This form of social capital depends on two elements: trustworthiness of the social environment, which means that obligations will be repaid, and the actual extent of obligations held. Social structures differ in both these dimensions, and actors within the same structure differ in the second. A case that illustrates the value of the trustworthiness of the environment is that of the rotating-credit associations of Southeast Asia and elsewhere. These associations are groups of friends and neighbors who typically meet monthly, each person contributing to a central fund that is then given to one of the members (through bidding or by lot), until, after a number of months, each of the n persons has made n contributions and received one payout.

DEFINE: Clarifies the two components of this social capital form: environmental trustworthiness and the extent of obligations held, illustrated by rotating-credit associations. XREF: Connects to Coleman's broader social capital theory and to modern trust/peer-lending literature.

Coleman, SocialCapitalCreation-1988, loc. 85