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Acta Sociologica
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Access to Resources in Networks

A Theoretical and Empirical Critique of Networks as a Proxy for Social Capital

Ellen Finsveen

Tilburg University, The Netherlands, e.m.finsveen{at}uvt.nl

Wim van Oorschot

Tilburg University, The Netherlands, w.v.oorschot{at}uvt.nl

In cross-national comparative studies of people's social capital, there is a standard practice of measuring social capital using the size and intensity of people's networks. In this article, we discuss the validity of this practice, from both a theoretical and an empirical perspective. Theoretically, the practice is problematic, because it disregards that, according to original authors on the subject, social capital is about people's access to resources in their networks. This means that having network relationships is a necessary, but by no means sufficient, condition for possessing social capital. Empirically, using pooled data from the 2001 ISSP comparative survey, we found some positive relationships between network characteristics and people's potential access to resources in their networks. The relationships are weak, however, which means that the assumption that network characteristics are adequate proxies for social capital is equally weak.

Key Words: cross-national • definition • informal networks • measurement • social capital

Acta Sociologica, Vol. 51, No. 4, 293-307 (2008)
DOI: 10.1177/0001699308097375
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