Economists interested in the political economy of growth have also investigated the
role of social capital. Following Hobbes, economists hypothesize that high-trust societies enjoy higher rates of growth. The empirical work, however, has focused on the
relationship between measures of social capital and macroeconomic performance.
They measure the dependence of growth in regional or national gross product on
region-wide indicators of associational activity, trust, and/or civic co-operation
( Fukuyama 1995, Knack and Keefer 1997) . They nd that high-trust societies
waste fewer resources protecting themselves from malfeasance; have cheaper, more
credible, and stable government institutions; have more access to credit; and risk more
on innovation; all of which lead to higher rates of investment and growth.