Social Capital And Its Institutional Contingency

This volume is a collection of original studies based on one of the first research programs on comparative analysis of social capital. Data are drawn from national representative samples of the United States, China and Taiwan. The three societies selected for study allow the examination of how political-economic regimes (command versus market) and cultural factors (family centrality versus diverse social ties) affect the characteristics of social ties and social networks from which resources are accessed and mobilized.

1. Theories of Capital: The Historical Foundation. 3. 2. Social Capital: Capital Captured through Social Relations. 19. 3. Resources, Hierarchy, Networks, and Homophily: The Structural Foundation. 29. 4. Resources, Motivations, and Interactions: The Action Foundation. 41. 5. The Theory and Theoretical Propositions. 55. 6. Social Capital and Status Attainment: A Research Tradition. 78. 7. Inequality in Social Capital: A Research Agenda. 99. 8. Social Capital and the Emergence of Social Structure: A Theory of Rational Choice. 127. 9. Reputation and Social Capital: The Rational Basis for Social Exchange. 143. 10. Social Capital in Hierarchical Structures. 165. 11. Institutions, Networks, and Capital Building: Societal Transformations. 184. 12. Cybernetworks and the Global Village: The Rise of Social Capital. 210. 13. The Future of the Theory. 243. . References. 251. . Index. 267.

This insightful book explores the spread of network imagery in three areas of sociology – social capital, social support, and China – using as its protagonist a man active in all three: Nan Lin. Social Capital, Social Support and Stratification provides a unique combination of Nan Lin’s core contributions to the field presented alongside new and original analyses.

Sherman Folland and Eric Nauenberg present the cutting edge of research covering the ever-expanding social capital field. With excellent contributions from leading academics, the Elgar Companion to Social Capital and Health offers a developed examination of new research across sociology, epidemiology, economics, psychology, and political science.

This book presents a series of studies focusing on the role of social capital in the labor market and beyond. Using the effect of individual social capital on labor markets as an example, this book pays special attention to the origins of and solutions to the endogeneity problem. It uses several identification strategies to systematically test for the causal effects of social capital. First, this book constitutes the first attempt to offer a systematic account of the progress made by social scientists in improving causal inferences into the role of social capital in labor markets. Second, the book adopts specialized approaches—both classical and new—toward different sources of endogeneity. Incorporating the latest research from outside fields, such as economics, into sociological research is a small but significant methodological innovation. Third, in addition to empirical research, this book undertakes an innovative exploration of the theory of social capital. It creatively explains the dynamic evolution of social capital, which helps balance objectivism and subjectivism when analyzing interpersonal actions. For sociologists who focus on quantitative research methods and social capital, scholars who study Chinese societies, and related students, this book provides both advanced methods and rich empirical research.

Social capital is broadly conceptualised as consisting of resources and network ties embedded in the social structures and relationships that facilitate beneficial outcomes for the actors within those structures. Despite the number of research studies on social capital, there have been fewer attempts to examine social capital in the context of service-oriented firms, particularly in the Asia Pacific. This is surprising as the service industry plays an important role in the global services trade transactions and business activities. Social capital enables and maintains social relations for business transformation for service-oriented firms. Indeed, it would be unimaginable for any economic activity, particularly in service-oriented firms, to occur without social capital. This examination of social capital in the Asia Pacific region provides the context for recognising the cultural, social and economic opportunities and challenges of several Asia Pacific countries that can potentially enrich our knowledge and understanding of the region. Contributions are drawn from cases based in Thailand, Indonesia, South Korea, China and Australia, for relevant application in the areas of social capital and service-oriented firms in the Asia Pacific. This book was originally published as a special issue of the Asia Pacific Business Review.

Social capital - the informal networks, trust and common understanding among individuals in an organization - determines major competitive advantages in today's networked economy. Knowledge and Social Capital explains how social capital can drive collaboration, reconcile an organization's internal and external labor markets, and improve organizational effectiveness. This edited compilation of authoritative articles helps readers understand how they can build and capitalize on their own organizations' social capital. Knowledge and Social Capital teaches core principles and important strategies to a range of executives, including organizational development specialists, corporate strategists, and knowledge management professionals. Readers will learn how an organization can:

Current research on social capital tends to focus on an economic reading of social relations. Whereas economists pride themselves on reaching out to social theory at-large, sociologists criticize the economization of the social fabric. The concept of social capital serves as a touchstone for the study of the role of the economy in modern societies. It serves as a breach for expanding the reach of economic categories, yet it also yields the opportunity for questioning and transforming economic premises in the light of social theory and philosophy. Exploring the concept of social capital in the context of related terms like embeddedness, trust, sociability, and cooperation is particularly instructive. This collection of papers from various disciplines (philosophy, sociology, economics, religious studies) combines conceptual studies and empirical findings. It is a plea for re-embedding economic thought in a broader theoretical framework. By exploring the varieties of social identities implied in the theories of social capital, the authors argue for a social (or more sociable) conception of man.