Social capital and self-rated health: results from the US 2006 social capital survey of one community.
Using data from the 2006 Social Capital Community Survey in Duluth, Minnesota, and Superior, Wisconsin, USA, we investigate associations between individual social capital measures (attitudes on trust, formal group involvement, informal socializing, organized group interaction, social support and volunteer activity) and self-rated health after controlling for individual and economic characteristics. In particular, we address issues of social capital as an endogenous determinant of self-reported health using instrumental variables probit estimation. After accounting for the endogeneity of these various measures of individual social capital, we find that individual social capital is a significant predictor of self-rated health.
Department of Economics, University of Minnesota, Duluth, MN 55812, United States. jschultz@d.umn.edu
Jennifer
J
Schultz
A Maureen
AM
O'Brien
Bedassa
B
Tadesse
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D005260:Female; D006304:Health Status; D006801:Humans; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012944:Social Support; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D014481:United States