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Social Capital Theory
The main idea in social capital theory is that people gain both tangible and intangible resources at the individual, group, and organizational level through social interactions and connections with others (Bourdieu, 1986; Coleman, 1988; Lin, 2001; Putnam, 2000). A key focus in the theory is that social capital resources are embedded within, available through, and derived from social networks of interconnected people, groups, or nations (Bolino, Turnley, & Bloodgood, 2002; Inkpen & Tsang, 2005).
The concept of social capital initially appeared in work that examined the importance of building strong families and local communities (Jacobs, 1965; Loury, 1977). Hanifan (1916) is credited as having first used the term “social ...
