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Social Capital, Trust and Well-being in the Evaluation of Wealth

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  • Kirk Hamilton
  • John F. Helliwell
  • Michael Woolcock
Abstract
We combine theory with data from different domains to provide an empirical analysis of the scale and variability of social capital as wealth. This is used to argue, given what we have learned in the literature on social capital, that the welfare returns to investing in trust could be substantial. Using social trust data from 132 nations covered by the Gallup World Poll, we present a range of estimates of social trust’s wealth-equivalent values. The estimates of the wealth embodied in social capital are very large, and with a structure and distribution quite different from those for physical capital. These estimates reflect values above and beyond what social trust contributes to supporting incomes and health. Although social trust is an important component of total wealth in all regions and country groupings, there are nonetheless big variations within and among regions, ranging from as low as 12% of total wealth in Latin America to 28% in the OECD.

Suggested Citation

  • Kirk Hamilton & John F. Helliwell & Michael Woolcock, 2016. "Social Capital, Trust and Well-being in the Evaluation of Wealth," NBER Working Papers 22556, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    • Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberwo:22556
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Savinee Suriyanrattakorn & Chia-Lin Chang, 2021. "Valuation of Trust in Government: The Wellbeing Valuation Approach," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(19), pages 1-14, October.
    2. John F. Helliwell & Lara B. Aknin & Hugh Shiplett & Haifang Huang & Shun Wang, 2017. "Social Capital and Prosocial Behaviour as Sources of Well-Being," NBER Working Papers 23761, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    3. Cornia, Giovanni Andrea & Odusola, Ayodele & Bhorat, Haroon & Conceição, Pedro, 2017. "Income Inequality Trends in sub-Saharan Africa Divergence, Determinants and Consequences: Introduction, Motivation and Overview," UNDP Africa Reports 267639, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).
    4. UNDP Regional Bureau for Africa & Ayodele Odusola & Giovanni Andrea Cornia & Haroon Bhorat & Pedro Conceição & Ayodele Odusola & Giovanni Andrea Cornia & Haroon Bhorat & Pedro Concei ‹o, "undated". "Introduction, Motivation and Overview," UNDP Africa Policy Notes 2017-02, United Nations Development Programme, Regional Bureau for Africa.
    5. Barrington-Leigh, C.P., 2024. "The econometrics of happiness: Are we underestimating the returns to education and income?," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 230(C).
    6. repec:rac:ecchap:2017-02 is not listed on IDEAS
    7. Servaes, Henri & Tamayo, Ane, 2017. "The role of social capital in corporations: a review," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 69209, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    8. G. D'Alessio, 2018. "Well-being, the Socio-economic Context and Price Differences: the North-South Gap," Rivista economica del Mezzogiorno, Società editrice il Mulino, issue 3, pages 471-498.
    9. Vanessa Sha Fan & Renuka Mahadevan, 2019. "The Role of Social Capital and Remote Chinese Villagers’ Well-Being," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 143(3), pages 1109-1128, June.

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • E21 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Consumption, Saving, Production, Employment, and Investment - - - Consumption; Saving; Wealth
    • E22 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Consumption, Saving, Production, Employment, and Investment - - - Investment; Capital; Intangible Capital; Capacity
    • I31 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Welfare, Well-Being, and Poverty - - - General Welfare, Well-Being

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