title: Policy implications of social capital for the Japanese social security system.
abstract: We discuss the concept of social capital, which has received much attention recently. Social capital is important for the following 2 key reasons:(1) a highly democratic polity and a strong economic performance that attaches great importance to the public good can be achieved on the basis of high social capital;and (2) social capital can effect health status in the human population, and widening of income inequality harms human health through the erosion of social capital. In addition, there are 3 political implications of social capital for Japanese society:(1) social capital has implications for the political decision of whether Japanese society should adopt a "medium burden for medium welfare" or a "low burden for small welfare" model together with the concept of social overhead capital;(2) reciprocity, which is one of the primary components of social capital, is similar to the philosophy underlying the health care system of Japan;(3) Japanese society needs to change from a society that emphasizes the relationships between its members to a society that is open to outsiders and has sufficient opportunities.
authors.affiliation: Department of Health Economics, Okayama University Graduate School of Medicine, Dentistry and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Okayama 700-8558, Japan. j-hamada@md.okayama-u.ac.jp
authors.forename: Jun
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Hamada
authors.forename: Soshi
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Takao
mesh_terms: D003695:Delivery of Health Care / Q000191:economics; D006291:Health Policy / Q000191:economics*; D006801:Humans; D007564:Japan; D012943:Social Security / Q000191:economics*; D012944:Social Support; D012946:Social Welfare / Q000191:economics