Religion,discrimination and trust across three cultures

We propose that religion impacts trust and trustworthiness in ways that depend on how individuals are socially identified and connected. Religiosity and religious affiliation may serve as markers for statistical discrimination. Further, affiliation to the same religion may enhance group identity, or affiliation irrespective of creed may lend social identity, and in turn induce taste-based discrimination. Religiosity may also relate to general prejudice. We test these hypotheses across three culturally diverse countries. Participants׳ willingness to discriminate, beliefs of how trustworthy or trusting others are, as well as actual trust and trustworthiness are measured incentive compatibly. We find that interpersonal similarity in religiosity and affiliation promote trust through beliefs of reciprocity. Religious participants also believe that those belonging to some faith are trustworthier, but invest more trust only in those of the same religion—religiosity amplifies this effect. Across non-religious categories, whereas more religious participants are more willing to discriminate, less religious participants are as likely to display group biases.     

The impacts of religion,political ideology,and social capital on religious and secular giving: evidence from the 2006 Social Capital Community Survey

Using a double hurdle model and data from the 2006 Social Capital Community Survey (SCCS2006) we examine religious and secular giving, focusing on the impacts of religion, political ideology and social capital. Our main results indicate that greater participation in religious activities positively impacts religious and secular giving, the intensity of religious belief increases religious giving at the expense of secular giving, religious giving by very conservative individuals is higher than for other ideological groups, and measures of social capital are very important in raising the level and likelihood of philanthropic giving.     

The effect of religiosity and religious festivals on positional concerns – an experimental investigation of Ramadan

This article examines the effect of religion on positional concerns using survey experiments. We focus on two of the dimensions of religion – degree of religiosity and religious festivals. By conducting the experiments during both the most important day of Ramadan (the Night of Power) and a day outside Ramadan, we find that Ramadan overall has a small and negative impact on positional concerns. Detailed analyses based on the sorting of individuals’ degree of religiosity reveal that the decrease in the degree of positional concerns during Ramadan is mainly explained by a decrease in positionality among individuals with a low degree of religiosity.     

Religious and Economic Preferences: An Empirical Analysis of State Tax Rates and Public Spending

In an attempt to examine the role of religion and religious institutions in the formation of economic and political preferences, we empirically test the relationship between religious and economic variables in the context of the 50 US states. Specifically, we test whether changes in the religious composition of states over time influences state tax rates (public revenue), and state spending patterns (public expenditure). We use church membership rates and religious contributions as alternative measures of a state's religiosity level. The results report a weak relationship between state tax rates and the religiosity of the state population over time. However, a negative relationship was observed between religiosity and public welfare spending, and a positive relationship between religiosity and public education spending. Variations arise when Catholics are included in the analysis of public spending.     

在孵企业社会资本与创新绩效的关系——孵化器所有权性质的调节作用

基于185家中国在孵企业的调查数据,采用多元层级回归方法,对在孵企业社会资本的结构、关系和认知三个维度与创新绩效的关系进行了理论探讨和实证检验,旨在揭示社会资本对不同孵化器的在孵企业创新绩效的差异性影响。研究结果显示:所有在孵企业结构维度和关系维度的社会资本与创新绩效有显著的正相关关系,而认知维度的社会资本与创新绩效的正向关系不显著;与国有孵化器相比,民营孵化器增强了在孵企业的结构维度社会资本对创新绩效的正向影响,但减弱了在孵企业的关系维度社会资本对创新绩效的正向影响。     

SOCIAL CAPITAL,GOVERNANCE AND PERFORMANCE OF ETHIOPIAN COFFEE COOPERATIVES

ABSTRACT: The performance of agrarian cooperatives strongly depends on the interaction between internal cohesion and external exchange. Empirical assessments of social capital and trust within cooperatives suggest that market involvement could enhance collective action. This relationship may not hold, however, under circumstances of heterogeneous membership and strong state control. We use field data from a comparative sample of 500 coffee farmers belonging to five cooperatives of Sidama Cooperative Union, Ethiopia to outline how differences in economic performance are related to the structure of social networks. We identify clear trade‐offs between bonding and bridging social capital that favour remotely located cooperatives.     

风险投资、内部控制与审计定价

文章利用手工收集的风险投资持股及其属性特征数据,基于审计风险的分析逻辑,系统研究了风险投资、内部控制与审计定价之间的内在关系.研究发现:(1)与非风险投资持股公司相比,风险投资持股公司的审计定价显著更低;(2)从属性特征来看,风险投资的控制属性显著降低了审计定价,而联合属性显著提高了审计定价;(3)在抑制审计风险、降低审计定价方面,风险投资持股与内部控制质量存在显著的替代效应.文章研究表明,风险投资持股在审计市场上发挥了显著的治理效应,因而强化风险投资机构的增值服务和监督职能,对于提高上市公司运营效率具有重要的现实价值.     

Is the importance of religion in daily life related to social trust? Cross-country and cross-state comparisons

We look at the effect of importance of religion in daily life on social trust, defined as the share of a population that thinks that people in general can be trusted. We make use of new data from the Gallup World Poll for 109 countries and 43 U.S. states. Our empirical results indicate a robust, negative relationship between this measure of religiosity and trust, both internationally and within the U.S. The size of this association increases with the degree of religious diversity.     

Religion and returns in Europe

Drawing on social identity and social impact theory, this paper is the first to investigate the impact of religious preferences on share prices and expected returns at the country level. Using data from 12 European countries, our findings suggest that religion has a significant effect on the share price of companies whose activities are considered unethical, i.e., tobacco manufacturers and alcohol producers. The share price of these companies (called sin stocks) is depressed when they are located in a predominantly Protestant environment (relative to a Catholic environment). With investors in Protestant countries being more sin averse than in Catholic countries, they insist upon higher expected returns on sin stocks. Conversely, religious preferences do not have the same impact on the performance of other companies, e.g. socially responsible companies. Our results are robust to various methodologies and controlling for several firm-specific, industry-specific and country-specific characteristics.     

The economics of regional variation in religious attendance

Developments in modelling the demand for religion have identified both religious human capital and religious market structure as fundamental determinants of levels of formal religious practice. In this paper, these theories are confronted with survey data drawn from 163 regions across 16 countries. Although there are clearly political, historical and other country specific factors that affect levels of participation in organized religion, estimates from modified logit regression equations demonstrate the empirical significance at the regional level of variables suggested by recent innovations in the economics of religious behaviour.     

Effect of religious priming in prosocial and destructive behaviour

In this paper, we study the behavioural impact of religious priming by showing participants religious words in a scrambled sentence task before a dictator game and a joy‐of‐destruction game. We also elicited data on individual religiosity and religious affiliation using a questionnaire. Priming religious words significantly increased prosocial behaviour in the dictator game, and the effect was especially striking among those reporting no religion, atheists and agnostics. The religious prime has no significant effect in mitigating destructive behaviour or own expectations of the other's destruction choice, but both destructive behaviour and expectations correlate positively with the multi‐dimensional religiosity measure.     

Religion and unproductive entrepreneurship: The role of risk aversion

Institutions can shape the reward structure in the economy and thereby influence the allocation of entrepreneurship between productive and unproductive activities. This paper investigates the effect of religion, one important component of informal institutions, on unproductive entrepreneurship. Using a nationally representative survey on private enterprises in China, we find that religious entrepreneurs devote more of their resources, both in terms of money and time, to unproductive activities such as building social relations than their nonreligious peers. We further find that religion plays a significant role only in regions with weak regulatory institutions and/or for entrepreneurs vulnerable to institutional risks. Drawing on the close link between risk-aversion and religion, our results suggest that religious entrepreneurs engage in unproductive activities so as to reduce institutional risks in their business operations.     

The Emergent Role of Social Intermediaries in the New Economy

This paper focuses on the role of social intermediaries in the evolution of the economy. By 'social intermediaries' I mean those institutions that mediate between the economy and other realms of social activity and maintain a balance between them. Among institutions of this kind are trade unions and governmental organizations but also cooperatives, household-based enterprises, religious institutions, and, increasingly, networks of professionals and business people based on race, sex, ethnicity and religion.     

内外部社会资本协同效应对企业能力的影响

内外部社会资本协同效应对企业持续发展日趋重要,梳理其对企业能力的影响机理,提出了3个假设。基于238家企业样本的实证研究发现：内外部社会资本协同效应对企业能力(市场能力、技术能力)有正向作用;当某种社会资本弱于另一种社会资本时,在两者没有达到平衡前,加强较弱的那种社会资本建设是协同效应发挥和企业能力提升的有效路径;内外部社会资本平衡度与企业能力呈现倒U型关系,平衡度达到中等偏上时企业能力最高。最后,进一步讨论了相对平衡范围。     

Religion and Economic Development in History: Institutions and the Role of Religious Networks

I argue that the role of religion on economic performance is mainly through the networks of small religious groups. These groups form social networks that enable individuals to conduct non-formal contract enforcement mechanisms. I analyze the effects of religions on societies, focusing mainly on the institutional aspects that affect the capabilities of creating social capital via networks which enhance cooperation and decrease transaction costs. Since the interaction between institutions and organizations is expected to shape the institutional evolution and economic performance of an economy, religions that have a communal form of organization rather than a vertical (hierarchical) structure, thus allowing many different denominational sub-communities within a society, can be more beneficiary for development and growth. Such institutions may not only provide allocative and production efficiency, but also adaptive efficiency that is a key to long-run growth. However, these effects may turn negative depending on these institutions’ role in causing group hostility and exclusion.     

多维企业家社会资本、企业吸收能力与企业绩效研究

基于社会资本理论,将企业家社会资本划分为市场、制度及金融3个维度,利用139家中国创业板上市公司数据,对企业家社会资本、企业吸收能力、企业财务绩效及创新绩效的内在关系进行实证分析。实证结果表明,企业家市场社会资本对企业财务绩效和创新绩效具有显著的正向影响,企业吸收能力与企业财务绩效及创新绩效显著正相关。企业吸收能力正向调节企业家市场社会资本与企业财务绩效和创新绩效的关系,也正向调节企业家制度社会资本与企业创新绩效的关系。     

Household repayment behavior: The role of social capital and institutional,political, and religious beliefs

We examine the influence of social capital and various prevailing beliefs on household repayment behavior in Europe, after accounting for household-specific characteristics and country differences in institutions. Arrears are more common among households living in regions with dense corruption beliefs, low confidence in institutions and authorities, and a low fraction of religious people. Moreover, high stocks of social capital reduce the likelihood of arrears, net of the influence of various potentially relevant factors. Households in these communities face a higher hazard of losing standing in the group and access to the positive externalities of social capital.     

Expanding the two wings of social capital for value creation: strategic entrepreneurship of HTC, 1997–2008

This study draws on a historical, qualitative case study to explore how a leading Taiwanese high-tech mobile phone manufacturer, HTC, successfully and continuously manoeuvred the two wings of social capital – that is, structural social capital and cognitive social capital – to create value in its strategic entrepreneurial process between 1997 and 2008. Taiwan is a wide-spreading trust-based Chinese Confucian-influenced culture. The process of developing trust-based social capital for value creation consists of three central actions: identifying potential social capital, reinforcing cognitive social capital, and extending structural social capital. Our findings advance knowledge of trust-based social capital based on the perspective of strategic entrepreneurship for value creation and offer practical implications for the mobilisation of social capital. In sum, we suggest that firms could develop trust-based social capital considering business conditions to reduce possible risks or uncertainties of network management in an international arena.     

内外部资本市场互动关系:替代、冲突与互补

内外部资本市场呈现出替代、冲突及互补等多种特征,使得单一的"替代论"、"冲突论"或"互补论"均缺乏足够的解释力。这三种观点,都只反映了事物的一个侧面,不能用其中的某一个观点来概括内外部资本市场间的关系。在不同情况下,内外部资本市场会表现出不同的关系。