The contribution of levels of social capital to community development

Abstract

Social capital, first conceptualized by Pierre Bourdieu and further developed by Coleman and Putnam, can be considered to be a 'set of social relations' that provide access to resources. Despite its recognized role in community development efforts, considerable variation exist among researchers regarding the definition, dimensions and indictors of social capital. Lin's social resources theoretical framework posits social capital as an important input in development efforts and guides operationalization of social capital here. This study uses data from a 1995 nationwide survey (.Economic Development Strategies and Entrepreneurial Infrastructure) of 307 rural that experienced a successful community development effort (expansion of existing businesses and/or establishment of new businesses or both). It examines the role of social capital by disaggregating the concept into three levels micro, meso and macro to take into account complementarity among the three levels. Factors considered are community linkages, citizens' participation, leadership type, financial institutions' contribution, collection to create facilities, collective action to resolve issues and local ownership. Results from multinomial logistic regression indicate that social capital at micro, meso and macro levels has a role in successful community development efforts. Specifically, community linkages, financial institutions' contribution, collection to create facilities, collective action to resolve issues and local ownership contribute toward the success of community development efforts.