IN SEARCH OF SOCIAL CAPITAL IN ECONOMICS

Abstract

The economic well-being of economic agents is assumed to be interpersonally dependent and varies according to the strength of relationships, values, and social bonds. The extent of this interpersonal dependency is measured using social capital coefficients in a neoclassical model in which agents with stable preferences maximize utility. The model's predictions are tested empirically by asking agents how their distribution of a scarce resource is altered by relationships.Institutional and Behavioral Economics,