Social capital: Implications for development theory, research, and policy

Abstract

This article provides an overview of social capital in the area of political economy, breaking down research into the communitarian, network, institutional, and synergy approaches. There is also a brief discussion of methodology in social capital research, and how methodology in social capital can be highly problematic. Despite this, the article argues it is important to overcome methodological difficulty in light of the vast potential of understanding social capital in poverty eradication efforts.