Social Capital, Human Capital and the Community Mechanism: Toward a Conceptual Framework for Economists
为经济学家提出社会资本的操作性定义，使其与物质资本和人力资本的定义一致，并探讨社区作为生产社会资本的核心机制，分析其相对于市场和政府的优缺点，以识别高效供给社会资本的条件。
Abstract For facilitating the development of a consensus on the concept of social capital among economists, this paper proposes its operational definition in a way consistent with the definitions of physical and human capital and discusses the relevance on the use of the metaphor of capital for social capital. Further, the unique characteristics in the production and accumulation of social capital in comparison with physical and human capital are identified in relation with the community which is considered the central mechanism to produce social capital. The merits and drawbacks of the community relative to the market and the state are examined with the aim of identifying the conditions under which social capital can be supplied efficiently in the direction of promoting economic progress.