ABSTRACT In the current literature there is emerging consensus about a positive correlation between countries' welfare efforts and the social capital of their inhabitants: the larger the welfare state, the more social capital its inhabitants have. This paper pulls the discussion an important step further by asking what mechanisms can be responsible for this correlation. Based on theory and previous findings, we formulate a conceptual model of how the macro–micro relationship could come about. The hypotheses are tested using Eurobarometer data. While most of the mechanisms hypothesised are also found empirically, a substantial part of the direct macro-to-micro effect remains after controlling for the presumed most important intervening factors. Our conclusion is that the relationship is still not well understood and needs more academic attention in future research.

ABSTRACT In this paper we theoretically and empirically explore the question whether the unequal distribution of different aspects of social capital (networks, trust, norms) over a number of social dimensions (gender, age, income, employment status, and educational level) is smaller in countries with more developed welfare systems. Our data cover 13 Western industrialized countries and two periods in time (1981, 1999). The paper adds to the existing literature in several ways: by focusing explicitly on the empirical study of social capital inequality, by relating this subject to (quantitative and qualitative) welfare state characteristics, and by studying it from a cross-national and longitudinal perspective. We find that in the sample of countries analyzed there is no clear relationship between social capital inequality and welfare state characteristics. However, whether generally welfare states do not reduce social capital inequalities remains an issue for future research.