The Role of Social Capital in Financial Development

62 Pages Posted: 21 Mar 2000

See all articles by Luigi Guiso

Luigi Guiso

Einaudi Institute for Economics and Finance (EIEF); Einaudi Institute for Economics and Finance

Paola Sapienza

Northwestern University - Kellogg School of Management - Department of Finance; National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER); Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR)

Luigi Zingales

University of Chicago - Booth School of Business; National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER); Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR); European Corporate Governance Institute (ECGI)

Multiple version iconThere are 3 versions of this paper

Date Written: May 2001

Abstract

To identify the effect of social capital on financial development, we exploit the well-known differences in social capital (Banfield (1958), Putnam (1993)) across different parts of Italy. In areas of the country with high levels of social capital, households invest less in cash and more in stock, are more likely to use checks, have higher access to institutional credit, and make less use of informal credit. The effect of social capital is stronger where legal enforcement is weaker and among less-educated people. These results are not driven by omitted environmental variables, since we show that the behavior of movers is still affected by the level of social capital present in the province where they were born.

JEL Classification: G31, G32

Suggested Citation

Guiso, Luigi and Guiso, Luigi and Sapienza, Paola and Zingales, Luigi, The Role of Social Capital in Financial Development (May 2001). Eleventh Annual Utah Winter Conference; AFA 2001 New Orleans; CRSP Working Paper No. 511, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=209610 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.209610

Luigi Guiso

Einaudi Institute for Economics and Finance (EIEF) ( email )

Via Sallustiana 62
Rome, 00187
Italy
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HOME PAGE: http://www.eief.it/faculty-visitors/faculty-a-z/luigi-guiso/

Einaudi Institute for Economics and Finance ( email )

Via Sallustiana 62
rome, 00187
Italy

Paola Sapienza

Northwestern University - Kellogg School of Management - Department of Finance ( email )

Evanston, IL 60208
United States
847-491-7436 (Phone)
847-491-5719 (Fax)

National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)

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Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR)

London
United Kingdom

Luigi Zingales (Contact Author)

University of Chicago - Booth School of Business ( email )

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Chicago, IL 60637
United States
773-702-3196 (Phone)
773-834-2081 (Fax)

National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)

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Cambridge, MA 02138
United States

Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR)

London
United Kingdom

European Corporate Governance Institute (ECGI) ( email )

c/o the Royal Academies of Belgium
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1000 Brussels
Belgium

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