State University.
    12. Bürker, Matthias & Mammi, Irene & Minerva, G. Alfredo, 2021. "Civic capital and service outsourcing: Evidence from Italy," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 138(C).
    13. Mariarosaria Agostino & Sabrina Ruberto, 2023. "Family Ties, Social Capital and Small Businesses’ Efficiency. Evidence from the Italian Food Sector," Journal of Family and Economic Issues, Springer, vol. 44(4), pages 935-955, December.
    14. Ganau, Roberto & Rodríguez-Pose, Andrés, 2023. "Firm-level productivity growth returns of social capital: Evidence from Western Europe," CEPR Discussion Papers 17979, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    15. Giuseppe Terzo, 2021. "Social capital, social economy and economic resilience of Italian provinces," Papers in Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 100(5), pages 1113-1135, October.
    16. Christoph Hauser, 2015. "Effects of Employee Social Capital on Wage Satisfaction, Job Satisfaction and Organizational Commitment," Working Papers 2015-12, Faculty of Economics and Statistics, Universität Innsbruck.
    17. Roberto Antonietti & Maria Rosaria Ferrante & Riccardo Leoncini, 2015. "Infrastructure endowment, social capital and outsourcing: evidence from Emilia Romagna, Italy," Chapters, in: Charlie Karlsson & Urban Gråsjö & Sofia Wixe (ed.), Innovation and Entrepreneurship in the Global Economy, chapter 13, pages 310-330, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    18. Roberto Antonietti & Ron Boschma, 2021. "Social capital, resilience, and regional diversification in Italy [Social capital, innovation and growth: evidence from Europe]," Industrial and Corporate Change, Oxford University Press and the Associazione ICC, vol. 30(3), pages 762-777.

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    Keywords

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    JEL classification:

    • A13 - General Economics and Teaching - - General Economics - - - Relation of Economics to Social Values
    • D23 - Microeconomics - - Production and Organizations - - - Organizational Behavior; Transaction Costs; Property Rights
    • L20 - Industrial Organization - - Firm Objectives, Organization, and Behavior - - - General
    • R12 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - General Regional Economics - - - Size and Spatial Distributions of Regional Economic Activity; Interregional Trade (economic geography)

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