Human Capital in the Creation of Social Capital: Evidence from Diplomatic Parking Tickets

Abstract:     
We provide evidence that individuals selected from societies with high human capital are more likely to cooperate when placed in an environment comparable to the state of nature: The world of New York City diplomatic parking. National average IQ, a robust predictor of economic growth, is found to be a robust (negative) predictor of the number of unpaid parking tickets issued to a country's diplomatic delegation at the United Nations. Average years of education have a similarly strong relationship with civil behavior. Results hold after controlling for GDP per capita and corruption in the diplomat's home-country. We integrate this result into the experimental game theory literature on cognitive skills and pro-social behavior.

Number of Pages in PDF File: 23

working papers series