Le Capital Social: Entre Evidences Théoriques et Balbutiemments Empiriques[Social Capital: Theoretical Evidence and empirical issues]

This paper surveys research on social capital with a specific emphasis on Africa studies. We explore deeply the definition and the main dimensions of social capital, following Bourdieu, Coleman and Putnam. We also question the formation of social capital and address the issue of measurement. We argue that while the social capital literature has brought light on some of economic issues, there still exist a number of statistical and conceptual problems. Among these problems, the issue of measurement needs to be addressed with rigor.