IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/cpr/ceprdp/5068.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Formation of Social Capital in Central and Eastern Europe: Understanding the Gap Vis-a-Vis Developed Countries

Author

Listed:
  • Fidrmuc, Jan
  • Gërxhani, Klarita

Abstract

Recent Eurobarometer survey data are used to document and explain the stock of social capital in 27 European countries. Social capital in Central and Eastern Europe – measured by civic participation and access to social networks – lags behind that in Western European countries. Using regression analysis of determinants of individual stock of social capital, we find that this gap persists when we account for individual characteristics and endowments of respondents but disappears completely after we control for aggregate measures of economic development and quality of institutions. Informal institutions such as prevalence of corruption appear particularly important.

Suggested Citation

  • 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.
    • Handle: RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:5068
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://cepr.org/publications/DP5068
    Download Restriction: CEPR Discussion Papers are free to download for our researchers, subscribers and members. If you fall into one of these categories but have trouble downloading our papers, please contact us at subscribers@cepr.org
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to look for a different version below or search for a different version of it.

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. 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.
    2. Durlauf, Steven N. & Fafchamps, Marcel, 2005. "Social Capital," Handbook of Economic Growth, in: Philippe Aghion & Steven Durlauf (ed.), Handbook of Economic Growth, edition 1, volume 1, chapter 26, pages 1639-1699, Elsevier.
    3. John F. Helliwell & Robert D. Putnam, 2007. "Education and Social Capital," Eastern Economic Journal, Eastern Economic Association, vol. 33(1), pages 1-19, Winter.
    4. Rodrik, Dani, 1999. "Where Did All the Growth Go? External Shocks, Social Conflict, and Growth Collapses," Journal of Economic Growth, Springer, vol. 4(4), pages 385-412, December.
    5. 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.
    6. Paldam, Martin & Svendsen, Gert Tinggaard, 2000. "An essay on social capital: looking for the fire behind the smoke," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 16(2), pages 339-366, June.
    7. Edward L. Glaeser & David I. Laibson & José A. Scheinkman & Christine L. Soutter, 2000. "Measuring Trust," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 115(3), pages 811-846.
      • Glaeser, Edward Ludwig & Laibson, David I. & Scheinkman, Jose A. & Soutter, Christine L., 2000. "Measuring Trust," Scholarly Articles 4481497, Harvard University Department of Economics.
    8. Paldam, M. & Svendsen, G.T., 2000. "Missing Social Capital and the Transition in Eastern Europe," Papers 00-5, Aarhus School of Business - Department of Economics.
    9. Steve Pejovich, 2003. "Understanding the transaction costs of transition: it's the culture, stupid," ICER Working Papers 24-2003, ICER - International Centre for Economic Research.
    10. Narayan, Deepa & Pritchett, Lant, 1999. "Cents and Sociability: Household Income and Social Capital in Rural Tanzania," Economic Development and Cultural Change, University of Chicago Press, vol. 47(4), pages 871-897, July.
    11. Greif, Avner, 1994. "Cultural Beliefs and the Organization of Society: A Historical and Theoretical Reflection on Collectivist and Individualist Societies," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 102(5), pages 912-950, October.
    12. Steven N. Durlauf, 2002. "On the Empirics of Social Capital," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 112(483), pages 459-479, November.
    13. Ichino, Andrea & Schlag, Karl & Bornhorst, Fabian & Winter, Eyal, 2004. "Trust and Trustworthiness Among Europeans: South-North Comparison," CEPR Discussion Papers 4378, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    14. Svetozar Pejovich, 2003. "Understanding the Transaction Costs of Transition: it's the Culture, Stupid," The Review of Austrian Economics, Springer;Society for the Development of Austrian Economics, vol. 16(4), pages 347-361, December.
    15. Edgar L. Feige, 2003. "Underground Activity And Institutional Change: Productive, Protective And Predatory Behavior In Transition Economies," Development and Comp Systems 0305001, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    16. Glenn C. Loury, 1976. "A Dynamic Theory of Racial Income Differences," Discussion Papers 225, Northwestern University, Center for Mathematical Studies in Economics and Management Science.
    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. Hilde Coffé & Tanja Lippe, 2010. "Citizenship Norms in Eastern Europe," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 96(3), pages 479-496, May.
    2. Jose Mondejar-Jimenez & Juan-Antonio Mondejar-Jimenez & Maria-Leticia Meseguer-Santamaria & Manuel Vargas-Vargas, 2011. "An empirical assessment of individual-level determinants of social capital in Central European countries," Journal of East European Management Studies, Nomos Verlagsgesellschaft mbH & Co. KG, vol. 16(3), pages 237-250.
    3. Peter Håkansson & Fredrik Sjöholm, 2007. "Who Do You Trust? Ethnicity and Trust in Bosnia and Herzegovina," Europe-Asia Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 59(6), pages 961-976.
    4. Isabel Neira & Emilia Vázquez & Marta Portela, 2009. "An Empirical Analysis of Social Capital and Economic Growth in Europe (1980–2000)," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 92(1), pages 111-129, May.
    5. Caroline Berchet & Nicolas Sirven, 2012. "Cross-Country Performance in Social Integration of Older Migrants. A European Perspective," Working Papers DT46, IRDES institut for research and information in health economics, revised Mar 2012.
    6. Murray, Catherine, 2008. "Social Capital and Cooperation in Central and Eastern Europe – A Framework for Research on Governance," Journal of Rural Cooperation, Hebrew University, Center for Agricultural Economic Research, vol. 36(1), pages 1-18.
    7. 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).
    8. Murray, Catherine, 2005. "Social Capital and Cooperation in Central and Eastern Europe: A Theoretical Perspective," Institutional Change in Agriculture and Natural Resources Discussion Papers 18831, Humboldt University Berlin, Department of Agricultural Economics.
    9. Hüseyin Mert Arslan & Hasan Engin Duran, 2021. "Social capital and regional development in Turkey," Regional Science Policy & Practice, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 13(3), pages 878-920, June.
    10. Meyer, Andrew, 2016. "Is unemployment good for the environment?," Resource and Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 45(C), pages 18-30.
    11. Katarina Svitkova, 2006. "Corporate Philanthropy in the Czech and Slovak Republics," CERGE-EI Working Papers wp312, The Center for Economic Research and Graduate Education - Economics Institute, Prague.
    12. B. d'Hombres & L. Rocco & M. Suhrcke & M. McKee, 2010. "Does social capital determine health? Evidence from eight transition countries," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 19(1), pages 56-74, January.
    13. Yahya Shadi & Mohammad Hassan Lotfi & Saharnaz Nedjat & Mostafa Amini Rarani & Esmaeil Khedmati Morasae, 2018. "Explaining Unequal Levels of Social Capital in Tehran," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 140(1), pages 243-265, November.
    14. Bodor, Ákos & Grünhut, Zoltán & Horeczki, Réka, 2015. "Socio-cultural Cleavages in Europe," MPRA Paper 73961, University Library of Munich, Germany.

    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. Fidrmuc, Jan & Gërxhani, Klarita, 2008. "Mind the gap! Social capital, East and West," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 36(2), pages 264-286, June.
    2. Yamamura, Eiji, 2008. "The role of social capital in homogeneous society: Review of recent researches in Japan," MPRA Paper 11385, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    3. Sabatini, Fabio, 2006. "The Empirics of Social Capital and Economic Development: A Critical Perspective," Knowledge, Technology, Human Capital Working Papers 12097, Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei (FEEM).
    4. Algan, Yann & Cahuc, Pierre, 2014. "Trust, Growth, and Well-Being: New Evidence and Policy Implications," Handbook of Economic Growth, in: Philippe Aghion & Steven Durlauf (ed.), Handbook of Economic Growth, edition 1, volume 2, chapter 2, pages 49-120, Elsevier.
    5. Antoni, Giacomo Degli, 2007. "Do Social Relations Affect Economic Welfare? A Microeconomic Empirical Analysis," Knowledge, Technology, Human Capital Working Papers 9330, Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei (FEEM).
    6. Degli Antoni, Giacomo, 2009. "Does satisfaction matter? A microeconomic empirical analysis of the effect of social relations on economic welfare," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 38(2), pages 301-309, March.
    7. Fabio Sabatini, 2005. "The empirics of social capital and economic development. A critical perspective," Development and Comp Systems 0512015, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    8. Fabio Sabatini, 2005. "The empirics of social capital and economic development: a critical perspective," Development and Comp Systems 0512008, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    9. Guiso, Luigi & Zingales, Luigi & Sapienza, Paola, 2010. "Civic Capital as the Missing Link," CEPR Discussion Papers 7757, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    10. Maurice Schiff, 2004. "Labor Mobility, Trade, and Social Capital," Review of International Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 12(4), pages 630-642, September.
    11. Angel de la Fuente & Antonio Ciccone, 2003. "Human capital in a global and knowledge-based economy," UFAE and IAE Working Papers 562.03, Unitat de Fonaments de l'Anàlisi Econòmica (UAB) and Institut d'Anàlisi Econòmica (CSIC).
    12. Dayton-Johnson, Jeff, 2003. "Knitted warmth: the simple analytics of social cohesion," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 32(6), pages 623-645, December.
    13. Mayssun El-Attar, 2013. "Trust, child care technology choice and female labor force participation," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 11(4), pages 507-544, December.
    14. Yann Algan & Pierre Cahuc, 2014. "Trust, Well-Being and Growth: New Evidence and Policy Implications," Post-Print hal-01169659, HAL.
    15. Beugelsdijk, S. & Smulders, J.A., 2009. "Bonding and Bridging Social Capital and Economic Growth," Discussion Paper 2009-27, Tilburg University, Center for Economic Research.
    16. Boenisch, Peter & Schneider, Lutz, 2013. "The social capital legacy of communism-results from the Berlin Wall experiment," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 32(C), pages 391-411.
    17. Bruno S. Frey, "undated". "Direct Democracy for Transition Countries," IEW - Working Papers 165, Institute for Empirical Research in Economics - University of Zurich.
    18. Shideler, David W. & Kraybill, David S., 2009. "Social capital: An analysis of factors influencing investment," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 38(3), pages 443-455, June.
    19. 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.
    20. Kerwin Kofi Charles & Patrick Kline, 2006. "Relational Costs and the Production of Social Capital: Evidence from Carpooling," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 116(511), pages 581-604, April.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Social capital; Institutions; Transition; Capitalism;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • O17 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Formal and Informal Sectors; Shadow Economy; Institutional Arrangements
    • O57 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economywide Country Studies - - - Comparative Studies of Countries
    • P37 - Political Economy and Comparative Economic Systems - - Socialist Institutions and Their Transitions - - - Legal
    • 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:cpr:ceprdp:5068. 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: the person in charge (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.cepr.org .

    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.