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Explaining Unequal Levels of Social Capital in Tehran

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Abstract

Social capital may act as an asset to serve people in various situations. However, people do not equally enjoy the same level of social capital and there is inequality in distribution of this asset in societies. There is few research within the wider literature exploring the determinants of inequality in social capital. This study measured and decomposed inequality in the distribution of social capital in Tehran using a concentration index approach. Data was gathered through a survey in 2008, the sample included 2484 of over 18-year old residents. Social Capital Integrated Questionnaire was used to measure social capital status, its dimensions (networking, trust, and cooperation) and outcomes (cohesion and political action). Most of social capital dimensions/outcomes were unequally distributed in Tehran, favouring the rich. However, in terms of political action, the poor were more politically active than the rich in Tehran. Decomposition showed that economic status and education had the highest contributions to the observed inequalities. In efforts to move towards a more just society, these findings can inform future policies in Iran to tackle the observed inequalities in social capital.

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Notes

  1. Lee et al. (2008), Ashrafi et al. (2012), Nedjat et al. (2013), Glaeser et al. (2002), Fidrmuc and Gërxhani (2005) and Bolin et al. (2003).

  2. van Tubergen and Volker (2015) and Bonoli and Turtschi (2015).

  3. Hughes and Stone (2002), Baheiraei et al. (2016a, b), Nieminen et al. (2008) and Ashrafi et al. (2012).

  4. Hughes and Stone (2002), Guillen et al. (2011), Kostas and Roumeliotou (2009), Halman and Luijkx (2006), Van Oorschot et al. (2005) and Van Oorschot and Finsveen (2009).

  5. Ashrafi et al. (2012), Nakhaie and Arnold (2010), Christoforou (2005) and Nedjat et al. (2013).

  6. Baheiraei et al. (2016a, b), Steinfield et al. (2008) and Lindström et al. (2006).

  7. Locher et al. (2005), Spencer et al. (2009), Lindström (2009) and Nateghpoor and Firuzabadi (2003).

  8. Helliwell and Putnam (1999) and Cross and Lin (2008).

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Acknowledgements

This study was approved by the Shahid Sadoughi University of Medical Sciences and Health Services’ Ethics Committee. The project was financially supported by Tehran University of Medical Sciences’ Vice Chancellor of Research (Project No. 5,715, 86-02-62). We thank all people in these two universities that helped us in conduct of the study.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Epidemiology and Biostatistics Department, School of Public Health, Shahid Sadoughi University of Medical Sciences and Health Services, Yazd, Iran

    Yahya Shadi & Mohammad Hassan Lotfi

  2. School of Public Health, Zanjan University of Medical Sciences, Zanjan, Iran

    Yahya Shadi

  3. Epidemiology and Biostatistics Department, School of Public Health, Knowledge Utilization Research Center, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran

    Saharnaz Nedjat

  4. Health Management and Economics Research Center, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran

    Mostafa Amini Rarani

  5. Department of Health Services Research, Institute of Psychology, Health and Society, University of Liverpool, B210 Waterhouse Building, Brownlow Street, Liverpool, L69 3GL, UK

    Esmaeil Khedmati Morasae

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  1. Yahya Shadi
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Shadi, Y., Lotfi, M.H., Nedjat, S. et al. Explaining Unequal Levels of Social Capital in Tehran. Soc Indic Res 140, 243–265 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11205-017-1773-3

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