Social capital can be defined as the institutions and networks of relationships between people, complemented by the attitudes, norms and values that underlie them. Based on a large volume of newly collected data from ten countries, this is the first book to provide a rigorous empirical testing of the link between social capital and economic development. It documents the pervasive role of social capital in accelerating poverty alleviation and rural development, facilitating the provision of goods and services, and easing political transition and recovery from civil conflicts.

The idea of social capital has enjoyed a remarkable rise to prominence in both the theoretical and applied social science literature over the last decade. While lively debate has accompanied that journey, thereby helping to advance our thinking and clarifying areas of agreement and disagreement, much still remains to be done. One approach that could help bring further advances for both scholars and practitioners is providing a set of empirical tools for measuring social capital. The purpose of this paper is to introduce such a tool with a focus on applications in developing countries. The...

Social capital can be defined as the institutions and networks of relationships between people, complemented by the attitudes, norms and values that underlie them. Based on a large volume of newly collected data from ten countries, this is the first book to provide a rigorous empirical testing of the link between social capital and economic development. It documents the pervasive role of social capital in accelerating poverty alleviation and rural development, facilitating the provision of goods and services, and easing political transition and recovery from civil conflicts.