Evidence briefing
The relationships, networks, trust, reciprocity, and co-operation between people are commonly referred to as ‘social capital’. More social capital is linked to better health, mental health and quality of life, and more trust in others and institutions.
Social infrastructure brings together communities, helping them develop their social capital. Examples include community centres, community hubs, church and village halls, places of worship, shops, pubs, cafes, libraries, museums, galleries, parks, play areas, cinemas, sports grounds, leisure centres, parent and baby groups, playgroups, carer support networks, youth groups, book groups, senior lunch clubs, local business networks, and sports groups.
This briefing provides a framework to help policymakers think through some of the local economic impacts of supporting social infrastructure. It draws on our evidence briefings on public spaces and plural and local ownership, and on other economic theory and evidence.
Key messages
Assessing local economic impacts
As businesses
- Some organisations provide social infrastructure while operating as a business.
- Assessing the social capital created by these businesses is likely to be difficult. Focus on understanding the number of beneficiaries, the intensity with which they use the social infrastructure, what type of social capital is likely to be created, and what outcomes are most likely to be affected.
- Only some social capital might convert into local economic outcomes. A lack of evidence makes mapping from social capital to specific local economic benefits difficult. Be careful not to overclaim.
- Supporting businesses that provide social infrastructure may have direct local economic benefits through their role as businesses. Support could affect productivity, wages, profits or other income, but any benefits are likely to be small.
As providers of support services
- Some social infrastructure involves provision of support services, normally by the public or third sector.
- Support services can help create social capital, which may lead to local economic or other outcomes.
- Mapping social capital effects to local economic impacts is likely to be difficult. Focus on understanding social capital effects, the key issues to think about being the number of potential beneficiaries, whether the support service is the only way they might build this social capital, the intensity of use, what type of social capital is likely to be created, and what outcomes this is most likely to affect.
- Support services may also create local economic impacts directly. Effects will depend on how many users receive the service and the role it plays in achieving the outcome.
As places
- Some physical spaces form part of the social infrastructure of a place. They can also provide a venue for the delivery of support services.
- Assessing the additional social capital created through supporting these physical spaces – and any local economic benefits arising from this additional social capital – is likely to be difficult. Think about the number of residents that might use the space, whether interactions in the space are the only way they might build this social capital, intensity of use, what type of social capital will be created, and what outcomes this is most likely to affect.
- Physical spaces can be an amenity that raises the attractiveness of a place. This can lead to direct local economic impacts through businesses that rely on footfall or by being capitalised into property prices or rents. Benefits arising from attractiveness will be localised, occurring near the space.
As employers
- Many organisations delivering social infrastructure will directly employ staff.
- Supporting social infrastructure will generate direct and indirect employment effects in some cases. Use an employment multiplier to estimate total employment effects.
- As most social infrastructure organisations are in non-tradeable sectors, displacement could be high. Adjust employment calculations accordingly.
- Consider whether jobs are likely to be filled by local residents and compare impacts to total employment.
Assessing costs
- Consider the potential costs for policymakers. These are likely to be highly variable depending on the type of social infrastructure and the support provided.
Monitoring and evaluation
- Use monitoring and evaluation to assess the impact of supporting social infrastructure. This will help improve future decision-making.
