Navigation auf zora.uzh.ch

Search ZORA

ZORA (Zurich Open Repository and Archive)

Migration von ZORA auf die Software DSpace

ZORA will change to a new software on 8th September 2025. Please note: deadline for new submissions is 21th July 2025!

Information & dates for training courses can be found here: Information on Software Migration.

What do cross-country surveys tell us about social capital?

Tannenbaum, David; Cohn, Alain; Zünd, Christian Lukas; Maréchal, Michel André (2022). What do cross-country surveys tell us about social capital? Working paper series / Department of Economics 352, University of Zurich.

Abstract

We assess the predictive power of survey measures of social capital with a new behavioral data set that examines whether citizens report a lost wallet to its owner. Using data from more than 17,000 “lost” wallets across 40 countries, we find that survey measures of social capital — especially questions concerning generalized trust or generalized morality—are strongly and significantly correlated with country-level differences in wallet reporting rates. A second finding is that lost wallet reporting rates predict unique variation in the outputs of social capital, such as economic development and government effectiveness, not captured by existing measures.

Additional indexing

Item Type:Working Paper
Communities & Collections:03 Faculty of Economics > Department of Economics
Working Paper Series > Department of Economics
Dewey Decimal Classification:330 Economics
JEL Classification:C93, C83, Z10, O10
Uncontrolled Keywords:Social capital, trust, honesty, field experiment, surveys
Scope:Discipline-based scholarship (basic research)
Language:English
Date:February 2022
Deposited On:30 Jun 2020 15:43
Last Modified:05 Jan 2025 04:16
Series Name:Working paper series / Department of Economics
Number of Pages:20
ISSN:1664-705X
Additional Information:Revised version; Former title: What do lost wallets tell us about survey measures of social capital?
OA Status:Green
Related URLs:https://www.zora.uzh.ch/id/eprint/229525/
https://www.econ.uzh.ch/en/research/workingpapers.html
Other Identification Number:merlin-id:19554
Download PDF  'What do cross-country surveys tell us about social capital?'.
Preview
  • Content: Updated Version
  • Description: Revised version February 2022
  • Content: Updated Version
  • Language: English
  • Permission: Download for registered users
  • Description: Revised version November 2020

Metadata Export

Statistics

Downloads

360 downloads since deposited on 30 Jun 2020
151 downloads since 12 months
Detailed statistics

Authors, Affiliations, Collaborations

Similar Publications