Social Capital - Explained
What is Social Capital?
Written by J. Mance Gordon
Updated at April 22nd, 2024
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What is Social Capital?
Social Capital concerns the value that an individual (organization or person) receives as a result of their social relationships and connections.
What are the Elements of Social Capital?
Key components of social capital are:
- Trust
- Level of cohesion
- A sense of community and belonging
- Unrestricted and participative communication
- Democratic decision making
- Sense of collective responsibility
What are the Foundations of Social Capital?
The foundations of Social Capital include:
- Embeddedness: economic action and value is embedded in social relationships and cannot be explained adequately by considering individual actors separately.
- Appropriability: social connections of a particular type can be used for different purposes, including for those they were originally not intended (i.e. using a relation with a friend to help with finding a job or exploring a business opportunity).
- Reciprocity: actors do something for you because they are hoping or confident that the favor will be returned by you or even by someone else.