Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/223490 
Year of Publication: 
2020
Series/Report no.: 
CESifo Working Paper No. 8418
Publisher: 
Center for Economic Studies and Ifo Institute (CESifo), Munich
Abstract: 
We validate survey measures of social capital with a new data set that examines whether citizens report a lost wallet to its owner. Using data from more than 17,000 lost wallets across 40 countries, we find that survey measures of social capital - especially questions concerning generalized trust or generalized morality - are strongly and significantly correlated with country-level differences in wallet reporting rates. A second finding is that lost wallet reporting rates predict unique variation in economic development and government effectiveness not captured by existing measures, suggesting this data set also holds promise as a useful indicator of social capital.
Subjects: 
social capital
trust
honesty
field experiment
surveys
JEL: 
C93
C83
Z10
O10
Document Type: 
Working Paper
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