Working Paper: NBER ID: w7216
Authors: Edward L. Glaeser; David Laibson; Jose A. Scheinkman; Christine L. Soutter
Abstract: Using a sample of Harvard undergraduates, we analyze trust and social capital in two experiments. Trusting behavior and trustworthiness rise with social connection; differences in race and nationality reduce the level of trustworthiness. Certain individuals appear to be persistently more trusting, but these people do not say they are more trusting in surveys. Survey questions about trust predict trustworthiness not trust. Only children are less trustworthy. People behave in a more trustworthy manner towards higher status individuals, and therefore status increases earnings in the experiment. As such, high status persons can be said to have more social capital.
Keywords: social capital; trust; trustworthiness; economic behavior; individual characteristics
JEL Codes: C9; D7; J7
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| trusting behavior (Z13) | trustworthiness (Z13) |
| social connections (Z13) | trusting behavior (Z13) |
| social connections (Z13) | trustworthiness (Z13) |
| individual characteristics (Z13) | trustworthiness (Z13) |
| individual characteristics (Z13) | trusting behavior (Z13) |
| siblings (J12) | trustworthiness (Z13) |
| high-status individuals (Z13) | trust (G21) |
| high-status individuals (Z13) | trustworthiness (Z13) |