The ‘bright’ side of Social Capital: How ’bridging’ makes Italian provinces more innovative

Existing studies have failed to reach a consensus on the impact of social capital on local innovative performance: some empirical analyses emphasize a positive effect, others speak about a ‘dark side’ of social capital. This chapter aims to shed new light on the differential role of ‘bonding’ and ‘bridging’ social capital in innovation dynamics. The spatial economic analysis of the innovative performance of the Italian provinces shows that social capital is an important predictor of innovative performance However, only ‘bridging’ social capital – based on weak ties – can be identified as the key driver of the process of innovation while ‘bonding’ social capital is shown to be negative for innovation.