Beyond networks: can social capital bridge the microcredit gap for China’s relocated households?

Microcredit is a vital means through which rural households obtain financial support and serves as an important instrument for poverty reduction among resource-constrained farmers. Drawing on existing literature and field data, this study develops a social capital indicator system for households relocated under China’s poverty alleviation through relocation program. Using survey data from 417 households in Gansu and Yunnan Provinces, China, the entropy weight method is applied to quantify social capital levels. Probit and logistic regression models, a generalized structural equation model (GSEM), and bootstrap resampling are then employed to examine the effects of social capital on microcredit accessibility and the underlying mechanisms from both theoretical and empirical perspectives. The findings demonstrate that social capital functions as a key informal institutional resource that significantly enhances microcredit accessibility for relocated households. Among the different dimensions of social capital, organizational relational capital carries the greatest weight, underscoring the central role of institutionalized and collective networks in shaping farmers’ social capital endowments. Further analysis indicates that social capital influences microcredit accessibility primarily through two mediating pathways: information transmission and social sanction mechanisms. Additionally, the effects of social capital exhibit clear heterogeneity across household groups. Specifically, for households with higher levels of education and income, social capital improves credit accessibility mainly through enhanced information flows, whereas for older households and those with more positive perceptions of tourism development, social capital exerts a stronger influence through social sanction mechanisms. To consolidate employment and entrepreneurial outcomes among resettled households, strengthen their sustainable livelihood capacity, and promote synergies between tourism development and household income growth, coordinated actions by multiple stakeholders, including farm households, financial institutions, and government agencies are essential to systematically improve microcredit accessibility for relocated households.