Moving from the stock of social capital to the flow of benefits: The role of agency

Comparing results for 60 villages in Rajasthan, India, it is seen that having a high level of social capital does not always help to achieve high development performance. Stocks of social capital need to be drawn upon actively, and capable agency is necessary in addition to high social capital. Locally relevant scales of development performance and social capital are devised for making this comparison. Variables corresponding to other bodies of explanation, including extent of commercialization, relative stratification, and relative need are also examined, but a combination of high social capital and capable agency is found to be associated most closely with high development performance. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.