Firm-level productivity growth returns of social capital: Evidence from Western Europe |
| |
Authors: | Roberto Ganau Andrés Rodríguez-Pose |
| |
Institution: | 1. Department of Economics and Management “Marco Fanno”, University of Padova, Padova, Italy
Department of Geography and Environment, London School of Economics and Political Science, London, United Kingdom;2. Cañada Blanch Centre and Department of Geography and Environment, London School of Economics and Political Science, London, United Kingdom |
| |
Abstract: | We analyze the firm-level labor productivity growth returns of social capital—defined as a synthetic measure of “generalized trust,” “active participation,” and “social norms”—using a large sample of manufacturing firms in France, Germany, Italy, Portugal, and Spain. We find that firms' labor productivity growth is higher in areas with a better social capital endowment. The positive returns of social capital are, nevertheless, unevenly distributed across firms, with smaller, less productive, less capital-endowed, and low-tech firms benefitting the most from operating in strong social capital ecosystems. |
| |
Keywords: | firm labor productivity growth manufacturing industry social capital Western Europe |
|
|