This paper experimentally measures the ‘social capital’ of altruism, trust
and reciprocity and empirically explores the impact of these norms on economic
well-being. Using an experimental design that distinguishes trust
and reciprocity from altruism, data were collected from individuals in a
random sample of South African communities. Analyzed at the community
level, these data suggest that while related, trust and reciprocity are
clearly di¤erent from altruism. Moreover, the relatively strong correlation
between trust and reciprocity indicates that communities are in a sort of
normative equilibrium, with trust strongest where reciprocity norms are
most active. Finally, analysis of household living standard data drawn
from these same communities shows that these norms have real economic
e¤ects on households’ well-being. The e¤ects of both altruism and trust
are signi…cantly positive in urban communities, whereas the e¤ects of these
same norms are weaker or negative in more traditional rural areas.