Does social capital determine health? Empirical evidence from MENA countries

Using data from the World Value Survey (2010-2012) for 18 MENA countries, this paper investigates the causal relationship between social capital and health by applying simultaneous-equations based on structural modeling and IVs regression. Our main findings corroborate the hypothesis of reverse causality between social capital and health, i.e. bidirectional causality running from social capital to health and from health to social capital is identified. Furthermore, our empirical findings show that individual-level social capital appears more salient in determining health, while community-level social capital seems less relevant in explaining health differences between individuals. Overall, the present study makes evident that high levels of social capital (i.e. high levels of social participation and high levels of trust) and high individual-level socioeconomic factors (i.e. high levels of income and high levels of education) may generate better health outcomes that policymakers must take into account to improve individual and community health.