Social Capital and Health in Developing Countries: The Case of Indonesia

There is a large literature that documents linkages between social capital and a variety of health outcomes. Much of this literature however relies on short-term cross-sectional data, which renders the estimates to be purely correlational, and focuses primarily on developed nations. This study focuses on a developing country and uses longitudinal data, which allows to control for several sources of bias. We find cognitive social capital to be beneficial for both mental and physical health, while structural social capital to be detrimental for mental health. Possible explanations for the negative effects are the social contagion of risky behaviors and the stress imposed by social cohesion on low-trust individuals.