Making Capitalism Work. Empirische Befunde zum Einfluss von Sozialkapital auf Wirtschaftswachstum

Abstract

Social capital research claims positive effects of trust, norms and networks on economic growth. Besides political-institutional variables, additional economic-growth determinants come into consideration, which are focused on by political scientists. Until today, numerous analyses have been undertaken in order to investigate the economic impact of social capital. These contribitions are outlined by this review. All in all, empirical studies report a positive trust-effect, but no effects of associations. The influence of norms is hard to evaluate because it is clearly under-researched. Furthermore the state of research shows empirical and theoretical shortcomings that will be crucial for future social capital research.