The Capital in Social Capital

An Austrian Perspective

Bibliographic Data

ID2808140
AuthorsPavel Chalupnicek (Prague University of Economics and Business, corresponding author)
Year2010
Volume69
Issue4
Pages1230-1250
Publication date2010-10-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueAmerican Journal of Economics and Sociology (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0002-9246 • E-ISSN: 1536-7150
PublisherWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1111/j.1536-7150.2010.00742.x
OpenAlexW1606633953
LanguageEN
Citations received2
References cited39

In recent decades economists started discovering the importance of the social dimension of economic interactions. Contemporary economics has borrowed several sociological concepts for its own use, among the most important being the concept of social capital. However, this transfer within disciplines did not occur without a loss-the nature of social capital in economics remains confused and obscure. The purpose of this article is to clarify it, specify the possibilities for its use, and discuss their limits. It is argued that economics once also possessed a view of human beings that was more "socialized" than the modern neoclassical Homo oeconomicus, and that this more "socialized" view still exists in the Austrian school of economics. Because this tradition of economic thought has also developed an elaborate capital theory, it can serve as an ideal source where we can look for inspiration in the current social capital debate. First, social capital is (re)defined along these lines as an individual's asset connected with recognized reciprocity (as opposed to interactions usually classified as "altruistic"). Then major critical claims about the relation between social and physical capital are answered and the connection between social capital, trust, and social norms is described

Capital (architecture) · Economic capital · Economics · Financial capital · Homo economicus · Individual capital · Neoclassical economics · Positive economics · Reciprocity (cultural anthropology) · Social capital · Social reproduction · Social science · Sociology · Culture, Economy, and Development Studies · Social and Cultural Dynamics · Social Capital and Networks

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