TRANSNATIONAL SOCIAL CAPITAL AND FDI: EVIDENCE FROM ITALIAN ASSOCIATIONS WORLDWIDE

This paper studies the influence of a country¡¯s transnational social capital - defined as the shared customary values and beliefs of emigrant communities - on its external transactions. It uses Italy¡¯s emigrant associations abroad as a proxy of transnational social capital and measures its effects on Italy¡¯s bilateral FDI. Our results are that the associative activity of emigrants, which partly dates far back into the past, positively and strongly affects the Italian bilateral FDI, especially concerning the countries hosting the older associations and the FDI into Italy.