Christoph Hauser

Social Capital and Collective Memory: A Complex Relationship

The purpose of these analyses is to investigate collective memory, i.e. the shared historical experiences of a community, as driving force for contemporary social capital. Three societal characteristics are considered proxies for collective memory: the current institutional framework as indicator for present common experiences; the cultural attitudes as proxy for long‐term developments; and severe shocks in the history of the regions. The primary aim is thus to understand whether collective memory permits identification of not only the effects of recent (i.e. institutional) or distant (i.e. cultural) on‐going experiences, but also of the impact of such relevant shocks. For this purpose, a comprehensive case study is conducted within a cross‐border research area with special historical development, where it is possible to discriminate between these three indicators of collective memory. The findings suggest a significant impact of collective memory on social capital endowment. Particularly striking shocks are sustained in the collective memory of a community, influencing its behavior even long after the incident occurred. As a consequence, especially the levels of social trust and networking of the affected population are significantly influenced, such that the community develops protective measures in order to secure its norms, values and traditions. As a result, the social capital of a population is heavily influenced by events that occurred outside living memory.

Social Capital Formation and Intra Familial Correlation: A Social Panel Perspective

Social capital is widely regarded to constitute an important indicator for the economic performance of a society. This paper analyzes the impact of various socio-demographic characteristics on social capital. Proxy variables for social capital are obtained from a comprehensive principal components analysis exercise using survey data from the British Household Panel Survey (BHPS). The BHPS provides information on social and economic change at the individual and household levels in Britain and the UK with an annual survey of ca. 10,000 individuals from ca. 5,000 households. Based on the 13th wave of this database, we investigate the impact of exogenous qualities, individually acquired characteristics, and of the social environment using a spatial auto-regression framework. The results show that the formation of social capital can be modeled to a very high degree of statistical accuracy. The structural effect from the households contributes substantially to the social capital level of each household member. Thus, the social capital formation can be based equally on individual measures (such as education) and social contagion processes.