Effect of Social Capital on Labour Market Attainments in Bangladesh

Abstract

“It’s not what you know, it’s who you know” - this common aphorism sums up much of the conventional wisdom regarding social capital. It is wisdom born of our experience that gaining membership to exclusive clubs requires inside contacts, that close competitions for jobs and contracts are usually won by those with “friends in high places.” When we fall upon hard times we know it is our friends and family who constitutes the final “safety net.” Conscientious parents devote hours of time to the school board and to helping their kids with homework, only to aware that a child’s intelligence and motivation are not enough to ensure a bright future. Less instrumentally, some of our happiest and most rewarding hours are spent talking with neighbors, sharing meals with friends, participating in religious gatherings, and volunteering on community projects. Unlike other forms of capital, social capital inheres in the structure of relations between actors and among actors. It is not lodged either in the actors themselves or in physical implements of production. Because purposive organizations can be actors just as persons can, relations among corporate actors can constitute social capital for them as well. For instance, being the sharing of information that allows price fixing in an industry. However, in the present research, the area of application to which researcher directs the study concern social capital as a resource for persons. There are many definitions attached to the concept, which leads to justifiable confusion about what constitutes “social capital.” This has been exacerbated by the different words used to refer to the term. These range from social energy, community spirit, social bonds, civic virtue, community networks, social ozone, extended friendships, community life, social resources, informal and formal networks, good neighborliness and social glue. Within these there are different conceptualizations depending on the theoretical background, which contribute to conceptual confusion. However, these confusions have not hampered production of academic papers. Before 1981, the number of journal articles listing social capital as a key word totaled 20, between 1991 and 1995 this has risen to 109, and between 1996 and March 1999 the total was 1003 (Baum, 2000). In contemporary period of time, innumerable sociological and interdisciplinary researches are being conducted all over the world concentrating on social capital. Researchers of social capital might come to a consensus concerning social capital that it would help in its measurement for an application in an organizational context. Social capital is a striking avenue and its presumed positive outcomes are often considered perceptive. However, because it is hard to encapsulate in a single sentence, and because its measurement continues to defy simple quantification, debates regarding its conceptualization continue. In addition, the lack of conceptual clarity has contributed to over versatility………………….