Golfing Alone? Local Corporations, Elite Cohesion and Community Social Capital, 1986-1998*

This paper examines how the density of corporate and bank headquarters in a community, and the degree of social interconnection among local elites, influence changes in the density of different types of non-profit organizations. We contrast a cohesion approach, which emphasizes the positive influences of corporations and well-connected civic elites, with a critical approach that takes a skeptical stance to corporate and elite activities. Using information from interviews, the Census, IRS records on non-profits, and securities filings for every corporation listed on Nasdaq and the New York Stock Exchange, we assembled profiles of 62 Metropolitan Statistical Areas for 1986 and 1998. Our results indicate that there is a subtle relationship between corporate presence, cohesive elites and civic organization in US communities. Growth and decline in the number of cultural institutions and other elite-oriented non-profits was contingent on the density of businesses headquartered in a community. In contrast, the health of community-oriented non-profits was unrelated to corporate density, but was influenced most heavily by the structure of connections among members of the community’s elite. While a more cohesive local elite had positive effects for most communities in our sample, our results indicate the having too cohesive an elite has a detrimental effect on local civic