Home Page > Reading List > Social Capital and Poverty in Developing Countries

Social Capital and Poverty in Developing Countries

This section is devoted to the role of social interactions and social capital in the fight against poverty and inequalities in developing countries. Particular consideration is given to the ability of social interactions to mitigate the effects of income inequalities, to improve the capabilities and the quality of life of the poors, to foster productivity and innovation in rural areas, and to support the development of microcredit programmes.

• Social interactions, health and the quality of life in urban and rural areas
Studies collected in this section show how different forms of social capital may mitigate the effects of poverty and inequalities. For example, social networks make possible the creation of spontaneous mechanisms of informal insurance; Collective action, often in the form of voluntary organizations, can improve the efficiency of public services delivery and/or of public social protection systems.

• Social capital, productivity and innovation in rural areas
This section focuses on the ability of different forms of social capital to foster or to hamper the diffusion of knowledge and innovation.

• Social capital and microcredit
Grameen Bank's experience has shown that developing microcredit programmes requires the formation of dense horizontal networks and the creation of well-functioning links between such networks and the higher levels of programmes' management.

• Development assistance, civil society, social capital, and poverty reduction
This section deals with the role of development assistance in poverty reduction, with a particular focus on the ability to foster participatory processes, civil society's role in the political debate, and social capital formation.

• Readings on other aspects of the relationship between social interactions and poverty in developing countries
Waiting for new, more specific, categories, this section collects, temporarily in a residual way, readings on other topics related to the relationship between social capital and poverty. Considered studies address topics like the role of the state, the relevance of the informal economy, and the relationship between different forms of social capital (i.e. bonding, bridging, and linking social capital) in poverty reduction processes.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------^^^

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------^^^