Abstract

A growing body of research alludes to the beneficial effects of social capital on political, social and economic performance. This naturally provokes the question what factors promote (or block) the emergence of this constructive force. In this paper, we focus on the link between community heterogeneity (measured by both diversity in income levels and nationalities) and social capital using an extensive dataset of macro-level variables for 307 Flemish municipalities. Our results show that, after controlling for various socio-economic characteristics of the municipality, income inequality is not significantly correlated with the municipality’s level of social capital. However, we do find a significant negative relation between the level of social capital and the number of nationalities within a municipality. In accordance with previous international findings, municipalities with large groups of differing nationalities among its citizenry are confronted with lower levels of social capital.

How to Cite:

Coffé, H. & Geys, B., (2006) “Sociaal kapitaal in heterogene gemeenten: een studie naar de relatie tussen een heterogene bevolkingssamen-stelling en het sociaal kapitaal in Vlaamse gemeenten”, Tijdschrift voor Sociologie 27(1), 28–53. doi: https://doi.org/10.21825/sociologos.86647