The Social Capital Index is
a sub-index of the Global Sustainable Competitiveness Index (GSCI)
, The Social Capital of a nation is the sum of social stability and the well-being (perceived or real) of the entire population.
Social capital is defined by the OECD as “
networks together with
.
shared norms, values and understandings that facilitate co-operation within or among groups”
. In this definition, we can think of networks as real-world links between groups or individuals.
It included 14 indicators in five categories:
community organizational life, engagement in public affairs, community volunteerism, informal sociability, and social trust
. Putnam’s index was a simple average of the 14 scores (after standardizing them to put them on a common scale).
Social capital is
a set of shared values that allows individuals to work together in a group to effectively achieve a common purpose
. The idea is generally used to describe how members are able to band together in society to live harmoniously.
At the individual level, social capital is usually measured
by questionnaire surveys using indicators that tap into social connections, social networks and social support
. The structural dimension includes: … social connections and relationships (e.g. bonding ties, bridging ties, linking ties, connectivity, etc.), and.
What is Putnam’s theory?
Social capital is a resource for individuals as well as for societies. Trust and norms of reciprocity, two aspects of social capital, arise from networks. In summary, Putnam’s concept
states that the existence of social capital permits actors to act in a more effective way to reach collective goals.
In new research, which uses four decades worth of national survey data, April K. Clark finds that
not all aspects of social and civic life have been in decline
; the greatest fall has been in trust. … Indeed, societies high in social capital show greater levels of civic engagement and participation in politics.
Societal level examples of social capital include
when someone opens a door for someone, returns a lost item to a stranger
, gives someone directions, loans something without a contract, and any other beneficial interaction between people, even if they don’t know each other.
Social capital is the development of relationships that help contribute to a more efficient production of goods and services. There are three types of social capital –
bonding, bridging, and linking
.
Elements of social capital such as
trust, social support, membership of associations, perceived safety on campus and neighbourhood
are important aspects of social life.
Research consistently shows important benefits related to social capital, such as individuals with higher levels of social capital being
happier and finding better jobs
. We also see that people report better health and increased levels of trust in a community as a result of their positive relationships.
In addition, existing research recognizes the critical role that social capital has played in complementing other forms of capital, including human capital. In fact, individuals can acquire a higher level of human capital through personal
relationships
, social network or common values that they share.
Social capital can sometimes be
dysfunctional and counter-productive
. A high density of internal relationships and of trust within a group can result in the fragmentation of a higher level community, depending on the quality of the norms and beliefs that bond the group/lower level community together.
Social capital is
best valued by the people involved in the context
in question because different people in different contexts will place different values on different aspects of social capital.
Social capital refers to social connections (e.g., made through employment or clubs) and cultural capital refers to
knowledge and academic credentials
(institutionalized cultural capital), cultural possessions such as art (objectified cultural capital), and ways of speaking or manner, shown through posture or gestures …
Bonding social capital is within a group or community whereas bridging social capital is between
social groups, social class, race, religion or other important sociodemographic or socioeconomic characteristics
.
