This paper summarizes the current state of the social capital paradigm from the viewpoint of the authors. The paper presents and defends a social capital definition based on sympathetic relationships. The paper also summarizes an expanded set of rational preferences that depend on social...

Social capital in the past two decades has emerged as a dominant paradigm in the various social science disciplines. However, its adoption by the different social science disciplines has led to multiple and often conflicting definitions of social capital. Some differences in the definition of...

An organization is a group of persons who satisfy an established membership requirement. Membership requirements may be based on inherited or earned traits. Organizations provide a place for social capital to reside. Organizations exist because they provide the setting in which members can meet...

Social capital is a resource increasingly recognized as having important economic and social consequences. Robison and Siles (1999) examined some of these consequences at the U.S. state level and this study extends their efforts. Their 1999 study found important connections between the...

Introduction The purposes of this paper are: (1) to introduce the social capital paradigm; (2) to present evidence that social capital has an important role in poverty reduction; and (3) to suggest several policy prescriptions for building and using social capital to reduce poverty. The social...

Social capital, a person or group's sympathy or sense of obligation for another person or group, assumes relationships can alter the terms of trade and the likelihood of trades between individuals. Other important economic consequences of social capital result from its ability to internalize...