The Impact of Social Capital on Good Governance and Human Development in Selected Middle Eastern Countries A Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling Approach

Document Type : Extracted from the dissertation

Authors

1 Department of Economics, Razi University, Kermanshah

2 author Department of Economics, Razi University, Kermanshah

3 Department of Economics, Razi University, Kermanshah.

4 . PhD in Economic Sciences, Researcher

10.22034/jeds.2025.68805.1894

Abstract

Human development is one of the key topics in the development literature, directly affecting individual and social well-being. This issue is of particular importance in developing countries. This study seeks to explore the causal relationships between human development, good governance, and social capital. The research aims to empirically analyze these relationships in three developing countries, including Iran, Lebanon, and Pakistan. To test the relationships among the variables, the Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) method was employed using SMART-PLS software. The study period, determined by data availability, covers the years 1999 to 2022. Data were collected from the World Values Survey (WVS) to measure social capital, the World Bank’s governance indicators to assess good governance, and the United Nations Human Development Reports to measure human development. The results indicated that the relationship between good governance and human development was negative and moderate in Iran and Lebanon, while it was positive and moderate in Pakistan. Moreover, the relationship between social capital and good governance was negative in Iran and Lebanon, but positive in Pakistan. In contrast, social capital exhibited a positive and relatively strong relationship with human development in all countries under study, although the relationship was weaker in Lebanon. The findings suggest that social capital can act as an effective driver of human development, even within the context of weak governance. These results highlight the importance of designing policies that recognize social capital as one of the drivers of human development, while also accounting for the cultural and institutional specificities of each country in analyzing causal relationships among the variables.

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References

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