THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN SOCIAL CAPITAL AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT: A COMPARATIVE APPROACH

The article explores the impact of social capital, particularly its fundamental component such as trust, on the economic development using a comparative approach to analysis. The concept of capital itself is considered through the prism of various sociological approaches. Social capital is operationalized through the phenomenon of trust, primarily at the inter-individual and inter-group levels. Trust is interpreted as a factor that promotes solidarity in society and plays a decisive role in the effective functioning of social actors. The study emphasizes that in the modern world the effectiveness of economic relations depends to a greater extent on indicators of organic solidarity than mechanical solidarity. The study shows that the level of trust in society has an ambiguous impact on economic development. Based on empirical analysis of data from the World Values Survey (2017–2022), it is concluded that trust as the basis of organic solidarity affects the economic development of the country, and this effect is statistically significant for a sample of 55 countries of the world from different regions and levels of development. In contrast, trust as the basis of mechanical solidarity did not show a statistically significant effect on economic outcomes. As a rule, those societies in which trust is not limited to the immediate environment but includes wider social contacts have better conditions for economic growth and achieve higher indicators of economic prosperity. The study expands the understanding of the role of social capital in the modern state and societies and outlines prospects for further relevant scientific explorations.