Summary

The concept of social capital becomes more popular not only in sociology and economics, but in other sciences as well, in which this issue is widely discussed. “Social capital” is quite a broad concept. Diversity of opinions on the nature of this phenomenon complicates the methodology of its measuring. Analysis of existing explanations of social capital, theoretical approaches to its study show that social sciences are still very far from clear understanding of agreed explanation of this phenomenon and the mechanisms of its influence on business. It has been determined in result of research that the degree of trust is connected with business success, and it is considered that in those cultures, where trust is higher, the degree of transaction reduces; in such countries the level of investments is higher. We consider that social capital promotes formation of social relations of an individual, which becomes the basis for the so-called efficient economic behavior and finds a positive reflection on development of business. The results of study of social capital in ethnic groups of different categories showed that the factor of trust was practically unchanged within last 15 years. As it has been mentioned, apart from trust, tolerance and civil identity are also important. The study has showed that they are connected with economic advance of the country. It was determined in the process of cross-cultural research of social capital that most of the ethnic difference is noticed in the multicultural society.