Economy and social capital, markets and social networks

This chapter reviews three interrelated areas of substantive research of economic sociology with the attention paid to social capital and social networks. The first is the relationship between economy and social capital, and the focus of the review is on the roles of social capital in the informal economy, the knowledge economy, and the social economy. The second is the relationship between markets and social networks, paying attention to the roles social networks play in labor markets, capital markets, and housing markets. The third is the role of network-based social capital in transition economy, using China as an illustration. The concluding section highlights the directions of future research in these areas of substantive research.