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The Relationship between Social Capital and Health in China

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This paper uses the 2005 and 2006 China General Social Survey (CGSS) to study the relationship between social capital and health in China. It is the most comprehensive analysis of this subject to date, both in the sizes of the samples it analyses, in the number of social capital variables it investigates, and in its treatment of endogeneity. We identify social trust, social relationships, and social networks as important determinants of self-reported health. The magnitude of the estimated effects are economically important, in some cases being of the same size or larger than the effects associated with age and income. Our findings suggest that there is scope for social capital to be a significant policy tool for improving health outcomes in China.

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  • Xindong Xue & Marshall Mo & W. Robert Reed, 2016. "The Relationship between Social Capital and Health in China," Working Papers in Economics 16/02, University of Canterbury, Department of Economics and Finance.
    • Handle: RePEc:cbt:econwp:16/02
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    2. Yiwen Zhang & Junfeng Jiang, 2019. "Social Capital and Health in China: Evidence from the Chinese General Social Survey 2010," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 142(1), pages 411-430, February.
    3. Akhmadiyeva, Zarema & Herzfeld, Thomas, 2021. "How does practice matches land laws in Central Asia?," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 109.
    4. Dayakar Peddi & Kavi Kumar, 2019. "Farmer’s Perception on Soil Erosion in Rainfed Watershed Areas of Telangana, India," Working Papers 2019-180, Madras School of Economics,Chennai,India.
    5. van Staveren, I.P. & Kabubo-Mariara, J., 2015. "Civic Agency: an Invisible Health Determinant," ISD Working Paper Series 2015-2, International Institute of Social Studies of Erasmus University Rotterdam (ISS), The Hague.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Social capital; trust; self-reported health; China; ordered probit regression; heteroskedastic ordered probit regression; interaction effects; endogeneity.;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I1 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health
    • I18 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Government Policy; Regulation; Public Health
    • P25 - Political Economy and Comparative Economic Systems - - Socialist and Transition Economies - - - Urban, Rural, and Regional Economics
    • O53 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economywide Country Studies - - - Asia including Middle East

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