The Impact of Social Capital on Financial Accessibility in Rural Vietnam

Abstract: The study of the impact of social capital on economic outcomes is currently on the rise. Social capital is a multidimensional concept hard to grasp. This paper makes an attempt to comprise such range of dimensions and analyzes its impact in a potential channel for growth, financial development. Three rural-based provinces of Vietnam are the places where this analysis takes upon. Vietnamese society is deeply embedded in Confucianism values, yet the entire country has undergone a series of socio-economic reforms in the last decades which may be challenging such values. This paper finds evidence that these reforms have had a positive impact on financial development through the encouragement of one of these dimensions, group membership.