Work

Exploring the nature of social capital elements in the unequal economic environment

Year: 2025

Type: article

Abstract: Economic inequality is rapidly increasing globally, and studies have substantiated that inequality is negatively associated with social capital. However, although studies have investigated the correlation between economic inequality and social capital, few have empirically explored social capital elements negatively related to economic inequality. This study attempted to verify the assumption that the negative association between economic inequality and social capital differs according to the characteristic of social capital elements. The study found that The economic inequality index is negatively associated with the social capital for cognitive elements such as social trust and altruism and structural element such as community participation. Furthermore, not only the current high economic inequality index but also the growth of the economic inequality index is negatively related to the level of social capital.

Source: Journal of Asian Architecture and Building Engineering

DOI: 10.1080/13467581.2025.2483394

Authors: Sungik Kang, Ja-Hoon Koo

Institution: Hanyang University

Language: English

Topic: Social Capital and Networks

Subfield: Sociology and Political Science

Field: Social Sciences

Domain: Social Sciences

SDG: Reduced inequalities

Open Access status: gold

Estimated APC paid: $1,165