SOCIAL CAPITAL AND EMPLOYMENT: A CASE STUDY IN WESTERN NGHE AN

Abstract

Based on quantitative and qualitative data of the survey with people in Western Nghe An, the article analyzes the role of social capital in the employment of people in this place, focusing in two main aspects: job finding and support in production and business. Research results show that the process of transformation, employment finding, production and business expansion is founded on farmers' social capital with one another, notably social networks, reciprocal connections, and trust. These direct supports are mainly provided by inwardly clustered social capital (social capital in groups/networks of relatives, neighbors, friends) with little or no presence of bridging and linking social capital. Meanwhile, the function of social capital reaching out, particularly online social capital, in getting a job is pretty evident. Ethnic social capital, in particular, plays an essential role in governing activities that support people in employment, production, and business.