Social Capital Indicators Research Articles

What Matters Most for Community Social Capital among Older Adults Living in Urban China: The Role of Health and Family Social Capital.

The present study investigated individual-level determinants of community social capital among older adults in urban China, with a particular emphasis on health and family social capital. A quota sampling method was used to select 456 adults aged 60 or older from 16 local communities in the city of Suzhou in 2015. Multiple indicators and multiple courses in structural equation modeling were used to examine the proposed model. Latent constructs of community social capital (i.e., cognitive social capital and structural social capital) were established. The results showed that family social capital and instrumental activities of daily living were the most influential determinants of cognitive social capital, whereas activities of daily living and socioeconomic status were the most important determinants of structural social capital. We demonstrate the application of social capital theory in an urban Chinese context. Future policy development and social work interventions should use a more comprehensive social capital latent constructs and health indicators as screening instruments. The promotion of family social capital could play an important role in enhancing cognitive social capital among older adults.

Measuring Social Capital in Rural Punjab

Social capital is the rules, norms, obligations, reciprocity and trust embedded in social relations, social structures and society's institutional arrangements which enable its members to achieve their individual and community objectives. The main aim of this article is to measure social capital at the household level in rural areas of three districts of the state of Punjab in India. Mean score on the social capital index is found to be 59.90 points out of possible 100 points and standard deviation is 22.70. It is also observed that as the level of education and the level of income rises, the score on social capital index rises at the significant level.

Relationship between healthy elderly individual social capital and health according to ward level in Tomi City, Nagano Prefecture: an ecological study.

Objectives: The aims of this study were 1) to elucidate the relationship between social capital and health by ward in Tomi City, Nagano Prefecture, in order to clarify the regional social resources available to support long-term care prevention utilizing self- and mutual support of regional residents and 2) to comprehensively investigate the activation of regional networks.Materials and Methods: We analyzed elderly (aged 65 years or older) individual survey data from 7,199 residents from all wards within Tomi City in 2014 (number of valid responses: 5,546; valid response rate: 77.0%). The social capital indicators used for the analysis included participation in community activities, regional managerial position experience, and general trust. The health indicators included self-rated mental health, activities of daily living, and depression. Standards for a “good” result for each indicator were established, and the percentages of each were tallied up by ward. Spearman’s rank correlation coefficient and principal component analysis were used to investigate correlations between social capital and health.Results: The results for overall respondents indicated correlations between participation in sports and hobbies and activities of daily living (p<0.01) and self-rated mental health (p<0.05). Participation in nonprofit organizations/volunteer activities and participation in community center workshops exhibited correlations with activities of daily living (both p<0.05). In respondents aged 65–74 years, participation in community center workshops and general trust were found to be correlated with activities of daily living (both p<0.05). Meanwhile, in respondents aged 75 years or older, correlations were noted between participation in sports and hobbies and participation in nonprofit organizations/volunteer activities and activities of daily living (p<0.05 and p<0.01, respectively). By creating a distribution map using principal component analysis, we were able to grasp the characteristics of the distribution of “community participation/connections with people” and “health” in each ward.Conclusions: Our results point the way forward for future long-term care prevention support in Tomi City by clarifying the correlation between social capital and health by ward.

THE EFFECT OF SOCIO-ECONOMIC ON SOCIAL MEDIA IN INDONESIA

The current world development agenda led to a focus called the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). There were 17 development goals that became the world’s commitment to be achieved soon. The results of the consensus in 1995 at the World Summit for Social Development stated that the development must make humans as the center of development. One of the benchmarks for human development was based on the Social Capital index. Various countries had developed the concept of social capital. So far, the capital of the OECD had become the most referenced, such as Canada, Australia and the United Kingdom, as a reference in developing indicators of social capital. This study aimed to prove Lin’s theory which stated that assets or economics were directly proportional to the development of social capital. The results showed that economic variables such as GRDP per capita were inversely proportional to social capital. Subsequently social capital was significantly influenced negatively by Indonesia’s democracy index and significantly influenced positively by population density

Performance Analysis of South-Indian Mushroom Units:Imperative Policy Implications for their Preparedness for Global Competitiveness

A highly specialized six-dimensional performance index was designed to comprehensively analyse complex mushroom enterprises having components and estimates, viz. scale/size of the enterprise (4.225), infrastructure/ machinery employed (4.539), social capital indicators (4.696), efficiency indicators (6.346), good mushroom cultivation practices (5.246) and incremental expansion (3.597). Sixty edible mushroom growing enterprises of Karnataka were selected for this study which concludes that four out of six components showed poor performance. Along with an urgent need to work-out economically optimum size of mushroom units with suitable infrastructure and machinery requirements, the paper presents important policy implications for making Indian mushroom industry globally competitive.

How do natural hazards affect participation in voluntary association? The social impacts of disasters in Japanese society

This study focused on the way individuals’ past experiences with disasters and their perceived risks of disasters affect their involvement in voluntary associations, which are important indicators of social capital. Moreover, as recent social capital studies have examined the different types of associations that contribute to the formation of social capital in various ways, for this present study, associations were categorized as civic, reward-based, and social/recreational. The results indicate that both respondents’ experiences with disasters and their perceived risks of disasters tend to increase both the number of associations in which they participate and their degree of involvement. However, experiences related to disasters had a higher impact on the number of associations in which residents participate than on their degree of involvement. Individuals’ experiences with disasters also increased their tendency to join civic associations, whereas their perceived risks of disasters increased participation in both civic and reward-based associations. Social/recreational associations were not significantly affected by either disaster experiences or the perceived risks of a disaster.

Social Capital Components of Forest Dwellers of Forestry Cooperatives in Iran (Case of Siahkal County)

The aim of this study was to compare the social capital indicators of members and non-members of cooperatives in Siahkal County. The sample size was calculated by the Cochran formula to include300individuals (150 member cooperatives and 150 non-members of the cooperative) that were selected by the stratified random sampling method. The main tool employed in this study was a questionnaire that evaluated the reliability of internal consistency using Cronbach’s alpha was calculated. In this research, correlation coefficients, t-test, Mann-Whitney test and multivariate regression were used for testing hypotheses. Results obtained from inferential findings indicated that there was a significant positive relationship at 1 percent level between the variables of social cooperation and social interaction, social cooperation and social conflict, social cooperation and informal relations network, social cooperation and trust in others, social cooperation and trust in institutions, social cooperation and social partnership, and finally social conflict and informal relations network. Based on the t-test results, most individual indices of members and non-members of forestry cooperatives showed a significant difference with each other at 1 percent level. Results showed that there was a significant difference between members and non-members of the cooperative in terms of social capital components of forest dwellers except for the component of trust in institutions, which lacked a significant difference. This analysis shows that about 68% of the variation of the dependent variable is determined by independent variables which were significant here.

Organic hibiscus (Hibiscus sabdariffa), social capital and sustainability in an indigenous Non-Governmental Organization from La Montaña, Guerrero, Mexico

ABSTRACTIn La Montaña, Guerrero, one of the poorest regions in Mexico, the indigenous Non-Government Organization Xuajin Me´Phaa produces hibiscus and other organic products. The sustainability of hibiscus production was evaluated by comparing organic and conventional systems. The organic system showed lower yields, higher levels of soil organic matter and erosion control, and a higher benefit:cost ratio due to premium prices. A social capital index was constructed considering aspects of community organization, its level being higher amongst organic farmers. The relationship between agroecological projects and social capital is discussed under a context of severe environmental and socioeconomic vulnerability.

The relation between social cohesion and the care burden of family healthcare providers.

This study aimed to clarify the relationship between social cohesion and family care burden. The social capital indicators of Kondo et al. and the short version of the Zarit Care Burden Interview Scale in Japanese (J-ZBI_8) were used. Data were analyzed by multiple regression models. Seventy-one caregivers responded. Factors showing statistical significance in the multiple regression analysis included "receipt of emotional support" (p = 0.009) and "instrumental support provided" (p = 0.010). Social support was suggested to have a possible effect on the care burden of the main caregivers to relate to less burden. The gap between the original ideal loss and the social role caused by providing nursing care is likely to increase the degree of care burden.

A Bidding Evaluation Method for PPP Project Based on Triangular Fuzzy Multi-attribute Decision Making

How to purchase social capital effectively concerns the success or failure of PPP project. In the bidding process, due to the fuzziness of project information in PPP project, it is difficult for experts to quantify the scores of various indicators of social capital. However, traditional project information is relatively clear. If traditional project evaluation method is simply applied to the PPP project procurement, it is likely to be difficult to accept. Therefore, based on triangular fuzzy multi-attributes decision-making theory, this paper takes the situation that decision makers are unable to give accurate measurement due to the fuzziness of project information into account and selects suitable bidding evaluation indicators to establish corresponding evaluation model. By means of TOPSIS, this model could carry out a comprehensive evaluation of social capital and obtain the ranking quickly by which we could obtain a more reasonable bidding evaluation results of PPP project. The case analysis proves practicality and effectiveness of this model.

Using entrepreneurial social infrastructure to understand smart shrinkage in small towns

Population loss in North America is often viewed as a problem best addressed through economic development efforts promoting growth. In Europe, an alternative view sees depopulation as a process needing to be managed properly, by scaling down community services and infrastructure while maintaining social equity. Called smart shrinkage, this approach argues places can lose population yet still possess a high quality of life. We first clarify the concept by distinguishing the outputs of smartness from its inputs using the entrepreneurial social infrastructure framework. Second, we apply the smart shrinkage concept to n = 98 small towns in the Midwestern state of Iowa using longitudinal data collected in 1994 and 2014. Shrinkage is measured by faster than average population loss; and smart outcomes by faster than average quality of life gains. We then examine correlates of smart shrinkage using demographic, economic, social capital, and civic engagement indicators. Demographic and geographic factors have little impact on smart shrinkage. Smart towns have stronger local labor markets, lower poverty and inequality, and job opportunities in goods-producing sectors. Lastly, smart shrinking towns exhibit higher social infrastructure by possessing more bridging social capital across diverse groups, greater quantities of linking social capital such as memberships in local organizations, and frequent civic engagement by participation in local projects. These activities are supported by a community culture of openness, tolerance, and support.

Community involvement, trust, and health-related outcomes among older adults in India: a population-based, multilevel, cross-sectional study.

this study examined whether individual and contextual measures of structural and cognitive social capital were associated with six health-related outcomes across older adults in India. data were collected from a representative sample of adults aged 60 and above across India in 2011-12 (n = 9,174). Personal community involvement and having someone to trust represented individual measures of structural and cognitive social capital. These measures were then aggregated to represent contextual measures of social capital, that is, the mean village level of community involvement and the village proportion having someone to trust. To examine associations between all four social capital indicators and six outcomes including self-rated health, psychological well-being, subjective well-being, memory, activities of daily living (ADL), and instrumental activities of daily living, we fit pooled, sex-stratified, and place-stratified multilevel regression models and adjusted for demographic and socio-economic factors. personal community involvement was positively associated with all outcomes among the full sample. Adjusted odds ratios ranged from 1.05 (95% CI 1.02; 1.08) for good self-rated health to 1.42 (95% CI 1.33; 1.53) for high-ADL function. Personally having someone to trust was associated with four outcomes. Village-level social capital measures were less frequently associated with outcomes than personal social capital measures. Association strength between six health-related outcomes and individual and contextual measures of structural and cognitive social capital varied, however, among older people in India by sex, place and outcome. interventions to promote healthy ageing by increasing community involvement and trust may need to be tailored to population subgroups.

Foreclosure Risk and Community Health: Does Social Capital Have a Protective Effect?

This study draws upon the social determinants of health framework to model and test the extent to which a community’s social capital is health protective in the face of a substantial economic shock, namely the recent foreclosure crisis. U.S. county–level data are used to analyze potential moderating effects of social capital on health given a community’s foreclosure risk. We rely upon established social capital measures for U.S counties and merge them with county level foreclosure risk scores constructed by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). While theorists suggest that social capital’s effect on health and other outcomes may be durable over time there have been few empirical tests of this. We interact established social capital indicators measured at two points in time with foreclosure risk to predict overall self‐reported health. Our results provide strong support suggesting that high levels of social capital are health protective. Communities with high levels of social capital that are facing high foreclosure risks report significantly better aggregate health outcomes than comparable communities facing the same level of foreclosure risk, but lower levels of social capital.

Child Loss, Social Capital, and Depressive Symptoms Among Elderly Adults in Urban and Rural China

The purpose of this study was to examine the moderating effects of individual and community social capital on the relationship between child loss and depressive symptoms among elderly adults in China. A sample of 2,581 elderly adults in 272 rural communities and 826 elderly adults in 116 urban communities was drawn from Chinese Health and Retirement Longitudinal Studies. Hierarchical linear modeling was applied in the analysis. Social participation as an indicator of individual social capital has a buffering effect on depressive symptoms among rural bereaved parents while it is not beneficial for urban bereaved parents. In contrast, community social capital may be a protective factor for the mental health of urban bereaved parents, but no so for those in rural areas. These findings highlight the complex interplay of social capital and broader socio-cultural contexts in rural and urban China and suggest policy implications.

A Synthetic Indicator Method Applied to Putnam's Social Capital Indicators: The Case of Italy

In his 1993 book titled Making Democracy Work , R. D. Putnam (1993) paved the way for many studies on the distribution of social capital in the different Italian regions. Moreover, he introduced the use of some ‘specific’ indicators to measure social capital considered as civicness , which have ‘systematically’ been adopted in subsequent investigations. In the present essay, the synthetic indicator method, which was designed by Pena (1977; 2009), was applied to the data collected by other scholars (specifically, Cartocci, 2007; Bordandini, Cartocci, 2014; Vanelli, Cartocci, 2015) who replicated Putnam’s research (1993), in order to create a synthetic indicator of social capital. This ‘methodological experiment’ confirms that, in the northern part of Italy, civicness is more widespread than in the South. Furthermore, it proves that voluntary activities and blood donation actions have a major impact on social capital indicators.

Is community social capital associated with subjective symptoms of dementia among older people? A cross‐sectional study in Japan

Many studies have reported the preventive effects of community social capital on health outcomes, such as mortality and incidence of diseases. However, evidence on the association between community social capital and dementia-related outcomes remains sparse. The present study examined the contextual association of social capital with subjective symptoms of dementia among community-dwelling older adults in Japan, using a population-based, large-scale questionnaire survey. Data were used from a cross-sectional survey for all community-dwelling individuals aged ≥65 years in Adachi Ward, Tokyo (n = 132 005). Subjective dementia symptoms were assessed using a self-administered dementia checklist, which was validated by the Clinical Dementia Rating Scale. Social capital was assessed by neighborhood cohesion (neighborhood trust, neighborhood attachment and sense of belonging to the neighborhood) and neighborhood network (i.e. social relationships with neighbors). Individual responses from each district were aggregated to create indicators of district-level social capital. A total of 75 338 questionnaires were analyzed (covering 260 districts). The average age of participants was 73.8 ± 6.0 years (45.0% men). A multilevel binomial logistic regression analysis by sex showed that a denser neighborhood network in a district was associated with a lower likelihood of subjective dementia symptoms (odds ratio 0.89, 95% confidence interval 0.83-0.96) among women. No association was found for men between district-level social capital and subjective dementia symptoms. Fostering structural aspects of social capital in a community is a potential dementia-prevention strategy, and policymakers should focus on such community-based approaches as well as on approaches that target individuals. Geriatr Gerontol Int 2018; 18: 1537-1542.

Trend analysis of co-authorship network in Library Hi Tech

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to examine the evolution of collaboration among researchers in Library Hi Tech based on the co-authorship network analysis.Design/methodology/approachThe Library Hi Tech publications were retrieved from Web of Science database between 2006 and 2017. Social network analysis based on co-authorship was analyzed by using BibExcel software and a visual knowledge map was generated by Pajek. Three important social capital indicators: degree centrality, closeness centrality and betweenness centrality were calculated to indicate the co-authorship. Cohesive subgroup analysis which includes components and k-core was then applied to show the connectivity of co-authorship network of Library Hi Tech.FindingsThe results indicated that around 42 percent of the articles were written by single author, while an increasing trend of multi-authored articles suggesting the collaboration among researchers in librarian research field becomes popular. Furthermore, the social network analysis identified authorship network with three core authors – Markey, K., Fourie, I. and Li, X. Finally, six core subgroups each included six or seven tightly connected researchers were also identified.Originality/valueThis study contributed to the existing literature by revealing the co-authorship network in librarian research field. Key researchers in the major subgroup were identified. This is one of the limited studies that describe the collaboration network among authors from different perspectives showing a more comprehensive co-authorship network.

Wellbeing across individuals and places: How much does social capital matter?

Subjective wellbeing has been linked, by studies at the national level, to incomes above the median, to frequent contact with friends and relatives, and to life stage, with a strong U-shaped function for subjective wellbeing over the life cycle. These national studies also have provided important thinking about the links between social capital and subjective wellbeing. Much less research has investigated the links between place satisfaction and local measures of social capital, and the effect of local (community and neighbourhood) characteristics on place satisfaction and subjective wellbeing. Thus, this paper examines social capital and social cohesion at the local level using Australian survey data with respondents’ evaluations of their community and neighbourhood relationships. The paper links measures of life satisfaction and place satisfaction to indices of local social capital. The results show that local social capital is strongly associated with place satisfaction and modestly associated with life satisfaction. The results add to the national studies by improving the understanding of how place matters in generating subjective wellbeing.

The Neighborhood Impacts of Local Infrastructure Investment: Evidence from Urban Mexico

This paper reports on the results of a large infrastructure investment experiment in which $68 million in spending was randomly allocated across a set of low-income urban neighborhoods in Mexico. We show that the program resulted in substantial improvements in access to infrastructure and increases in private investment in housing. While a pre-committed index of social capital did not improve, we find an apparent decrease in the incidence of personal assault and teen misbehavior in neighborhoods where investments were made. The program increased the aggregate real estate value in program neighborhoods by two dollars for every dollar invested. (JEL H76, O18, R23, R31, R53, Z13)

SOCIAL CAPITAL IN MANAGING MANGROVE AREA AS ECOTOURISM BY MUARA BAIMBAI COMMUNITY

The success of managing the natural environment by involving the community is strongly influenced by the local social conditions. This paper analyzes social capital inherent in the Muara Baimbai Community in Sei Nagalawan Village to manage the mangrove forest as an area valued for tourism. The study was conducted in Muara Baimbai Mangrove Area, Sei Nagalawan Village, Perbaungan District, Serdang Bedagai Regency on June until December 2014. Data were collected by observation, interview using a structured questionnaire, and in-depth interviews. The Muara Baimbai Community has strong social capital in managing the mangrove ecotourism area. An indicator of a strong social capital is a community institution which is run properly. The success of the community to rehabilitate the mangrove area in Sei Nagalawan and to utilise its resources in a sustainable manner is the result of high levels of participation of the members and the role of active cadres as symbolic power that encourage, drive, and motivate the community in their struggle. Strong motivation, fair work allocation and benefits among the members, strong internal connection, and wide external network are very important to strengthen social capital. Furthermore, the increasing welfare gained by the coastal community through increasing economic income, job opportunities, and knowledge are the benefits derived from the sustainable forest management that can maintain the existence of the community and their natural resource