Income, Wealth, and Socializationin Argentina: Provocative Responses from Individuals

Lederman, Daniel

World Bank, Washington, D.C.

关键词: SOCIALIZATION;    SOCIAL CAPITAL;    SOCIAL PARTICIPATION;    TRUST (PSYCHOLOGY);    HOUSEHOLD INCOME;   

DOI  :  10.1596/1813-9450-2821
RP-ID  :  WPS2821

学科分类：社会科学、人文和艺术（综合）

来源: World Bank Open Knowledge Repository

【 摘 要 】

Lederman focuses on two objectives in his study:(1) to establish a baseline measurement of the level andgeographic distribution of social capital in Argentina, and(2) to identify its empirical determinants. The study'ssurvey questionnaire provides individual-level data on thepopulation's participation in social organizations andwillingness to trust members of its community. Probit modelsare estimated to explain the individual's decision toparticipate and to trust strangers, and individual-householdand community characteristics are used as explanatoryvariables. Potential simultaneity and endogeneity problemsafflicting the empirical models are examined. The maindeterminants of the probability of participation inArgentina are age, age squared, household income (andperhaps income squared), rural communities (perhaps due tolower probabilities of migration among rural residents sincemost migrants live in urban centers), community orprovincial unemployment rates, and individual trust. Incontrast, the main determinants of trust are age and agesquared (but with opposite signs to those exhibited byprobability of participation), household wealth (but not itssquared term nor household income), participation (as shownby the Seemingly Unrelated Regressions Probit results on thecross-correlation between the two social capital models),and community or provincial unemployment rates and incomeinequality. It is noteworthy that the common question ontrust used in the U.S. General Social Survey and in theWorld Values Survey yields results whereby communities withhigher "trust" rates actually have lower socialparticipation rates. Finally, participation in organizationswith participatory leadership selection mechanisms are morelikely to produce interpersonal trust than other forms of participation.