Social capital and socio-economic development: a network perspective

Francesco Corrado, Simonetta Longhi and Aura Reggiani

Chapter 7 in A Research Agenda for Social Capital in Economic Development, 2025, pp 150-172 from Edward Elgar Publishing

Abstract: The concept of social capital has been discussed in the scientific literature for about a century, with various definitions appearing over time. It is now well established that social capital is a very broad concept that includes various types of trust, for example, trust between individuals and trust in institutions. Definitions of social capital also include how citizens act according to their beliefs and how they view the society in which they live. This chapter reviews the concept of social capital from four socio-economic dimensions that are part of socio-economic development: resilience, vulnerability, poverty and accessibility. All four dimensions rely on network structures, and particularly on social networks, which are “hidden” networks, in the sense that their importance is often not emphasized or not included in these variables. Networks rely on connectivity, which is the capacity/ability to make and maintain a connection between two or more points in a network. Although connectivity is the very essence of a network, it has rarely been explicitly included in economic analyses of social capital. We argue that a clearer theory of social capital formation, more timely data, as well as an explanation of how the four socio-economic dimensions manifest themselves within network structures, are all important points for a more fruitful research agenda. This review suggests avenues for future research and summarizes some findings in this regard.

Keywords: Networks; Research agenda; Social capital; Socio-economic development (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
ISBN: 9781035315819
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