Kapasitas sosial kelompok untuk bertindak dalam kepentingan kolektif tergantung pada kebijakan pembangunan dari institusi. Hal ini dikarenakan institusi dapat mempengaruhi kapital sosial suatu kelompok. Program pemberdayaan usaha garam rakyat (PUGAR) merupakan program dari Kementerian Kelautan dan Perikanan yang di dalamnya terdapat kegiatan pemberdayaan masyarakat dan bantuan pengembangan usaha bagi petambak garam. Program PUGAR dapat mempengaruhi kapital sosial petambak garam. Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk mengukur pengaruh Program PUGAR terhadap kapital sosial petambak garam di Desa Tasikharjo Kecamatan Kaliori Kabupaten Rembang Provinsi Jawa Tengah. Pendekatan penelitian yang digunakan yaitu kuantitatif dengan menggunakan sensus. Teknik pengumpulan data menggunakan kuesioner, studi kepustakaan, dan observasi. Teknik analisis data menggunakan regresi linier sederhana dan Uji T. Hasil penelitian menunjukkan bahwa program PUGAR mempengaruhi kapital sosial petambak garam sebesar 39,1% sedangkan 60,9% dipengaruhi oleh faktor lain. Hubungan antara program PUGAR dan kapital sosial berada dalam kategori kuat dengan nilai koefisien (R) sebesar 0,625. Hasil uji T menunjukkan program PUGAR berpengaruh positif terhadap kapital sosial yang dapat dilihat dari nilai koefisien regresi variabel program PUGAR sebesar 0,598 bernilai positif. Program PUGAR berpengaruh signifikan terhadap kapital sosial dengan tingkat kepercayaan 95%, dan nilai α = 0,05 yang dapat dilihat nilai thitung > ttabel (4,624 > 2,039513).

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Capacity of social groups to act in their collective interest depends on development policy from institution. This is because institutions can influence the social capital of a group. Peoples Salt Business Empowerment (PUGAR) Program is a program from the Ministry of Maritime and Fisheries in which is community empowerment activities and business development assistance for salt farmers. PUGAR Program can influence the social capital of salt farmers. The purpose of this research is to measure the influence of the PUGAR program on the social capital of salt farmers in Tasikharjo village, Kaliori district, Rembang regency, Central Java Province.

The aproach used in this research is quantitative with census. The technique of collecting data used questionnaires, literature studies, and observations. The data analysis technique used simple linear regression and T test. The results shows that the PUGAR program influence the social capital of salt farmers by 39.1% while 60.9% was influenced by other factors. The relationship between PUGAR program and social capital is in a strong category with a coefficient (R) of 0.625. The results of the T test shows PUGAR program has a positive effect on social capital which can be seen from the regression coefficient of the PUGAR program variable of 0.598 has positive value. The PUGAR program has a significant effect on social capital with a confidence level of 95%, and a value of α = 0.05 which can be seen as tcount > ttable (4,624> 2,039513).