SOCIAL CAPITAL AND HUMAN WELL-BEING IN ROMANIA: AN INDIVIDUAL LEVEL ANALYSIS
SOCIAL CAPITAL AND HUMAN WELL-BEING IN ROMANIA: AN INDIVIDUAL LEVEL ANALYSIS

Summary/Abstract: Social capital theorists claim that social capital has positive impacts on various aspects of societal life, such as economic well-being, health, crime rates, educational achievement, and adolescent development (Woolcock, 1998). Thus, on the basis of data collected from 1344 individuals by World Values Survey (WVS) wave 6 Romania 2012, the present paper examines the inter-linkage between social capital and human well-being in Romania. In the study, social capital is measured by two proxy indicators, the generalized trust among individuals and the membership of individuals in voluntary organizations. At all Romania level, mean score for individuals on the social capital index is found to be 5.22 points out of possible 100 points with standard deviation 10.81. To examine the impact of social capital on human well-being, OLS regression model is used where human well-being (measured by happiness in life, health condition, satisfaction in life, freedom of choice, satisfaction of the individual with his/her financial situation, Romanian citizenship proud, and the extent of savings) is taken as the dependent variable, and on the other side, social capital, human capital and income level are taken as the explanatory variables along with two demographic characteristics of the individuals, gender and age. At mean social capital score of 5.22, the coefficient of the variable shows that a one unit increase in social capital would increase well-being of individuals by 4.9%. Finally, the study suggests that human well-being programmes should integrate social capital as an essential element.

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