Individual social capital and willingness to contribute money for the environment

Jones, Nikoleta; Malessios, Chrisovaladis and Botetzagias, Iosif (2007). Individual social capital and willingness to contribute money for the environment. In: Proceedings of the 8th European Sociological Association Conference Conflict, Citizenship and Civil Society p. 174.

URL: http://www.europeansociology.org/conferences/8th-e...

Abstract

Individuals tend to act for the common benefit of their community if certain elements of social capital exist (Coleman, 1990; Putnam, 1993, 2000). Consequently, it is assumed that citizens will tend to cooperate for the long-term improvement and conservation of natural resources in communities with high stocks of social capital. The aim of this article is to examine these assumptions by connecting individual social capital to the willingness of individuals to contribute money for environmental improvement. Data were obtained from European Values Survey (1999/2000) and individual social capital was estimated through the inclusion of four factors: trust, social support, social networks and civic awareness. The analysis conducted indicates that stocks of social capital influence the tendency of individuals to contribute (or not contribute) money for environmental goods. In addition, variations between different social groups were examined. We propose that the results of this study may provide empirical proof for the connection between individual social capital and attitudes concerning natural resources.

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