Distribuição da renda, confiança e civismo : uma avaliação crítica de comunidade e democracia, de Robert Putnam.

Abstract

The objective of this thesis was to present and to evaluate critically the empirical study developed by Robert Putnam in Italy, proposing a new standard for determining theoretical analysis, incorporating information on income inequality on the determination of institutional and economic performance. The research question was: what is the relationship of the equitable distribution of income on the civic community, institutional performance and economic performance? The hypothesis tested in this study is following: the equitable distribution of income leads to the development of a civic community which in turn leads to institutional performance and to the socioeconomic performance. The database of the World Value Survey - WVS in 2005 was used to test that hypothesis. The sample was composed of 49 countries that participated on that survey. This study built upon the work of Knack and Keefer (1997), but with the most updated information from WVS and their own assumptions that, although being in the same sense as the authors' hypotheses, have certain characteristics that differentiate them. Basically the reviews were conducted of the variables used by Putnam and multivariate regression models were estimated, through which the central hypothesis was tested. A key finding is that civism and active groups, taken individually, have a negative effect on the determination of economic performance and consequently on institutional performance, contrary to the results achieved by Putnam in his study. Specifically the results show that: the distribution of income had a negative and significant effect on economic performance, in the sense that: in countries where income inequality is greater there is lower economic performance. This thesis is unique and unprecedented in the sense that it re-tested and analyzed a theory, but proposes a different standard theoretical analysis, using economic variables different form the variables used by Putnam. In addition, this study provides a starting point for future studies in other contexts.