This paper explores the issue of whether countries with high levels of social capital give more foreign aid than others. It is often argued that in countries with high levels of social capital (as measured, for example, by trust, civic norms and membership of community groups) levels of...

Social capital is generally interpreted as the degree of trust, co-operative norms and networks and associations within a society. Economists have become increasingly interested in social capital, following the seminal work of Coleman (1988) and Putnam (1993). Since the publication of these...