Social capital and local economic development: An analysis specific to businesses in Batman

Social capital has been the subject of frequent studies in the field of economics recently, just as in different disciplines. Thus studies on the economic growth and development relations of social capital are increasing day by day. The applied studies also demonstrate that social capital is efficient in the economic growth and development process, just as physical and human capital. In this study, social capital has been theoretically examined by its definition, improvement process, types, components and measurements. Afterward, the impact of social capital on local economic development was investigated specifically for enterprises in Batman province. The data from the study were obtained and analyzed by survey method in 411 examples of companies operating in Batman. The correlation analysis revealed that there is a statistically significant and positive relationship between trust, norms and social networks, which are indicators of social capital, and local economic development. On the other hand, regression analysis has also shown that trust, norms and social networks have a positive effect on local economic development.