Social Capital, Measurement of

The historical evolution of the social capital (SC) conceptualization is rooted in the sociological field, appearing in the second half of the twentieth century. The approaches developed on the SC concept are diverse but converge on its multidimensionality and a general meaning: individuals and groups gain access to resources, benefits, and opportunities through their human sociability. Accordingly, SC comprises several elements, such as social relations, social support, or social cohesion, that are not interchangeable with the whole term. Hence, SC in organizations deals with intangible assets and does not exist and function except in a specific context (Bourdieu and Wacquant 1992). Recently, the interest in SC measurement has gained momentum in the management and accounting literature in relation to sustainability reporting initiatives and the UN 2030 Agenda. By the way, there are no universally accepted standards for measuring SC, since the measurement approaches depend on the diverse SC conceptualization, the context of investigation, and the social setting. To date, the present SC disclosure in organizations mainly deals with narrative descriptions.