The Role of Social Capital in Collective Action: The Case Study of Natural Resource Management

Abstract

The main objective of this study is to examine the role of social capital on collective action in natural resource management. Based on investigating a series of updated theoretical and empirical evidences on the role of social capital in collective action, mainly in natural resource management areas, the following common key findings are worth drawn:

Examined literatures generally indicated that natural resources need protection from destructive actions of people to achieve sustainable development. Thus far, communities have shown in the past and increasingly today that they can collaborate for long-term resource management. Social capital variables like heterogeneity index, bridging and linking social capital, civic engagement, cooperative norms, limited numbers of participants and formalized groups are found to be very significant and positively affecting collective action for community’s achieving sustainable natural resource development. Particularly, indicated that the aforementioned variables are playing a fundamental role in reducing transaction cost of exchange like reducing cost of enforcing rules and information asymmetry; and improve local authority performance by pooling them in the networks.

This study is also aimed to review varies literatures to investigate whether there is positive relation between social capital and collective environmental action.Most study used model estimation of social capital variables in collective action revealed that the higher the social capital level, the more likely individual is willing to contribute in collective action to protect the natural resource. Results also found that individuals with higher degree of social capital are more likely to participate in collective actions because they can access more information, develop linkages and engage in decision making processes. Similarly, based on the findings, most literature also showed that in formalized groups, social capital is high, and people have the confidence to invest in collective activities in achieving their common natural resource goals.

Keywords: Social capital and collective action

DOI: 10.7176/RHSS/11-19-02

Publication date:October 31^st 2021