Culture, religion and social capital: evidence from European regions
International Journal of Sociology and Social Policy
ISSN: 0144-333X
Article publication date: 12 October 2015
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the possible relationship of religion and culture with the social capital in a particular region.
Design/methodology/approach
The data of 85 regions from 26 European countries are analysed. Regression analysis is used for analysing cultural dimensions, religion-related aspects and the communist past as possible factors of social capital components. In addition, graphic analysis is used for the generalisation of the results.
Findings
The results from both the regression and graphic analyses indicate that cultural dimensions capture the possible reasons for different levels of social capital better than religion-related aspects or the division according to the communist background.
Research limitations/implications
Conclusions can be drawn only for the European regions analysed. Data were not available for regions in all European countries and including control variables was limited by the data availability.
Practical implications
When intending to develop policies for increasing social capital, the culture of a particular region should be assessed in order to predict the success of the policies.
Originality/value
The novelty of this study lies in including cultural dimensions based on Hofstede’s concept to the set of possible factors determining the level of social capital in a region.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
This work was supported by the institutional research funding IUT 20-49 of the Estonian Ministry of Education and Research.
Citation
Kaasa, A. (2015), "Culture, religion and social capital: evidence from European regions", International Journal of Sociology and Social Policy, Vol. 35 No. 11/12, pp. 772-794. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJSSP-11-2014-0110
Publisher
:Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2015, Emerald Group Publishing Limited