Does Social Capital Matter for European Regional Growth?

Universitat Jaume I Department of Economics Working Paper No. 2013/02

30 Pages Posted: 23 Feb 2013

See all articles by Jesús Peiró Palomino

Jesús Peiró Palomino

Jaume I University - Department of Economics

Anabel Forte Deltell

Jaume I University - Department of Economics

Date Written: February 1, 2013

Abstract

This article analyzes the role of different elements of social capital in economic growth for a sample of 85 European regions during the period 1995-2008. Much has been said about social capital in the last two decades, but studies for the European regional context are scant, and those analyzing periods after the nineties are nonexistent. The improvements in data availability allow us to consider the traditionally disregarded Central and Eastern European regions. This is especially interesting, since they are all transition economies that recently joined to the European Union and show remarkably low levels of social capital. Additionally, we follow the Bayesian paradigm, which not only allows us to make direct inference on the parameters to be estimated, but also deals with parameter uncertainty, leading to a deeper understanding of the data. Contrary to other contributions for the European context, results suggest, among other findings, that trust and social norms might have the major implications for regional growth, whereas the role of active participation in groups does not seem to be so well defined.

Keywords: social capital, economic growth, European regions, Bayesian inference

JEL Classification: C15, R10, Z13

Suggested Citation

Peiró Palomino, Jesús and Forte Deltell, Anabel, Does Social Capital Matter for European Regional Growth? (February 1, 2013). Universitat Jaume I Department of Economics Working Paper No. 2013/02, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2222737 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2222737

Jesús Peiró Palomino (Contact Author)

Jaume I University - Department of Economics ( email )

Campus del Riu Sec.
E-12071 Castellon
Spain

Anabel Forte Deltell

Jaume I University - Department of Economics ( email )

Campus del Riu Sec.
E-12071 Castellon
Spain

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