Research seminar "Bridging or Bonding? Preferences for Redistribution and Social Capital in Russia"

Speaker - Ekaterina Borisova (International Center for the Study of Institutions and Development HSE).

Laboratory for Labour Market Studies, Centre for Labour Market Studies, and Institute for Industrial and Market Studies held the Research Seminar on March 14, 2017.

Theme: Bridging or Bonding? Preferences for Redistribution and Social Capital in Russia.

Speaker: Ekaterina Borisova, Leading Research Fellow at the International Center for the Study of Institutions and Development HSE.

Abstract: Does bridging or bonding social capital matter for redistribution preferences? Existing literature demonstrates causal link between measures of social capital and such preferences but does it mostly for developed countries with good enforcement of formal rules and without a distinction between two different types of social capital. We argue that welfare state relies on contributions from an immense number of anonymous citizens, thus attitudes towards strangers, i.e. generalized trust and solidarity should be salient. Using two surveys of about 34,000 and 37,000 Russians we prove this proposition showing the importance of the bridging type but not the bonding one. Instrumenting social capital with education, climate and distance from Moscow we deal with endogeneity concerns and also contribute to the understanding of the deep roots of social capital in Russia. Additionally we claim that social capital in post-socialist countries could provide public support for the redistribution schemes in spite of the fact that institutions are weak.

 Working paper (PDF)

Discussant: Elena Kotyrlo, Assistant Professor at the Department of Applied Economics HSE