Five Forms of Capital

You may find this thinking to be helpful. It comes from an article by David Darling from the Kansas State University Cooperative Extension Service.

There five forms of capital in a community:

1. Human Capital
2. Social Capital
3. Financial Capital
4. Engineered Capital
5. Natural and Environmental Capital

These five are defined the following way.

Human Capital is the knowledge and skills used in the production process. It includes the skills of production workers, marketing officers, financial managers, and organizational leaders. It includes the work ethic, attitudes, and values of the work force.

Social Capital is the trust and working relationships within a team, organization or a community.

Financial Capital comes in different forms to pay for tasks such as stating a business, expanding a business, or building a school.

Engineered Capital is the collection of human engineered products not already covered as human, social or financial capital. Hard-engineered capital includes physical infrastructure such as fiber optic cable, and soft-engineered capital includes the organizational and institutional infrastructure, as well as the governance of these two.

Natural and Environmental Capital includes water, mineral, scenery, and other gifts of nature.