SOCIAL CAPITAL ELEMENTS IN A COMMUNITY: THE PERCEPTION OF THE ADMINISTRATION STUDENTS

Abstract

Adopting a development vision that emphasizes the endogenous factors of each locality, this paper investigates the factors that determine the level and the nature of the capital stock of a community. The concept of development defended in this study only is possible of being reached through the increasing of the social and cultural characteristics of the region. Being thus, it is necessary that the region knows to promote and to adopt its social capital level - as part of the development process. The survey was done in the city of Farroupilha (RS), using a sample of business students of a local college. Descriptive statistics, factorial analysis, linear regression and analysis of variance had been used. The results point the variables related to the “Participation in the community” as having the lesser levels of social capital, while the variables related to the “Work environment” reached the best performances. The analysis of the results considers the socio-cultural aspects of the region and aims, thus, to find elements related to the characteristics and the endogenous forces of the community. As future intention it is expects to raise insights for the construction of social actions - promoted for private companies, government or civil society -, which answer to the challenges of generation of social capital and local development.