The role of social capital in corporations: a review

This article reviews the literature on the role of social capital in the economy, with a particular emphasis on its importance for corporations. We relate social capital to concepts such as trust and corporate culture, and discuss and propose various metrics that capture social capital at the firm level, including firms’ corporate social responsibility (CSR) efforts. We summarize the extant research on the relation between social capital and both firm value and stock market performance. Finally, we analyse whether firms are investing enough in social capital. Throughout our discussion, we propose several avenues for further research.