Trust-based relations and regional development: a study on the role of civic and moral capital

Journal title RIVISTA DI ECONOMIA E STATISTICA DEL TERRITORIO
Author/s Carla Altobelli, Gaetano Fausto Esposito
Publishing Year 2015 Issue 2014/3 Language Italian
Pages 35 P. 5-39 File size 374 KB
DOI 10.3280/REST2014-003001
DOI is like a bar code for intellectual property: to have more infomation click here

Below, you can see the article first page

If you want to buy this article in PDF format, you can do it, following the instructions to buy download credits

Article preview

FrancoAngeli is member of Publishers International Linking Association, Inc (PILA), a not-for-profit association which run the CrossRef service enabling links to and from online scholarly content.

Starting from Edward Banfield’s study (1958), several papers have examined the relations between trust, institutions and regional economic development, while less attention has been paid to the entrepreneurship’s role on trust-based relations with the institutional system. The aim of this paper is twofold: firstly, to analyze the role of formal institutions; secondly, to measure their influence on the development level. Objectives Starting from Edward Banfield’s study (1958), several papers have examined the relations between trust, institutions and regional economic development, while less attention has been paid to the entrepreneurship’s role on trust-based relations with the institutional system. The aim of this paper is twofold: firstly, to analyze the role of formal institutions; secondly, to measure their influence on the development level. Method and Results According to the regional model defined by the authors, the development level is determined by: social, civic and moral capital, efficiency of formal institutions and entrepreneurial capacity. Referring to a regional data set (1995-2012) regarding Italy case study, the authors have reached relevant results for all the indicators by applying a fixed effects estimator. From the analysis emerge three insights: the civic and moral capital contribution to the entrepreneurial development is higher than the social capital one. Compared to the national average, the inefficiency of formal institutions penalizes more the South of Italy, while it was not possible to draw up a cogent and overall conclusion about the North area. In the South regions, the entrepreneurial initiative plays a key role, especially in the areas where the GDP per capita is lower. Conclusions In these Regions with a low level of trust-based relations, the efficiency of formal institutions and the entrepreneurial initiative may have an important influence on the development level. If the policies for the South will be directed to boost their effectiveness, they will promote economic growth and reduce the gap within the country

Keywords: Microeconomic analysis of economic development, institutions and growth, regional economics, economic sociology

Jel codes: O12, O43, R11, Z13.

  1. Abramovitz M. (1993), The Search for the Sources of Growth: Areas of Ignorance, Old and New, The Journal of Economic History, LIII, 2, pp. 217-243.
  2. Acemoglu D., Johnson S., Robinson J.A. (2005), Institutions as a Fundamental Cause of Long-Run Growth. In Aghion P., Durlauf S.N. (ed.), Handbook of Economic Growth. Amsterdam: Elsevier, vol. I, pp. 386-414.
  3. Acemoglu D., Robinson J.A. (2013), Economics versus Politics: Pitfalls and Policy Advice, The Journal of Economic Perspectives, XXVII, 2, pp. 173-192.
  4. Akerlof G.A. (1982), Labor Contracts as Partial Gift Exchange, The Quarterly Journal of Economics, 4, pp. 542-569.
  5. Bagnasco A. (2010), Ritorno a Montegrano. In Banfield E. (2010).
  6. Baltagi B.H. (2008), Econometric Analysis of Panel Data. Chichester: J. Whiley and Sons.
  7. Baltagi B.H., Griffin J.M. (1984), Short and Long Run Effects in Pooled Models. Department of Economics, Texas A&M University.
  8. Banca Mondiale (2013a), Doing Business 2014. Understanding Regulations for Small and Medium-Size Enterprises. Washington DC.
  9. Banca Mondiale (2013b), Rapporto Paying Taxes 2014. Washington DC. Banfield E. (2010), Le basi morali di una società arretrata. Bologna: Il Mulino; ed. orig.: The Moral Basis of a Backward Society. Illinois: The Free Press, 1958.
  10. Belloc M. (2011), Modelli panel, lezioni di dottorato Econometria III, Università La Sapienza, Roma.
  11. Beugelsdijk S., Smulders S. (2009), Bonding and Bridging Social Capital and Economic Growth, Discussion paper Tilburg University, 2009, p. 27.
  12. Bruni L., Sugden R. (2000), Moral Canals: Trust and Social Capital in the Work of Hume, Smith and Genovesi, Economics and Philosophy, 16, Spring, pp. 21-45.
  13. Bruni L., Sugden R. (2008), Fraternity: Why the Market Need not to be a Moral Free Zone, Economics and Philosophy, 1, 24, pp. 35-64.
  14. Bruni L., Sugden R. (2013), Reclaiming Virtue Ethics for Economics, The Journal of Economic Perspectives, XXVII, 4, pp. 141-164.
  15. Brusco S., Solinas G. (1997), Competitività e partecipazione. Bologna: Il Mulino. Caiilé A. (2009), Critica dell’uomo economico. Genova: il melangolo.
  16. Carmignani A., Giacomelli S. (2009), La giustizia civile in Italia, Banca d’Italia, Questioni di Economia e Finanza, occasional paper, 40, febbraio.
  17. Dasgupta P. (2011), A Matter of Trust: Social Capital and Economic Development, Annual World Bank Conference on Development Economics 2010, The International Bank for Reconstruction and Development/The World Bank.
  18. De Blasio G., Nuzzo G. (2012), Capitale sociale e diseguaglianza in Italia, Banca d’Italia, Questioni di economia e finanza, occasional paper, 116, febbraio.
  19. Dhillon A., Rigolini J. (2011), Development and the Interaction of Enforcement Institutions, Journal of Public Economics, 1, pp. 79-87.
  20. Douhan R., Henrekson M. (2008), Entrepreneurship and the Second-best Institutions: Going beyond Baumol’s Typology, Research Institute of Industrial Economics, IFN Working paper, 766.
  21. Esposito G.F. (2010), Credere negli altri. Roma: Aracne.
  22. Esposito G.F. (2013), Imprenditorialità e fiducia. Milano: Guerini & Associati.
  23. Esposito G.F., Spirito P. (2013), La costruzione del capitale fiduciario. Milano: FrancoAngeli.
  24. Falk A., Fischbacher U. (2006), A Theory of Reciprocity, Games and Economic Behavior, 2.
  25. Gallegati M. (2014), Oltre la siepe. Milano: Chiarelettere.
  26. Guiso L. (2011), Che cos’è il capitale sociale?. In de Blasio G., Sestito P. (a cura di), Il capitale sociale. Che cos’è e cosa spiega. Roma: Donzelli.
  27. Guiso L., Sapienza P., Zingales L. (2004), The Role of Social Capital in Financial Development, American Economic Review, 3, pp. 526-556.
  28. Guiso L., Sapienza P., Zingales L. (2008a), Social Capital as Good Culture, Journal of the European Economic Association, 2-3, pp. 295-320.
  29. Guiso L., Sapienza P., Zingales L. (2008b), Long Term Persistence, European University Institute, working paper ECO, 2008/30.
  30. Guiso L., Sapienza P., Zingales L. (2010), Civic Capital as the Missing Link, EIEF working paper series, 5. Kranton S.E. (1996), Reciprocal Exchange: A Self-Sustaining System, The American Economic Review, LXXXVI, 4, pp. 830-851.
  31. Kreft S.F., Sobel R.S. (2005), Public Policy, Entrepreneurship and Economic Freedom, Cato Journal, 3, pp. 596-616.
  32. Mancusi M.L. (2009), Appunti di econometria. Analisi dei dati panel. Milano: Università Bocconi.
  33. Milgrom P.R., North D.C., Weingast B.R. (1990), The Role of Institution in the Revival of Trade: The Law Merchant, Private Judges, and the Champagne Fairs, Economics and Politics, II, 1, pp. 1-23.
  34. OECD (2013), Judicial Performance and Its Determinants: A Cross-country Perspective, Economic Policy Papers, 05.
  35. OECD (2013), Giustizia civile: come promuovere l’efficienza, Economics Department Policy Notes, 18, Paris.
  36. OECD (2013), Studi economici dell’OCSE, Italia. Paris.
  37. Olson M. (1982), The Rise and Decline of Nations. New York: Yale University Press.
  38. Ostrom E. (2009), Beyond Markets and States: Polycentric Governance of Complex Economic System, Prize Nobel Lecture, 8 december.
  39. Paccagnella M., Sestito P. (2014), School Cheating and Social Capital, Banca d’Italia Temi di discussione, 952.
  40. Phelps E.S. (2007),The Economic Performance of Nations: Prosperity depends on Dynamism, Dynamism on Institutions. In Sheshinski E., Storm R.J., Baumol W.J. (ed.), Entrepreneurship, Innovation, and the Free-entreprise Economics. Princeton: Princeton University Press, pp. 342-356.
  41. Piketty T. (2014), Il capitale nel XXI secolo. Milano: Bompiani.
  42. Putnam R. (1993), La tradizione civica nelle regioni italiani. Milano: Mondadori.
  43. Rabin M. (1993), Incorporating Fairness into Game Theory and Economics, American Economic Review, LXXXV, 5, pp. 1281-1302.
  44. Ricolfi L. (2014), L’enigma della crescita. Alla scoperta dell’equazione che governa il nostro futuro. Milano: Mondadori.
  45. Rinaldi A., Zelli R. (2014), Misurare il benessere. La sfida degli indicatori alternativi al PIL. Roma: Donzelli.
  46. Rodrik D. (2008), Second-best Institutions, dattiloscritto.
  47. Rodrik D., Subramanian A., Trebbi F. (2002), Institutions Rule: The Primacy of Institutions over Integration and Geography in Economic Development, International Monetary Fund Working paper, WP/02/189.
  48. Sabatini F. (2009), Il capitale sociale nelle regioni italiane: un’analisi comparata, Rivista di Politica Economica, 2, pp. 167-220.
  49. Schmidt C. (2013), Neuroeconomia. Torino: Codice.
  50. Sen A. (2010), L’idea di giustizia. Milano: Mondadori.
  51. Sennett R. (2012), Insieme. Rituali, piaceri, politiche della collaborazione. Milano: Feltrinelli.
  52. Sestito P. (2011), I diversi concetti di capitale sociale: differenze e similarità. In de Blasio G., Sestito P. (a cura di), Il capitale sociale. Che cos’è e cosa spiega.
  53. Roma: Donzelli. Sobel J. (2005), Interdipendent Preferences and Reprocity, Journal of Economic Literature, 2, pp. 392-436.
  54. Solow R.M. (1956), A Contribution to the Theory of Economic Growth, The Quarterly Journal of Economics, LXX, 1, pp. 65-94.
  55. Solow R.M. (1957), Technical Change and the Aggregate Production Function, The Review of Economics and Statistics, XXXIX, 3, pp. 312-320.
  56. Solow R. (1994), Trust The Social Virtue and The Creation of Prosperity, The New Repubblic, 213.
  57. Stock J.H., Watson M.W. (2012), Introduzione all’econometria. Milano: Pearson Italia.
  58. Streeten P. (2002), Reflections on Social and Anti-social Capital, Journal of Human Development, III, 1, pp. 7-22.
  59. Tabellini G. (2005), Culture and Institutions: Economic Development in the Regions of Europe, Working paper n. 1492, Bocconi University and IGIER.
  60. Tabellini G. (2008), The Scope of Cooperation: Values and Incentives, Quarterly Journal of Economics, CXXIII, 3, pp. 905-950.
  61. Trento S. (2012), Il capitalismo italiano. Bologna: Il Mulino.
  62. Trigilia C. (2014), L’economia del Mezzogiorno. In A. Quadrio Curzio, M. Fortis
  63. (a cura di), L’economia reale nel Mezzogiorno. Bologna: Il Mulino.
  64. Verbeek M. (2006), Econometria. Milano: Zanichelli.
  65. Williamson C.R. (2009), Informal Institution Rule: Institutional Arrangements and Economic Performance, Public Choice, 139, pp. 371-387.
  66. Williamson C.R., Mathers R.L. (2011), Cultural Context: The Productivity of Capitalism, mimeo.

  • Innovative Business Development—A Global Perspective Fabio Musso, Gaetano Fausto Esposito, pp.219 (ISBN:978-3-030-01877-1)

Carla Altobelli, Gaetano Fausto Esposito, Capitale fiduciario e sviluppo a livello regionale: un’analisi esplorativa del ruolo del capitale civico e morale in "RIVISTA DI ECONOMIA E STATISTICA DEL TERRITORIO" 3/2014, pp 5-39, DOI: 10.3280/REST2014-003001