Based on research conducted in three societies - the U.S., China, and Taiwan - this study aims to lend more systematic empirical rigour to Bourdieu's notion of social capital, uncovering stable and variant patterns of the production, processing, and returns to social capital, and exploring possible institutional contingencies in explaining variant patterns across societies.

Nan Lin is Oscar L. Tang Professor Emeritus of Sociology, Duke University, and was Distinguished Research Fellow at Academia Sinica at the time of the reported research program.

Yang-chih Fu is research fellow in the Institute of Sociology, Academia Sinica, Taiwan.

Chih-Jou Jay Chen is Associate Research Fellow at the Institute of Sociology of Academia Sinica, a jointly appointed Associate Professor at the Institute of Sociology, National Tsing Hua University, and Director of the Center for Contemporary China, National Tsing Hua University.

Introduction 1. Social Capital in a Comparative Perspective Nan Lin, Yang-chih Fu and Chih-jou Jay Chen Part I: Measuring Social Capital 2. Contact Status and Finding a Job: Validation and Extension Nan Lin, Hang Young Lee and Dan Ao 3. Homophily and Heterophily in the Position-Generated Networks in the U.S. and China Dan Ao 4. Status-Based Differential Memory and Measurement of Social Capital: Recall Errors and Bias Estimates Kuo-Hsien Su and Nan Lin Part II: Endogeneity of Social Capital: Structural and Network Features 5. Similarities and Differences in Relation-Specific Social Resources Among Three Societies: Taiwan, China and the United States Ray-May Hsung and Ronald L. Breiger 6. How Social Capital Changes During One's Current Job: Work Conditions and Contact Patterns Yang-chih Fu, Ray May Hsung and Szu-Ying Lee 7. Occupational Sex Composition, Cultural Contexts, and Social Capital Formation: Cases of the United States and Taiwan Wei-hsin Yu and Chi-Tsun Chiu 8. The Internet Implications for Social Capital: Stock, Changes, and Tie Strength Wenhong Chen Part III: Accessing and Mobilizing Social Capital: Institutional, Networking and Organizational Factors 9. Job Search Chains and Embedded Resources: A Comparative Analysis Among Taiwan, China and the US Chih-jou Jay Chen 10. Network and Contact Diversities in Race and Gender and Status Attainment in the United States Joonmo Son 11. The Road to Democracy: A Three-Society Comparison of Civic Network Structures Yanlong Zhang and Hang Young Lee Part IV: Social Capital and Well-Being 12. Social Capital in the Workplace and Health Disruptions: A Cross-National Investigation Steve McDonald, Feinian Chen and Martha Crowley 13. Bright and Dark Sides of Who You Know in the Evaluation of Well-Being: Social Capital and Life Satisfaction Across Three Societies Lijun Song Appendix I: Social Capital USA 2004 Telephone Interview Questionnaire. Appendix II: Sample Characters for U.S., Taiwan, and China 2004-2005 Social Capital Surveys.