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Essays on social capital and coordination

Bosworth, Steven (2014) Essays on social capital and coordination. Doctoral Dissertation, University of Pittsburgh. (Unpublished)

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Abstract

My dissertation explores social capital and coordinated investment using experimental methods. Chapter 1 is motivated by the observed relationship between trust attitudes and economic growth (Knack and Keefer, 1997; La Porta et al., 1997; Algan and Cahuc, 2010). I hypothesize that trust as measured in standard survey questions may be capturing the ability of people to coordinate in situations where they both stand to gain if they overcome the risk that the other will not follow suit. This result may help explain (by providing a potential mechanism) the relationship between these survey measures of trust and macroeconomic performance. Chapter 2 examines the importance that expectations of behavior are commonly understood in a coordinated investment setting. That is, how does knowing what others think about what I will do affect what I think about them, and how should I respond to these second order beliefs? Chapter 3 is a field study in collaboration with Professor Randall Walsh. We explore the causal impact of trust on investment. We study how quasi-experimental shifts in trust attitudes caused by proximity to crime affect survey respondents' trust attitudes and investment behavior in incentivized tasks.

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Details

Item Type: University of Pittsburgh ETD
Status: Unpublished
Creators/Authors:
CreatorsEmailPitt UsernameORCID
Bosworth, Stevensjb74@pitt.eduSJB74
ETD Committee:
TitleMemberEmail AddressPitt UsernameORCID
Committee ChairVesterlund, Lisevester@pitt.eduVESTER
Committee MemberWalsh, Randallwalshr@pitt.eduWALSHR
Committee MemberRigotti, Lucaluca@pitt.eduLUCA
Committee MemberTroesken, Wernertroesken@pitt.eduTROESKEN
Committee MemberWang, Stephanieswwang@pitt.eduSWWANG
Committee MemberXiao, Erteexiao@andrew.cmu.edu
Date: 28 January 2014
Date Type: Publication
Defense Date: 18 September 2013
Approval Date: 28 January 2014
Submission Date: 2 December 2013
Access Restriction: No restriction; Release the ETD for access worldwide immediately.
Number of Pages: 103
Institution: University of Pittsburgh
Schools and Programs: Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences > Economics
Degree: PhD - Doctor of Philosophy
Thesis Type: Doctoral Dissertation
Refereed: Yes
Uncontrolled Keywords: social capital, coordination, trust, higher-order beliefs, crime
Date Deposited: 28 Jan 2014 16:58
Last Modified: 15 Nov 2016 14:16
URI: http://d-scholarship.pitt.edu/id/eprint/20125

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