This article explores social capital in Germany
in line with Putnam’s claim that social capital benefits
regional economic well-being. In particular, this
macro-level study examines whether the number of
civic associations, as a measure of a vibrant civil
society, is related to higher GDP. Since this study
uses spatial data on civic associations and official
statistics concerning the German NUTS-3 regions,
different spatial matrices model interdependencies
among the dependent units of analysis. Exploratory
spatial data analysis illustrates spatial patterns
between districts as well as each variable’s radius
of influence. Cross-sectional spatial models help
examine social capital’s effect on regional economic
well-being. Results of these analyses are two-fold:
first, the geographical scope of social capital
is locally concentrated, whereas the sphere of economic
well-being encloses a wider area. Second, social
capital correlates positively with economic well-being
in Germany’s many regions.