Social Capital and Socioeconomic Development in Rural China

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to examine the stock of social capital in rural China and explore the different impacts of two types of social capital upon the economic development performance of rural China. This empirical study of social capital is based on an original survey of 410 villages throughout China. The findings indicate that bonding social capital still has a very solid foundation in rural areas of China. Bridging social capital is in formation in Chinese villages, even though the stock of bridging social capital is currently very moderate. Moreover, this study finds that bridging social capital, as manifested in general trust and inclusive social networks, positively affected villages’ development performance. However, bonding social capital, as manifested in particular trust and exclusive social networks, tends to negatively impact villages’ development performance. These findings help to shed some light on the distribution of two types of social capital—bridging and bonding—in rural China and their impact on the socioeconomic development of rural areas. Given the scarcity of representative survey studies of this sort, the findings from this study are especially valuable for establishing some conceptual and empirical baselines for subsequent studies of social capital in rural China.