Suchergebnisse

Na economia contemporânea, o capital social é identificado por alguns como normas e redes que enfatizam confiança, reciprocidade e cooperação para a produção de bens públicos. Mas os críticos clamam que o capital social é, principalmente, de origem individualista e fornece terra firme para subordinação do trabalho do capital. Argumentamos que, apesar dos maus-tratamentos neoclássicos, concepções mais socializadas do capital social conferem aos indivíduos capacidade de compartilhar um senso de obrigação social e identidade comum e buscar estratégias articuladas para o bem-estar público. Tentamos reintegrar o "social" ao capital social através do conceito de encapsulamento social, onde os indivíduos se engajam livremente em processos de reflexão, mobilização social e debate político para assessorar conflitos diferentes e frequentes e objetivos que atravessam múltiplas agências coletivas. Assim, as escolhas dependem não apenas de utilidade pessoal, mas também de identidade pessoal, como, por exemplo, que tipo de pessoa alguém quer ser e que tipo de sociedade alguém deseja ter.

Abstract:In this paper, we offer an empirical investigation of the relationship between social capital and human development across European countries for the post-war period. We argue that social organizations contribute directly to broader welfare aspects of development as part of the third sector of the economy, which undertakes the provision of public goods, such as health and education, in synergy with state institutions. This is counter to views that associate social organizations with anti-growth rent-seeking and lobbying activities. We begin with a multivariate regression analysis, which reveals that membership in social organizations is positively associated with human development, along with state institutions of public expenditure and the quality of governance. We then conduct a case study analysis to explore further the historical and cultural contextual factors of European welfare systems that determine the capacity of third sector organizations to enhance generalized co-operation, synergistic relations and social welfare against particularist interests.

Social capital refers to the stock of social relations, based on norms and networks of cooperation and trust that spill over to the market and state to enhance collective action between actors and achieve improved social efficiency and economic growth. The aim of the present paper is to discuss the implications of contemporary literature and empirical findings on social capital for the growth prospects of Greece, compared to the member-states of the European Union. In order to examine the potential of social capital to enhance growth, we must look into the factors that determine the nature and context of trust, norms and networks that have emerged in our multinational, multiethnic and multicultural Europe.The contribution of this paper is to offer insight on the determinants of social capital in Greece, compared to the European Union (EU - former 15 member-states). For this purpose, we regress an index of individual group membership, derived from the European Community Household Panel (ECHP), on a set of individual as well as aggregate factors of social capital. Regression results provide evidence of the impact of both individual and institutional characteristics on group membership. Differences on the extent of group membership between countries might be indicative of the historical and cultural differences that have affected the evolution of social capital across Europe. Particularly in Greece, the relatively low level of group membership compared to the other EU countries might provide further evidence of its low levels of civicness. Historically, its weak civil society has been a result of a prior civic tradition of clientelism under arbitrary rule, the interference of special-interest groups and the lack of credibility and impartiality from the part of the state. And these factors might be responsible for the slow pace in reform and growth observed compared to the rest of the EU. Nevertheless, the findings on the determinants of social capital may direct us to possible means of rebuilding patterns of participatory and cooperative behavior, especially in countries with low levels of trust and civicness, such as Greece.