Capitale sociale: uno o molti? Pochi

This paper offers an overview of the main literature on social capital in the light of Paldam’s (2000) “social capital dream”. Its main contributions can be summed as follows. Firstly, It develops an encompassing definition of social capital built on social interactions, social norms and trust. Secondly, it argues that social capital affects economic outcomes as a productive input or through TFP, and/or through transaction costs. Thirdly, it surveys some commonly used empirical proxies and discusses their determinants.