The Economics of Social Capital and Health: A Conceptual and Empirical Roadmap

The Economics of Social Capital and Health: A Conceptual and Empirical Roadmap
ISBN-10
9814583049
ISBN-13
9789814583046
Category
Medical
Pages
236
Language
English
Published
2013-12-12
Publisher
World Scientific
Authors
Sherman Folland, Lorenzo Rocco

Description

This book defines the field of social capital and health. Over the last two decades, there has been a recognition of the importance of social capital (usually defined as ties in the community, attachment to the community, and participation in community activities) and its impact on the health of those in that community. The purpose of this book is to show the growth in the field of social capital and health and to expose readers to a variety of approaches in order to think about and model the question of how health can be improved by investments in community social capital as well as by individual social capital. An outstanding set of papers will be presented by authors from the United States, as well as from Europe and Asia. These papers are cutting-edge and explore the mechanisms through which social capital affects health. The papers also present the most recent empirical work and discuss the policy implications of their findings. Without a doubt, this will be a landmark book which will make the study of social capital and its impact on health a major area of research in the coming decade. Contents:Introduction to the Economics of Social Capital and Health (Sherman Folland and Lorenzo Rocco)What is Social Capital and How Does It Work to Improve Health? (Sherman Folland)How Do We Invest in Social Capital? And Exploration of an Economic Model of Social Capital and Health (Sherman Folland, Oddvar Kaarbøe and Kamrul Islam)Social Capital: An Economics Perspective (Audrey Laporte)How Does Social Capital Arise in Populations? (Sherman Folland and Tor Iversen)Measures of Social Capital (Richard M Scheffler and Yumna Bahgat)The Empirics of Social Capital and Health (Lorenzo Rocco and Elena Fumagalli)Social Capital and Health in Low- and Middle-Income Countries (José Anchorena, Lucas Ronconi and Sachiko Ozawa)Social Capital and Smoking (Lorenzo Rocco and Beatrice d'Hombres)Policy Implications (Eline Aas) Readership: Students and professionals interested in health economics. Key Features:Consists of contributions from internationally renowned authorsProvides first-rate empirical analysisAccessible to non-economistsKeywords:Social Capital;Health and Social CapitalReviews: “Many health economists (and others) believe that ‘social capital’ matters but are not sure how to operationalize the concept in theory or empirical research. This wide-ranging volume tackles social capital with the precision of economics, proposing explicit workable definitions and rigorous empirical tests. I particularly appreciate the careful linking of the recent work on social capital to long-standing ideas in economics about institutions, trust, and family.” Thomas G McGuire Professor, Department of Health Care Policy Harvard Medical School “This is an excellent book. The authors exemplify the value of approaching complex issues from different disciplinary perspectives, applying economic perspectives to provide new insights into the relationship between social capital and health and its importance for individuals and society.” Martin McKee Professor, Department of Health Services Research and Policy London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine “This book is an important step forward on the path to conceptualising social capital and its multiple influences on people's health. The dimensions explored are relevant to scholarly work as well as policy making. Perhaps for the first time, this book provides a comprehensive account of the health gains that may derive from investment in social capital by individuals or governments.” Franco Sassi Senior Health Economist OECD, Paris “This book sheds new light on relationships that the typical health, labor, and family economists tend to overlook. For instance, would you have thought that marriage can be interpreted as demand for Social Capital? Or did you know that the birth of a handicapped child acts like a negative shock to Social Capital, causing fathers to engage in crime with increased probability? Or that ‘Trust’ declines from North to South not only between countries but within the United States as well? Of particular value are the several survey tables providing readers with a key to the recent literature. In short: Maximum learning per unit time.” Peter Zweifel Professor, Department of Economics University of Zurich

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