The Role of Social Capital in Development
An Empirical Assessment

This book documents the role of social capital in accelerating poverty alleviation and rural development.

Christiaan Grootaert (Edited by), Thierry van Bastelaer (Edited by), Robert Puttnam (Foreword by)

9780521812917, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 15 August 2002

384 pages, 3 b/w illus. 87 tables
23.5 x 16 x 2.9 cm, 0.727 kg

Review of the hardback: 'Development and social capital are … correctly given an empirical assessment that allows the reader to gain an accurate understanding of the issues.' Oxfam Development Resources

Previously the role of social capital - defined as the institutions and networks of relationships between people, and the associated norms and values - in programs of poverty alleviation and development has risen to considerable prominence. Although development practitioners have long suspected that social capital does affect the efficiency and quality of most development processes, this book provides the rigorous empirical results needed to confirm that impression and translate it into effective and informed policymaking. It is based on a large volume of collected data, relying equally on quantitative and qualitative research methodologies to establish approaches for measuring social capital and its impact. The book documents the pervasive role of social capital in accelerating poverty alleviation and rural development, facilitating the provision of goods and services, and easing political transition and recovery from civil conflicts.

Foreword Robert D. Putnam
Introduction and overview Christiaan Grootaert and Thierry van Bastelaer
Part I. Social Capital at the Micro and Macro Levels: A Conceptual Discussion and Review: 1. Social capital and poverty: a microeconomic perspective Paul Collier
2. Social capital, growth, and poverty: a survey of cross-country evidence Stephen Knack
Part II. The Impact of Social Capital on Development: 3. Mapping and measuring social capital through assessment of collective action to conserve and develop watersheds in Rajasthan, India Anirudh Krishna and Norman Uphoff
4. Social capital and the firm: evidence from agricultural traders in Madagascar Marcel Fafchamps and Bart Minten
5. How do participation and social capital affect community-based water projects? Evidence from central Java, Indonesia Jonathan Isham and Satu Kähkönen
6. Does social capital increase participation in voluntary solid waste management? Evidence from Dhaka, Bangladesh Sheoli Pargal, Daniel Gilligan, and Mainul Huq
Part III. The Creation and Transformation of Social Capital: 7. The impact of development assistance on social capital: evidence from Kenya Mary Kay Gugerty and Michael Kremer
8. Induced social capital and federations of the rural poor in the Andes Anthony J. Bebbington and Thomas F. Carroll
9. Social capital and social cohesion: case studies from Cambodia and Rwanda Nat J. Colletta and Michelle L. Cullen
10. Ethnicity, capital formation, and conflict: evidence from Africa Robert H. Bates and Irene Yackovlev I
11. Measuring impact and drawing policy implications Christiaan Grootaert and Thierry van Bastelaer.

Subject Areas: Personal & social issues [Children's / Teenage YX], Educational: Mathematics & numeracy [YQM], Development economics & emerging economies [KCM], Econometrics [KCH], Sociology & anthropology [JH], Poverty & unemployment [JFFA]