IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/soinre/v114y2013i3p1331-1359.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Are Theories About Social Capital Empirically Supported? Evidence from the Farming Sector

Author

Listed:
  • Esperanza Vera-Toscano
  • Fernando Garrido-Fernández
  • José Gómez-Limón
  • José Cañadas-Reche

Abstract

Social capital is the bond that links societies together and without which there is little opportunity for economic growth or individual well-being. Thus, this paper aims to contribute to the literature by providing an analytically reliable concept of social capital and a methodological tool for empirically testing a theoretical model of how social capital is built. Based upon a decomposition of the concept of social capital characterising three main dimensions (i.e., structural, relational and cognitive), for each specific group of individuals under study the structural equation model allows us: (1) to confirm the multidimensional construct of social capital; (2) to measure the interrelation between its different attributes and; (3) to set a solid basis for additional research on the effects of social capital. This approach has been empirically applied to Andalusian (southern Spain) farmers as case study. We believe this research to be a fundamental starting point for informing social capital policymakers and helping them implement the necessary tools to facilitate sustainable development processes at different moments in time as it takes into account the multidimensional, contextual and dynamic nature of the concept. Copyright Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht 2013

Suggested Citation

  • Esperanza Vera-Toscano & Fernando Garrido-Fernández & José Gómez-Limón & José Cañadas-Reche, 2013. "Are Theories About Social Capital Empirically Supported? Evidence from the Farming Sector," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 114(3), pages 1331-1359, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:soinre:v:114:y:2013:i:3:p:1331-1359
    DOI: 10.1007/s11205-012-0205-7
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1007/s11205-012-0205-7
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s11205-012-0205-7?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Lynne, Gary D. & Casey, C. Franklin, 1998. "Regulation of technology adoption when individuals pursue multiple utility," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 27(6), pages 701-719.
    2. van Buuren, Stef & Groothuis-Oudshoorn, Karin, 2011. "mice: Multivariate Imputation by Chained Equations in R," Journal of Statistical Software, Foundation for Open Access Statistics, vol. 45(i03).
    3. Fabio Sabatini, 2009. "The relationship between trust and networks. An exploratory empirical analysis," Economics Bulletin, AccessEcon, vol. 29(2), pages 661-672.
    4. Hayley H. Chouinard & Tobias Paterson & Philip R. Wandschneider & Adrienne M. Ohler, 2008. "Will Farmers Trade Profits for Stewardship? Heterogeneous Motivations for Farm Practice Selection," Land Economics, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 84(1), pages 66-82.
    5. Luigi Guiso & Paola Sapienza & Luigi Zingales, 2004. "The Role of Social Capital in Financial Development," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 94(3), pages 526-556, June.
    6. Narayan, Deepa, 1999. "Bonds and bridges : social and poverty," Policy Research Working Paper Series 2167, The World Bank.
    7. Montgomery, James D, 1991. "Social Networks and Labor-Market Outcomes: Toward an Economic Analysis," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 81(5), pages 1407-1418, December.
    8. James E. Rauch & Alessandra Casella, 2003. "Overcoming Informational Barriers to International Resource Allocation: Prices and Ties," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 113(484), pages 21-42, January.
    9. Uphoff, Norman & Wijayaratna, C. M., 2000. "Demonstrated Benefits from Social Capital: The Productivity of Farmer Organizations in Gal Oya, Sri Lanka," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 28(11), pages 1875-1890, November.
    10. Ben Fine, 1999. "The Developmental State Is Dead—Long Live Social Capital?," Development and Change, International Institute of Social Studies, vol. 30(1), pages 1-19, January.
    11. Woolcock, Michael & Narayan, Deepa, 2000. "Social Capital: Implications for Development Theory, Research, and Policy," The World Bank Research Observer, World Bank, vol. 15(2), pages 225-249, August.
    12. World Commission on Environment and Development,, 1987. "Our Common Future," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780192820808.
    13. Sabatini, Fabio, 2009. "Social capital as social networks: A new framework for measurement and an empirical analysis of its determinants and consequences," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 38(3), pages 429-442, June.
    14. Jay B. Barney & Mark H. Hansen, 1994. "Trustworthiness as a Source of Competitive Advantage," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 15(S1), pages 175-190, December.
    15. Lee Cronbach, 1951. "Coefficient alpha and the internal structure of tests," Psychometrika, Springer;The Psychometric Society, vol. 16(3), pages 297-334, September.
    16. Joel Sobel, 2002. "Can We Trust Social Capital?," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 40(1), pages 139-154, March.
    17. Evans, Peter, 1996. "Government action, social capital and development: Reviewing the evidence on synergy," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 24(6), pages 1119-1132, June.
    18. Veronica Nyhan Jones & Michael Woolcock, 2007. "Using Mixed Methods to Assess Social Capital in Low Income Countries: A Practical Guide," Global Development Institute Working Paper Series 1207, GDI, The University of Manchester.
    19. Christiaan Grootaert & Thierry Van Bastelar, 2002. "Understanding and Measuring Social Capital : A Multidisciplinary Tool for Practitioners," World Bank Publications - Books, The World Bank Group, number 14098.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Javakhadze, David & Ferris, Stephen P. & French, Dan W., 2016. "Social capital, investments, and external financing," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 37(C), pages 38-55.
    2. Dufhues, Thomas & Buchenrieder, Gertrud & Munkung, Nuchanata, 2012. "Individual social capital and access to formal credit in Thailand," 2012 Conference, August 18-24, 2012, Foz do Iguacu, Brazil 123401, International Association of Agricultural Economists.
    3. Andreas Tsounis & Despoina Xanthopoulou & Evangelia Demerouti & Konstantinos Kafetsios & Ioannis Tsaousis, 2023. "Workplace Social Capital: Redefining and Measuring the Construct," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 165(2), pages 555-583, January.
    4. George Okello Candiya Bongomin & John C. Munene & Joseph Ntayi Mpeera & Charles Malinga Akol, 2017. "Financial inclusion in rural Uganda: The role of social capital and generational values," Cogent Business & Management, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 4(1), pages 1302866-130, January.
    5. Bamieh, Omar & Cintolesi, Andrea, 2021. "Intergenerational transmission in regulated professions and the role of familism," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 192(C), pages 857-879.
    6. Haddad, Lawrence James & Maluccio, John A., 2002. "Trust, membership in groups, and household welfare," FCND briefs 135, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    7. Munasib, Abdul B.A. & Jordan, Jeffrey L., 2011. "The Effect of Social Capital on the Choice to Use Sustainable Agricultural Practices," Journal of Agricultural and Applied Economics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 43(2), pages 213-227, May.
    8. John Östh & Martina Dolciotti & Aura Reggiani & Peter Nijkamp, 2018. "Social Capital, Resilience and Accessibility in Urban Systems: a Study on Sweden," Networks and Spatial Economics, Springer, vol. 18(2), pages 313-336, June.
    9. Dufhues, Thomas & Buchenrieder, Gertrud & Fischer, Isabel, 2006. "Social capital and rural development: literature review and current state of the art [Sozialkapital und ländliche Entwicklung: Literaturüberblick und gegenwärtiger Stand der Forschung]," IAMO Discussion Papers 96, Leibniz Institute of Agricultural Development in Transition Economies (IAMO).
    10. Fabio Sabatini, 2004. "Il rapporto tra Economia e Società nella ricerca sul capitale sociale. Un tentativo di impostazione contabile e una classificazione “funzionale” della letteratura," Others 0411005, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    11. Cheng, Xiaoyu & Wang, Jianying & Chen, Kevin Z., 2022. "Does villager social capital hinder poverty targeting? Evidence from poverty-stricken county of Western China," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 71(C).
    12. Antoni, Giacomo Degli, 2007. "Do Social Relations Affect Economic Welfare? A Microeconomic Empirical Analysis," Knowledge, Technology, Human Capital Working Papers 9330, Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei (FEEM).
    13. Barnes-Mauthe, Michele & Oleson, Kirsten L.L. & Brander, Luke M. & Zafindrasilivonona, Bienvenue & Oliver, Thomas A. & van Beukering, Pieter, 2015. "Social capital as an ecosystem service: Evidence from a locally managed marine area," Ecosystem Services, Elsevier, vol. 16(C), pages 283-293.
    14. Kasarjyan, Milada, 2011. "Improving the functioning of the rural financial markets of Armenia," Studies on the Agricultural and Food Sector in Transition Economies, Leibniz Institute of Agricultural Development in Transition Economies (IAMO), volume 62, number 62.
    15. Akcomak, Semih, 2009. "Bridges in social capital: A review of the definitions and the social capital of social capital researchers," MERIT Working Papers 2009-002, United Nations University - Maastricht Economic and Social Research Institute on Innovation and Technology (MERIT).
    16. Jēkabsone Inga & Sloka Biruta, 2016. "Social Capital, Well-Being and Municipality: Salaspils Municipality (Latvia) Case," Economics and Culture, Sciendo, vol. 13(1), pages 65-75, June.
    17. Giuseppe Terzo, 2021. "Social capital, social economy and economic resilience of Italian provinces," Papers in Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 100(5), pages 1113-1135, October.
    18. Argentiero, Amedeo & Cerqueti, Roy & Sabatini, Fabio, 2021. "Does social capital explain the Solow residual? A DSGE approach," Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Elsevier, vol. 58(C), pages 35-53.
    19. Jeffry Jacob & Abdul Munasib, 2020. "Do social networks promote homeownership?," International Review of Economics, Springer;Happiness Economics and Interpersonal Relations (HEIRS), vol. 67(2), pages 189-230, June.
    20. Araujo, Luis & Minetti, Raoul, 2011. "Knowledge sharing and the dynamics of social capital," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 55(8), pages 1109-1119.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:spr:soinre:v:114:y:2013:i:3:p:1331-1359. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.