Social capital is a creation of various disciplines which has resulted in the propagation of numerous definitions (Baron, Field & Schuller, 2001; Castiglione, Van Deth & Wolleb, 2008;
Scrivens & Smith, 2013). Social capital has also been associated with a multiplicity of words in numerous disciplines. Dill (2015, p. 2) elaborated,
“despite its almost logical distinction from financial capital and human capital, social capital cuts across with a couple of societal, economic and political issues such as civil society, social cohesion, voluntarism, philanthropy, public goods, social development, social entrepreneurship, social networks and solidarity.”
Thus, the concept has been muddled with being associated with many societal, economic and political issues. Rogosic and Baranovic (2016, p. 83) stated,
Social capital is researched within the framework of different approaches, thus resulting in the emergence of numerous conceptual and methodological issues: the coherence and uniqueness of concepts, its analytical validity and heuristic usefulness, operational issues with respect to issues of social confrontations and social exclusion, its political and social implications.
57 Due to proliferation and application of social capital in many disciplines, many definitions have also emerged. OECD (2001, p.2) contended, “there is no single definition of social capital.” In addition, Narayan and Pritchett (1997) argued there are almost as many definitions of the concept as the authors writing on it. Robinson, Schmid and Siles (2002) stated that, “there is no commonly agreed definition of social capital and the definition adopted by any given study seems to depend on the discipline and level of investigation.”
Horvart, Weininger and Lareau (2003, p. 321) argued, “the definition of social capital has been plagued by conceptual murkiness.” This conceptual murkiness is attributable to the association of the concept with capital, as understood in business and economics. Spillane, Hallett and Diamond (2003, p. 3) stated that, “broadly speaking capital can be defined as resources that are acquired, accumulate and are of value in certain situations or, to use the parlance of economists, are of worth in particular markets.” Akcomak (2011, p. 3) argued,
Despite this interest, there has not been an agreement on what social capital actually is. The concept is widely used both at the macro and micro level without really specifying the sources of it which makes the concept rather vague. It has been used as a catch-all term encompassing all social explanations to various socio-economic phenomena.
Social capital has not only been applied and associated with numerous concepts it has also been used at both macro and micro levels thus compound any endeavour to unlock the concept to larger extent. However, Knowles (2005, p. 5) explained, “although everyone has their own favourite definition of social capital, most researchers would not object too strongly to a definition that incorporated the notions of trust, networks (or group memberships) and cooperative norms.” Addis and Joxhe (2016, p. 1) further stated,
… we find that definitions of "social capital" are abundant, somewhat dissimilar for different authors, and sometimes quite fuzzy. Some confusion remains as to what exactly constitutes social capital, and what is its relation to human capital.
Nonetheless, two elements stand out in almost all definitions: a) The existence of networks of relationships other than market exchange (a.k.a. structural social capital) and b) The existence of norms shared by people in the network, which create the conditions for reciprocal trust (a.k.a. cultural social capital).
58 A simple definition is availed in Woolcock (2001, p. 2) that, “social capital refers to the norms and networks that facilitate collective action.” While, Coleman (1990, p. 302) averred, social capital is defined by its function, it is not a single entity, but a variety of different entities having two characteristics in common. They all consist of some aspect of social structure, and they facilitate certain actions of individuals who are within the structure.
While the another prominent contributor to the social capital discourse, Putnam views social capital as, “features of social organisation such as networks, norms and social trust that facilitate coordination and cooperation of mutual benefit” (Putnam, 1995, p. 67). Whereas, Inglehart (1997, p. 188) views social capital as, “a culture of trust and tolerance, in which extensive networks of voluntary associations emerge.” Thus, this study views social capital as entailing those networks between individuals and/or communities which facilitate cooperation, trust and reciprocity. The OECD (2001, p. 39) explained,
The concept of ‘social capital’ is different from human and physical capital in a number of respects since it is relational rather than being the exclusive property of any one individual; is mainly a public good in that it is shared by a group; and is produced by societal investment of time and effort, but in a less direct fashion than is human or physical capital.
Thus, in this social capital influence study, social capital is regarded through the lens of the OECD (2001, p. 41) which defines it as, “networks together with shared norms, values and understandings that facilitate co-operation within or among groups.” Vermaak (2006, p. iii) also avers that, “social capital, in broad terms, refers to norms, networks, trust and forms of social connections in societies that allows people to gain access to resources.” This view is concurred in Field (2008, p. 1) who added that the concept of social capital offers a potentially fruitful way of conceptualizing the “intangible resources of community, shared values and trust.” Other definitions that have been offered on social capital include; “An individual’s personal social network, and all the resources he or she is in a position to mobilize through this network ...” (Flap & De Graaf, 1986, p. 145). Burt (1992, p. 9) states
“... social capital refers to friends, colleagues, and more general contacts through whom you receive opportunities to use your financial and human capital ...”
Whereas, Sprengers, Tazelaar and Flap (1988, p. 98) opined,
59 ... someone’s network and all the resources a person gets access to through this network can be interpreted more specifically as his “social capital” ... someone’s social capital is a function of the number of people from whom one can expect support, and the resources those people have at their disposal.
Therefore, it can be revealed that there are numerous definitions of social capital that have been proffered by scholars around the world. Social capital importance in discourse has also received attention from scholars. Rogosic and Baranovic (2016, p. 83) stated,
The popularity of the concept of social capital is a result of attempts to accentuate the value of social relations in political debates, to re-establish the normative dimension as a subject of social analyses, and to create concepts that reflect the complexity and interrelatedness of appearances in the real world.
Social capital can also be discussed utilising its dimensions. Savioli and Patueli (2016, p. 3) elaborated,
Social capital has different dimensions affecting economics and society: cognitive processes of individuals shape the relationships between them and produce the structure of the community. First, social capital refers to the cognitive domain, which involves mental processes, concepts and ideas. Indeed, social groups have shared mental processes embedded in their language, stories and culture. Second, the relational aspect of social capital pertains to trust, norms and identity. These dimensions deeply impact on relational ties, resulting in socially complex communities composed by strictly idiosyncratic characteristics. Third, the structural domain of social capital is important for the understanding of organisations, institutions and leadership, since it profoundly shapes social relations.
Therefore, it can be revealed that social capital has cognitive, relational and structural domains. The next segment focusses on the social capital theory in detail.