Factors Affecting on Bonding Social Capital: An Enquiry Toward Cooperatives of Natural Resources and Watershed Management Project in Fars Province

Social interactions of people create a link between them that is called social capital. Without these links, the possibility of cooperation between individuals and institutions is impeded. Therefore, the social capital is the main platform for the formation of economic relations in society. The main objective of this study was to investigate factors affecting the bonding social capital of Talayedaran cooperative’s members of Natural Resources and Watershed Management Project in west part of Shiraz County. For implementation of this study, a survey research was used. The questionnaire faces validity and the reliability was also verified. The study population included members of Talayedaran cooperative from three villages (Mokhtarabad, Bisotton and Tolekarei). The stratified random sampling method was used for the sample selection and finally 146 members were selected as sample group. Some research findings revealed that the average bonding social capital of Talayedaran cooperative’s members was at satisfactorily strong level. The correlation test showed that there is a significant and positive relationship between the variables of age and the years of education with bonding social capital. But no significant relation was observed between the variables of number of years of residence in the village, agricultural work experience, household size and amount of owned arable land with bonding social capital. In addition, correlation test showed that there is a synergetic effect between components of bonding social capital. The mean comparison test showed no significant difference between the average women’s bonding social capital and that of men, but women, in relation to components of trust, information exchange rate and network of informal relationship had higher score compared to men. The amount of bonding social capital and its components was lower in farmers compared to in non- farmers. Finally, some recommendations have been presented according to research findings at the end of article.