Institute of Sociology of the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic

The article explores the connections between the performance of the Czech regional governments, the economic development of the regions, and the level of social capital in the regions. Analyses suggest that there is no relationship between regional government performance and the economic performance of the regions, and no relationship between regional government performance and the level of social capital in the regions. Government performance does not appear to be dependent on either of these two factors. Some positive statistical relationships do exist between the level of social capital and the economic performance of the regions. This relationship is stronger when the dynamics of the changes are evaluated – economic growth in the period between 1995 and 2004 was signifi cantly higher in regions with a higher level of social capital. Analyses also revealed the strong effect of another factor – the level of human capital as measured by the education of the population – on all the other observed parameters of the regions. The regions with more educated inhabitants recorded more rapid economic growth, a higher level of social capital, and better performing governments.

Keywords: Czech regions, social capital, government performance, economic development.