Migration, small municipalities and the transition in the forms of social capital

Abstrakti

A robust migration changes the local social structure and there is some evidence that migration might have an influence on social capital as well. The implications of using an analysis based on social capital are significant, especially in Finland, following the adoption of a new regional policy in the 1990’s, which emphasises the role of regional growth centres as promoters of economy and welfare in the entire county. In this article, PhD Esko Ovaska examines migration to the countryside and its consequences to the services and local social systems in small municipalities, and the relationships between migration and changes in the social capital.