Formal and Informal Social Capital in Germany: The Role of Institutions and Ethnic Diversity

2015 ◽  
Vol 31 (6) ◽  
pp. 766-779 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mark Levels ◽  
Peer Scheepers ◽  
Tim Huijts ◽  
Gerbert Kraaykamp
Sociology ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 51 (5) ◽  
pp. 1011-1033 ◽  
Author(s):  
James Laurence

Extensive research has demonstrated that neighbourhood ethnic diversity is negatively associated with intra-neighbourhood social capital. This study explores the role of segregation and integration in this relationship. To do so it applies three-level hierarchical linear models to two sets of data from across Great Britain and within London, and examines how segregation across the wider-community in which a neighbourhood is nested impacts trust amongst neighbours. This study replicates the increasingly ubiquitous finding that neighbourhood diversity is negatively associated with neighbour-trust. However, we demonstrate that this relationship is highly dependent on the level of segregation across the wider-community in which a neighbourhood is nested. Increasing neighbourhood diversity only negatively impacts neighbour-trust when nested in more segregated wider-communities. Individuals living in diverse neighbourhoods nested within integrated wider-communities experience no trust-penalty. These findings show that segregation plays a critical role in the neighbourhood diversity/trust relationship, and that its absence from the literature biases our understanding of how ethnic diversity affects social cohesion.


2008 ◽  
Vol 33 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter S Li

The literature has identified foreign credential devaluations and the shifting origins of immigrants to non-European sources as two factors that explain why some immigrants earn more than others. This study uses data from the Ethnic Diversity Survey to see how foreign credentials affect immigrants’ earnings, and whether immigrants with disadvantaged foreign credentials may be able to use ethnic social capital to mitigate the negative effect. Substantial gross earnings disparities exist among immigrant men and women of different origins, but much difference is due to human capital variations and duration of work. The study produces three major findings. First, foreign credentials benefit majority member immigrants but penalize visible minority immigrants. Second, immigrant men and women who maintain weak ethnic ties earn more than their counterparts with strong ties, suggesting that the enabling capacity of social capital for immigrants has been overstated. Third, there is no evidence of ethnic social capital being able to mitigate the negative effect of a credential deficit.


2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Claire Economidou ◽  
Dimitris Karamanis ◽  
Alexandra Kechrinioti ◽  
Sofia Xesfingi

AbstractMigration has manifested itself to historic highs, creating divisive views among politicians, policy makers, and individuals. The present paper studies the Europeans’ attitudes toward immigration, focusing particularly on the role of social capital. Based on 267,282 respondents from 22 countries and over the period 2002–2014, we find that despite the eventful past years, Europeans, on average, are positive toward immigrants with the North European countries to be the least xenophobic. A salient finding of our analysis is that regardless of the impact of other contextual factors, namely, a country’s macroeconomic conditions, ethnic diversity, cultural origin, and individuals’ attributes, social capital associates with positive attitudes toward all immigrants, independent of their background. Furthermore, social capital moderates the negative effects of perceived threat on people’s opinions about immigrants.


2011 ◽  
pp. 46-65 ◽  
Author(s):  
L. Polishchuk ◽  
R. Menyashev

The paper deals with economics of social capital which is defined as the capacity of society for collective action in pursuit of common good. Particular attention is paid to the interaction between social capital and formal institutions, and the impact of social capital on government efficiency. Structure of social capital and the dichotomy between its bonding and bridging forms are analyzed. Social capital measurement, its economic payoff, and transmission channels between social capital and economic outcomes are discussed. In the concluding section of the paper we summarize the results of our analysis of the role of social capital in economic conditions and welfare of Russian cities.


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