Handbook of Economic Growth

Chapter 4

Family Ties

Alberto Alesina*^{, †} and Paola Giuliano^‡,    ^*Harvard University, USA,    ^†IGIER Bocconi, Italy,    ^‡UCLA Anderson School of Management, NBER and CEPR, USA,    [e-mail], [e-mail]

Abstract

We study the role of the most primitive institution in society: the family. Its organization and relationship between generations shape values formation, economic outcomes, and influences national institutions. We use a measure of family ties, constructed from the World Values Survey, to review and extend the literature on the effect of family ties on economic behavior and economic attitudes. We show that strong family ties are negatively correlated with generalized trust; they imply more household ...