No. 116 - Social capital and inequality in Italy

In the last two decades the socio-economic literature has highlighted the importance of social capital (an ample set of social relations and cultural attitudes) for economic growth and the wellbeing of citizens. The literature broadly suggests a negative correlation between social capital and inequality. This chapter provides some empirical findings on Italy that confirm this. It also argues that the negative correlation might reflect, on the one hand, the effect of local endowments of social capital on individuals' lives (such as educational opportunities or female participation in labour markets); it could also reflect the contrary i.e. the effect of greater equality on the social behaviour of residents.