ABSTRACT
Italy is a locus classicus for the study of social capital. According to the literature, it simultaneously lacks capital—as held by the theory of "amoral familism"—and has an abundant endowment of it. Whatever the truth may be, Italy is a place where various policies aimed at the creation or enhancement of social capital are undeniably being tested. Evaluations of these policies may provide pointers for how to evaluate the value added by community-based partnerships. Putnam worked out his famous thesis on social capital in a comparative study of the performance of regional administrations in Italy in the 1980s. He found that the better-faring administrations were those in central and northeastern Italy, where there was a greater endowment of social capital; that is, of norms of reciprocity, civic networks, and trust. The proposition that industrial districts develop naturally because of their favorable socioeconomic context holds that institutions merely need to fit the context. There is little space for policy evaluation.
