Towards a Narrow Definition of Social Capital: Which Role on the Italian Regional Development and Well-Being?

The concept of social capital still suffers from its "original sin", the historical process that led it to an excessively broad definition. The aim of this study is to isolate some of the key components – interpersonal relationships – from other concepts that are usually improperly pooled into them. A coherent measure allows analyzing some of the possible outcomes of social capital, that is growth and well-being: results confirm a positive association between social capital and well-being only. Also, an explorative investigation puts forward the creation of trust as a crucial stage in the process through which social capital generates its outcomes.