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Our paper addresses the analysis of how the collaboration between HEIs and companies affects the employability of HEIs students. We approach the paper from a social capital theoretical framework, and the perspective of companies, investigating how the intensity of collaboration between HEIs and companies, as well as the diversity of mechanisms used, affects the satisfaction of employers in HEIs graduates in companies. We use the database on 'Employers' perception of graduate employability' from Flash Eurobarometer of the European Commission, collecting the responses of 7,036 companies in Europe. From the theoretical point of view, our paper contributes to expanding the previous literature, showing that creating an active collaboration between the university and the company both in-depth and in breadth is a facilitator of the employment of HEIs graduates. The second contribution of our paper is rooted in managerial implications. Our results highlight the importance of establishing strong ties with HEIs, in terms of achieving a higher level of satisfaction with the employer of HEI graduates in the companies.

Females and males frequently report substantial differences in social capital indicators and may use healthcare distinctly. Nevertheless, the potential effect of sex on the relation between social capital and healthcare use remains unclear. This study aims to quantify the association between different indicators of individuals' social capital and healthcare use, according to sex. Data were retrieved from the Sixth Wave of the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE), which was conducted in 2015, and included 68,188 participants from 18 countries. Adjusted odds ratios (AOR) and 95% confidence intervals (95%CI) were computed using logistic regression. Overall, males and females with smaller social networks, those who live alone or with any other relatives besides their partners, and those whose first close confidant was a family member or a neighbour reported fewer contacts with medical doctors or nurses, as well as with dentists or dental hygienists. Amongst females, participation in educational or training courses (AOR = 1.67, 95%CI:1.40-2.00; p for interaction = 0.035) and sport, social or any other club (AOR = 1.79, 95%CI:1.58-2.02; p for interaction = 0.043) was associated with a more frequent contact with dentists or dental hygienists. Females who participated in volunteer or charity work (AOR = 0.76, 95%CI:0.64-0.91; p for interaction = 0.042) and political or community-related organisations (AOR = 0.72, 95%CI:0.52-1.00; p for interaction = 0.030) were less likely to report the use of polypharmacy. This outcome was more frequently observed amongst females who referred feelings of severe loneliness (AOR = 1.44, 95%CI:1.22-1.68; p for interaction < 0.001). Social capital is associated with healthcare use distinctively amongst males and females. Increasing opportunities for social participation may improve healthcare use, particularly amongst females., (© 2022 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

Copyright of European Journal of Social Work is the property of Routledge and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The expansion process of Latin American higher education systems experienced in recent decades has drawn the attention of many scholars. Its impact has been assessed in relation to the broadening of access to education for the low-income sectors and the reduction of social inequality; likewise, the market's capacity to absorb a greater number of qualified workers has also been analysed. Therefore, it has been suggested that the consolidation of a process of 'credentialism' may be gaining momentum whereby: despite a moderate success rate in the expansion of access to higher education, inequalities would not have been reduced; rather, only a deterioration in the value of degrees would have taken place. This paper centres around the expansion process in the Argentine public university system and addresses these topics. We will argue that, despite taking a distinct course of its own, this expansion process falls within the phenomenon of institutional diversification which swept Latin America in the 1960s. The diversification of the Argentine higher education system developed with particular intensity within the university system, where the characteristics and performance of the different universities vary greatly. This, in turn, facilitated the advancement of labour-power differentiation.

The values that people hold are linked to their economic performance. These links can be either direct or indirect, operating through moderating variables such as social network participation, interpersonal trust, trust in institutions, human capital, managerial skills and hours worked. In this paper these effects are studied using structural equation modelling (SEM) methodology applied to European Social Survey data from 28 European countries in 2018. Schwartz classification of values is used, distinguishing between Self-Enhancement (Power, Achievement), Openness to Change (Self-Direction), Conservation (Tradition, Security, Conformity) and Self-Transcendence (Universalism, Benevolence) values. It is found that Power has the strongest positive direct effect on economic performance, further strengthened by a positive indirect structural effect through hours worked. Self-Direction is indirectly positively linked to economic performance through higher managerial skills and hours worked. Tradition has a strong negative direct effect on economic performance. Security is indirectly negatively linked with economic performance, owing to its negative effects on interpersonal trust, management skills and hours worked. Some of the identified effects are context-dependent and vary across European welfare state regimes. For example, Power is statistically significantly linked to economic performance only in the liberal and conservative regime. Values promoted by respective welfare state regimes are not necessarily associated with higher incomes within those regimes, e.g., Tradition and Security values promoted in the conservative and Mediterranean regime are associated with lower incomes. These findings may lead to a range of policy implications, particularly in relation to the policies on immigration, demographics, the labor market, and work-life balance. Unfortunately, due to the cross-sectional character of the dataset, causal relations among the variables of interest could not be identified., Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist., (Copyright: © 2024 Growiec et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.)

Copyright of Polish Journal of Economics / Gospodarka Narodowa is the property of SGH Warsaw School of Economics and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Social and institutional determinants of economic development are attracting increasing attention among development economists. The present paper analyses the impact of macro-level social capital and related social factors on economic development in 34 European countries. Macro-level social capital comprises different aspects of institutional quality and is closely related to income distribution and social cohesion. We used principal component analysis to group initially selected social determinants of economic development into three components (human and social capital, income equality, and redistribution), which altogether describe 64.4% of the variation in initial variables. The following regression analysis proved that all these components have a positive effect on economic development, measured by the human development index. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Roma communities in the CEE (Central and Eastern Europe) region work in the informal economy through scavenging municipal waste. This conceptual paper has the aim of examining the extent for integration of scavenging into environmental policy through the development of a research paradigm applied to Roma and similarly marginalized non-Roma individuals. Evidence from studies of informal waste collection outside Europe suggests that in some cases it has been integrated into municipal waste management policy. In the CEE region, environmental policy insufficiently acknowledges the existence of informal scavenging whereby waste material categorization and disposal is not monitored to infer a research gap which is addressed in the research paradigm. This paper also adds to ongoing debate on entrepreneurship theory by developing a typology incorporating categories of ethnic (Roma) and informal (non-ethnic) entrepreneurship and thus serves to inform policy development for more socio-economically effective municipal waste collection and disposal in the CEE region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Statements by politicians and pundits around the world suggest that terrorism uniquely threatens social order. Unfortunately, our knowledge about how terrorism affects generalized trust and social capital, which many view as foundations of civil society, is quite limited. In this paper we theorize that terrorism damages generalized social trust via its pernicious influence on the perceptions of safety and security in urban public spaces, particularly in those urban places that are the most socially salient to national identity and the most connected to global society (i.e., primate capitals). Using aggregated survey data from European countries in the European Social Survey (Waves 1–6), we find that terrorism, whether committed in urban or rural areas, has no direct effect on social trust. Nonetheless, urban terrorism interacts with urban primacy to arrest the development of generalized social trust. We conclude that the effects of chronic terrorism likely go beyond economics and politics, perhaps damaging the fabric of society itself. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The purpose of the paper is to investigate the role of customers and employees in the buffer effect of CSR around the 2008 financial crisis in the European context. Design/methodology/approach: Using a sample of 323 European firms listed in STOXX Europe 600 Index, different models are estimated to test whether the effect of CSR ratings on firms' relationships with their customers and employees could be different during the 2008 financial crisis relative to the pre-crisis and post-crisis periods. Findings: The paper shows that CSR rating has a significantly negative impact on firms' accounts receivable and a significantly positive effect on employee productivity during the crisis period (from 2007 to 2009). However, there is no significant effect of CSR rating during the non-crisis periods. These results suggest that during negative events, customers are willing to continue supporting high-CSR firms by paying their invoices faster. Furthermore, these firms benefit from higher productivity of their employees who are willing to work harder in periods of uncertainty. Research limitations/implications: Firms should invest in CSR practices to maintain strong and cooperative relationships with their customers and employees. Also, investors should choose firms engaging in more social capital. Moreover, policymakers should encourage implementing CSR practices which act as an insurance-like protection in times of negative events. Originality/value: This paper adds to the previous studies by investigating whether the cooperative role of customers and employees can explain the buffer role of CSR around the crisis. Furthermore, it considers companies located in several European countries for a long period (from 2004 to 2012) to compare periods of crisis and non-crisis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

European sport policies and programmes have increasingly focused on promoting social cohesion. Often presented as a multi-dimensional concept, social cohesion is considered the 'glue' that holds societies together and is seen as essential to addressing common challenges. However, the term remains contested, and it is not always clear how programmes conceptualize or support social cohesion. Thus, this paper explores how three European sport programmes conceptualize and foster social cohesion. Findings are generated from a thematic analysis of interviews, group discussions, observations and documents. The themes developed show how organizations adopt an individual-centerd view of social cohesion, focusing mainly on social relations, tolerance and mutual help. In turn, this translates to an individual-focused practice of social cohesion, emphasizing personal skills, behaviors, and social relations, with the transfer of social cohesion to the broader community left mostly in participants' hands. Due to a number of systemic barriers, programmes struggle to implement more holistic and structural approaches. As such, if we want to facilitate a move towards more structural or interventionist approaches, we as researchers must play an active role in questioning, challenging, and reshaping the systems that underpin sport-based social interventions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to explore whether brokered network governance, run by the manufacturer, affects relational embeddedness and thus contributes to yielding the Coleman rent in the triadic supply chains. Design/methodology/approach: Building upon the theoretical tenets of transaction cost analysis, complemented by the underpinnings of social capital theory, this study involves an empirical investigation that uses survey data collected from the triadic supply chains in Europe. The research covers a two-step analysis. In the first step, the Coleman rent was estimated through the regression analysis with the interaction effects. Then, partial least squares–structural equation modeling was used to estimate the reflective-formative nature of higher component model and test the research hypotheses. Findings: The results of the study demonstrate that the distribution of three mechanisms in network governance is relatively even; however, market and hierarchy still emerge as the most impactful dimensions. Interestingly, though, this study shows that social capital can actually coexist with market and hierarchy in the triadic supply chains with the structural hole. Likewise, the research indicates that the impact of brokered network governance on the strength of network relational embeddedness is significant, but relatively weak, whereas network relational embeddedness has a strong and positive effect on the Coleman rent. Research limitations/implications: This study makes three major contributions. First, this study is one of very few that explicitly considers brokered network governance, run by the manufacturer positioned on the structural hole in its triadic supply chain. Second, as the triadic perspective is still uncommon in the supply chain studies, this research investigates a triad with the structural hole within the manufacturing setting. Third, the paper seeks to investigate the ability to yield the Coleman rent in the triadic supply chains with the structural hole, although this type of rent is typically linked to another arrangement called closure. Originality/value: Given the increasing attention paid to the role of social capital within supply chains, this study investigates how relational embeddedness can be used by the manufacturer, sitting on the structural hole and running the network governance mechanism, to yield the Coleman rent in the triadic supply chain. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research examines how the internal social dynamics of Roma communities at home shape their propensity to migrate. It is theoretically grounded in the literature on social capital and focuses on two core concepts: ‘migration-rich’ and ‘migration-poor’ communities. The research is based on in-depth interviews and informal discussions with Roma from six (mainly rural) communities of Transylvania (Romania) and includes qualitative data gathered from migrants as well as from people who did not migrate. The findings challenge existing conceptualizations of Roma migration as either explained by poverty alone or by cultural arguments (such as nomadism). This paper indicates that even in the context of severe poverty, social networks are actually decisive for migration. It demonstrates that the patterns of migration tend to be community-specific and shaped by a locally shared culture (ethos) on migration. The research suggests policy choices according to the community profile and its internal dynamics. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Abstract: This paper investigates the association between the Great Recession and educational inequalities in self‐rated general health in 25 European countries. We investigate four different indicators related to economic recession: GDP; unemployment; austerity and a ‘crisis’ indicator signifying severe simultaneous drops in GDP and welfare generosity. We also assess the extent to which health inequality changes can be attributed to changes in the economic conditions and social capital in the European populations. The paper uses data from the European Social Survey (2002–2014). The analyses include both cross‐sectional and lagged associations using multilevel linear regression models with country fixed effects. This approach allows us to identify health inequality changes net of all time‐invariant differences between countries. GDP drops and increasing unemployment were associated with decreasing health inequalities. Austerity, however, was related to increasing health inequalities, an association that grew stronger with time. The strongest increase in health inequality was found for the more robust ‘crisis’ indicator. Changes in trust, social relationships and in the experience of economic hardship of the populations accounted for much of the increase in health inequality. The paper concludes that social policy has an important role in the development of health inequalities, particularly during times of economic crisis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim. The aim of article is to present the changing of idea of lifelong learning. The article focuses on the idea of lifelong learning. The first part shows the essence of lifelong learning. An attempt has been made to organise concepts such as lifelong learning, lifelong training, continuing education and permanent education, as well as education and adult education, to consequently educe the idea of lifelong learning from the concept of continuing education. Methods. The method used is the literature analysis because of the theoretical character of a paper. Results. In the paper, it is presented how idea of lifelong learning was changing over time. Furthermore, the article shows the social context of the use of lifelong learning in relation to the theory of human capital and social capital theory as well. The next part of the article concentrates on identifying the most important initiatives of the European Union, the objective of which is the implementation of the idea in Europe. The article presents the aims of the EU programmes that are focused on the implementation of that idea in European education. Conclusions. The development of the idea of lifelong learning is related to a social and cultural changes. This idea is a very important part of EU strategy, which main gol is to build the Information Society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• This paper argues that social capital and parental economic capital give young adults a greater ability to establish an independent household. • The results show that, for the 22-year-olds under study, social capital is related to a higher likelihood of leaving the parental home, while parental economic capital is not. • Children of immigrants are less likely to use contacts to find a home, but the access or return deficit of their social capital does not explain this less frequent contact use. • This study found an extensive social network is related to finding homes through tips from contacts and a higher likelihood of living in housing with an informal second-hand rental contract. • The findings showing that social capital is related to contact use and one particular housing tenure – informal agreements – arguably provide evidence for a causal interpretation of social capital's effect on housing outcomes. Young adults in Europe sometimes have trouble moving away from their parents and obtaining a home of their own, which is considered an important step in the transition to adulthood. This paper investigates whether nest-leaving is affected by individual social capital and parental economic capital. The paper also examines how these resources are related to the type of housing tenure obtained and whether the housing was acquired through informal channels. In addition, the paper assesses whether differences in access and returns to social capital can explain the later nest-leaving of the children of immigrants. The study uses a Swedish two-wave panel survey of young adults aged between 19 and 22. Individual social capital is operationalized as an extensive social network measured with the position generator, while parental economic capital is estimated with registered disposable income. The results show that individual social capital is positively related to prospective nest-leaving, but parental income is not. Nevertheless, both individual social capital and parental economic capital are related to the obtained housing tenure type: social capital is linked to informal 'second-hand' rental agreements often acquired through contacts, whereas having high-income parents is linked to obtaining owned housing tenure. The children of immigrants are found to be more likely to live with their parents, but this is not explained by lower access or return to social capital. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims to develop and empirically test a model which examines the relationships between academics' social capital and their engagement in technology and knowledge transfer via entrepreneurial and traditional activity. Social capital is assessed through individuals' orientation, desire, and willingness to work with others. The data gathered from academics at four different European universities are used to test the proposed relationships by performing structural equation modeling. Overall, our findings reveal that academics' social capital is significantly related to their engagement in technology and knowledge transfer. Being oriented to teamwork stimulates academics' desire to participate in interdisciplinary projects with industry and partially stimulates multidisciplinary research. Both interdisciplinary projects with industry and multidisciplinary research are positively related to industry interactions, which are significantly related to academics' further engagement in patenting, business activity, and scientific publishing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the determinants of unmet healthcare needs in Europe. Special emphasis is put on the impact of social capital. Data come from the European Social Survey, 2014. Our study includes 32,868 respondents in 20 countries. Because unmet needs are observed only in those individuals who are exposed to, and recognise, the need of medical care, sample selection can be an issue. To address it, we analyse the data using the bivariate sample selection model. When there is no need, there is no assessment of access to healthcare. Accordingly, in this situation, our model assumes that unmet need is unobserved. The magnitude and statistical significance of the error correlation support our modelling strategy. A high proportion (18.4%) of individuals in need in Europe reported unmet needs. Informal connections seem to mitigate barriers to access as well as trust in other people and institutions, particularly in health services. Financial strain still is a strong predictor of unmet needs. Other vulnerable groups include informal carers, minorities and individuals feeling discriminated. Unmet needs might also arise due to persistent needs of healthcare as it seems to be the case of individuals with lower health status and chronic conditions. A result that merits further research concerns the positive impact of civic engagement on unmet needs., (Copyright © 2019 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

This paper draws on Bourdieu's theory of economic, social and cultural capital to understand the relative effect of the volume and the composition of these capitals on healthcare service use in later life. Based on data from the fifth wave of the Survey of Health, Aging, and Retirement in Europe (n = 64,840), we first look at the contribution of each capital in the use of three healthcare services (general practitioner, dentist and hospital). Using cluster analysis, we then mobilise Bourdieu's concept of habitus to explain how the unequal distribution of material and non‐material capitals acquired in childhood lead to different levels of health and hospital care utilisation in later life. After controlling for demographic and health insurance variables, our results show that economic capital has the strongest individual association among the three capitals. However, the results of a cluster analysis used to distinguish between capital structures show that those with high non‐material capital and low material capital have higher levels of primary healthcare utilisation, and in turn lower levels of hospital use. Bourdieu's approach sheds light on the importance of capitals in all forms and structures to understand the class‐related mechanisms that contribute to different levels of healthcare use. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this era of globalisation community psychologists have to examine how globalisation patterns interact with local cultural norms, to find tools to promote a sense of community that fits a particular context. We cannot therefore acritically adopt for many European contexts, community psychology concepts and intervention strategies geared to USA values. The paper argues for the need to develop a European perspective in Community Psychology, built more on the European tradition of political concern for promoting social capital, besides an individual's freedom and autonomy. The paper attempts to identity some of the main differences that have emerged in the last decades between USA and European approaches to community psychology. It also describes two empowering tools, which integrate traditional and post modern views of science: community profiling and multidimensional organisational analysis, that have been used by European community psychologists to rebuild social capital in organisations and local communities. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As a welcome alternative to economic explanations of migration, the social network has become a key concept in migration studies. However, by maintaining a static conceptualisation of networks (as grid-like structures) and by suggesting that social capital automatically derives from networks, we tend to fall into a form of network determinism. As an alternative, this paper makes the case for a practice approach to social networks that recognise the changeable nature of networks and the social endeavours that are needed to accumulate social capital. In so doing, I first revisit the work of Granovetter and Bourdieu in order to explore existing practice elements in their network approaches. I subsequently combine these insights with practice-oriented migration studies. This analysis results in four hitherto undertheorised elements that provide a foundation for the advocated networking approach. Finally, I illustrate the analytical value of this approach by discussing the networking practices of sub-Saharan African migrants en route for the European Union. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate the possible relationship of religion and culture with the social capital in a particular region. Design/methodology/approach – The data of 85 regions from 26 European countries are analysed. Regression analysis is used for analysing cultural dimensions, religion-related aspects and the communist past as possible factors of social capital components. In addition, graphic analysis is used for the generalisation of the results. Findings – The results from both the regression and graphic analyses indicate that cultural dimensions capture the possible reasons for different levels of social capital better than religion-related aspects or the division according to the communist background. Research limitations/implications – Conclusions can be drawn only for the European regions analysed. Data were not available for regions in all European countries and including control variables was limited by the data availability. Practical implications – When intending to develop policies for increasing social capital, the culture of a particular region should be assessed in order to predict the success of the policies. Originality/value – The novelty of this study lies in including cultural dimensions based on Hofstede’s concept to the set of possible factors determining the level of social capital in a region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper is concerned with leadership capacity at national level to mobilise society to take up challenges. It uses empirical analysis to explain how, in a European context, this capacity covaries with the development of strategic state capabilities. The evidence is used to explore the conditions in which strategic state capabilities have a positive effect on the capacity of leadership to mobilise society. These conditions include factors related to the public: social capital, average subjective wellbeing (happiness), and political attitudes relating to government and democracy (having a voice that was listened to, public trust in the government, and the public's satisfaction with the working of democracy). It is suggested that strategically led governments with high levels of coordination in the civil service, with practices and abilities consistent with learning and agility, and with good engagement with, and good support from, the public and the organisations of civil society, tend to have national leadership elites that have a strong capacity for mobilization of society to take up challenges. In the conclusions it is stated that the democratic cultures of Europe may require more 'open government' and more inclusiveness so that their embryonic strategic states can better leverage information and resources of society, so that governments can offer more powerful societal leadership. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Comparative Economic Research is the property of Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Lodzkiego and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to provide insights into the potential of technology transfer in prevention interventions. It argues that contextual factors are more identifiable and more malleable than the cliché of “culture” as a barrier to implementation might suggest. The key question is how various contextual factors impact on programme implementation and effectiveness in the different cultures of a multifaceted continent such as Europe, and how successful programmes adapt to various contexts. Design/methodology/approach – Using a questionnaire survey, input was collected from people involved in the adaptation and implementation of the Strengthening Families Programme (SFP) in several European countries. Findings – The publications and experiences of the SFP implementers and evaluators in most of the European countries where it was introduced suggest that the programme is both feasible and effective (where outcomes are available). To achieve this, however, the implementers spent a considerable amount of time and effort to prepare, pre-test and consult with their target populations in order to adjust SFP to culture and context. This paper suggests restricting the use of “culture” to a set of norms and values, and to distinguish this from “context” which describes social and political organisation. Even though both condition each other, it is helpful to address culture and context separately when adapting prevention programmes. Research limitations/implications – Outcome data were not available for all implementations of SFP and some very recent ones in Austria, France and Italy could not be included in the questionnaire survey. Practical implications – An examination of social capital might help implementers to anticipate resistance from the target population that seems to emanate from history, culture and context. The level of trust of others and institutions and the willingness to co-operate with them can heavily influence the readiness of drug prevention service planners, commissioners and providers, as well as the target population, to adopt interventions and other behaviours. Programmes seem to have key principles that make them effective and that should not be modified in an adaptation: a particular example is the programme protocol. Other aspects, such as wording, pictures and the content of examples used to illustrate some issues do have to be modified and are essential for an intervention to be well-accepted and understood. In some programmes, the effective principles – so-called “kernels” – are identifiable although, overall, prevention research still strives to identify them. Social implications – Implementing complex programmes that require the cooperation of many stakeholders might increase social capital in the communities involved. Originality/value – The paper examines the common belief among many European prevention professionals that programmes from abroad, particularly from North America, cannot be implemented in Europe. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To date, there has been relatively little focus on Eastern European ‘accession’ (EU8) migrants' representations of the rural in Western Europe. Through drawing on research conducted in England, this paper highlights how the materiality of the English countryside strongly shapes EU8 migrants' views of rural space. In turn, their representations of the rural as ‘idyll’, as social and cultural capital and as relational, coupled with their own moral values promoting self-sufficiency serve to perpetuate the rural as being ‘problem free’. Furthermore, the conflation of the rural idyll with ‘Englishness’ and ‘whiteness’ provides EU8 migrants living in the countryside with the opportunity to become involved in various aspects of rural community life. Consequently, the paper argues that their actions, as well as their representations of the rural, further contribute to the cultural ‘screening out’ of rural problems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dettori B., Marrocu E. and Paci R. Total factor productivity, intangible assets and spatial dependence in the European regions, Regional Studies. The aim of this paper is to analyse the determinants of the efficiency levels across the European regions. Firstly, a regression-based measure of regional total factor productivity is derived by estimating a spatial Cobb–Douglas production function. Secondly, the role played by intangible factors (human capital, social capital and technological capital) on total factor productivity levels is investigated by applying the spatial two-stage least-squares (2SLS) method and the spatial heteroskedasticy and correlation consistent (SHAC) estimator to account for both heteroskedasticity and spatial autocorrelation. It turns out that a large part of total factor productivity differences across the European regions is explained by disparities in the endowments of these intangible assets. Dettori B., Marrocu E. and Paci R. 欧洲地区总要素生产力、无形资产以及空间依赖，区域研究。本文旨在分析欧洲区域决定其效率等级的不同要素。首先，通过估测空间生产职能本研究对区域总要素生产力进行了基于回归的测量。其次，通过应用空间两阶段最小二乘算法 （2SLS）以及考虑了异方差以及空间自相关的SHAC估算，研究考察了无形要素（人力资本、社会资本以及技术资本）对于总要素生产力水平的影响。 总要素生产力 人力资本 社会资本 技术 欧洲 Dettori B., Marrocu E. et Paci R. La productivité des facteurs de production globaux, les immobilisations incorporelles et la dépendance géographique dans les régions européennes, Regional Studies. Cet article cherche à analyser les déterminants des niveaux d'efficacité à travers les régions européennes. Primo, on établit une mesure de la productivité des facteurs de production globaux basée sur la régression en estimant une fonction de production géographique du type Cobb–Douglas. Secundo, on examine le rôle joué par les immobilisations incorporelles (à savoir, le capital humain, le capital social et le capital technologique) sur les niveaux de la productivité des facteurs de production globaux en appliquant la méthode géographique des moindres carrés à deux degrés (appelée 2SLS) et l'estimation SHAC pour tenir compte à la fois de l'hétéroscédasticité et de l'autocorrélation géographique. Il s'avère qu'une part non-négligeable des écarts de la productivité des facteurs de production globaux à travers les régions européennes s'explique par des disparités de la dotation de ces immobilisations incorporelles. Productivité des facteurs de production globaux Capital humain Capital social Technologie Europe Dettori B., Marrocu E. und Paci R. Gesamtfaktorproduktivität, immaterielle Vermögenswerte und räumliche Abhängigkeit in den europäischen Regionen, Regional Studies. In diesem Beitrag werden die Determinanten des Effizienzniveaus in verschiedenen europäischen Regionen analysiert. Zu Beginn wird ein regressionsbasierter Maßstab der regionalen Gesamtfaktorproduktivität durch Schätzung einer räumlichen Cobb–Douglas-Produktionsfunktion abgeleitet. Anschließend wird die Rolle von immateriellen Faktoren (Humankapital, Sozialkapital und technologisches Kapital) für das Niveau der Gesamtfaktorproduktivität untersucht, indem die Methoden der räumlichen zweistufigen Kleinstquadrat-Schätzung (2SLS) und des SHAC-Schätzers angewandt werden, um sowohl die Heteroskedastizität als auch die räumliche Autokorrelation zu berücksichtigen. Es stellt sich heraus, dass sich ein Großteil der Unterschiede bei der Gesamtfaktorproduktivität in den verschiedenen europäischen Regionen auf Disparitäten hinsichtlich der Ausstattung mit diesen immateriellen Vermögenswerten zurückführen lässt. Gesamtfaktorproduktivität Humankapital Sozialkapital Technologie Europa Dettori B., Marrocu E. y Paci R. Productividad total de factores, activos intangibles y dependencia espacial en las regiones europeas, Regional Studies. El objetivo de este artículo es analizar los determinantes de los niveles de eficacia en las regiones europeas. En primer lugar, derivamos una medición basada en la regresión de la productividad total de los factores regionales al calcular una función espacial de producción Cobb–Douglas. En segundo lugar, analizamos el papel desempeñado por los factores intangibles (capital humano, capital social y capital tecnológico) sobre los niveles de productividad total de los factores aplicando el método espacial de mínimos cuadrados en dos etapas (2SLS) y el estimador SHAC para tener en cuenta la heteroscedasticidad y la autocorrelación espacial. Parece ser que una gran parte de las diferencias en la productividad total de los factores en la regiones europeas se explica por las desigualdades en las dotaciones de estos activos intangibles. Productividad total de los factores Capital humano Capital social Tecnología Europa [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The purpose of the current paper is to investigate empirically the effect of social capital on investments as a key production factor. Theoretically, investments are expected to be higher in societies where there is more social capital between economic agents. Based on the data from World Values Survey, ten components of social capital are considered as factors of investments. Although the regression results are rather mixed, it can be generalised that components related to trust and norms dominate as predictors of overall investment activity, while networks have some effect only for foreign investments. Additionally, it appeared that the relationship between social capital and investments is similar in democratic Western European countries and Central and Eastern European countries with communist background. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper argues that immigrant civic activism, which may at first glance seem to focus on diasporic ties and ethnic community building, becomes often a lever for transcultural capital and transcultural community building. The study is explorative of new repertoires and forms of transnationalism among sub-Saharan African immigrant activists in Europe. The findings suggest that immigrant civic activism, even if limited in size, proposes new types of transcultural societal networks and new forms of transcultural expression. In the first part of the study I discuss the theoretical background of transnationalism in migration studies and propose the notions of transcultural capital and transcultural community as working concepts. The second part of the study concentrates on the qualitative analysis of life story interviews with sixteen sub-Saharan African immigrants in Europe. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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The main goal of this paper is to analyse the relationship between social capital and economic growth taking into account the role of fiscal policy from theoretical and empirical points of view. To achieve this goal, “Human Capital and Public Capital Effects on Economic Growth” is focused on the effects of two traditional factors: human capital and public capital effects on economic growth. “Social Capital Effects on Economic Growth” considers qualitative variables introducing some socioeconomic effects on economic growth process analysis. In this case, social capital the main variable will be considered. “Empirical Analysis,” an empirical analysis is developed considering the case of European countries prior to the EU enlargement. Finally, in Conclusions,” the main conclusions will be resumed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper discusses the extent to which social capital and social contracting are available for new venture development within varying socioeconomic institutional environments. Building on Boisot and Child's typology, we develop a framework that depicts four types of socioeconomic institutions-clan, fief, bureaucracy, and market-plotted along the dimensions of (1) availability of and (2) need for social capital for new ventures. The proposed framework is used to explain entrepreneurial activities and changes from one type of institutional environment to another. The People's Republic of China is used as an example, and the difference of mainland Chinese entrepreneurship from overseas Chinese entrepreneurship and entrepreneurship in Central and Eastern European countries is discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

There is increasing interest among researchers in the effects of social capital on the health of older adults. One of the key policy question for an ageing population concerns how do we identify the factors that influence health. Very recently, an increasing interest on social capital as a key determinant for health has developed and, surprisingly, not much is known for the European population. This paper analyzes the association between social capital and self-perceived health among older adults in Europe using a mixed effects logistic model. Social capital is considered in its two components-bonding and bridging-in order to understand if the relations inside or outside an individual inner circle have a different association with health. Our results give empirical support to the role of individual social capital in preventing a poor self-perceived health. This means that social capital, especially the bridging component of it, can be one of the key factors of ageing in good health and should be fostered by policy makers in order to give an answer to one of the most compelling challenge of our century: population ageing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Studies have shown that major terrorist events have the potential to exert significant influence on citizens' risk-perceptions, (in) security sentiments, values and behavioral attitudes towards state institutions and their fellow citizens. Within this growing strand of literature, this paper, allowing for a cohort of demographic and socioeconomic traits, examines the extent to which major terrorist events in four European countries affected two key aspects of social capital, namely institutional and social trust. The data used are drawn from European Social Surveys for the years 2004, 2012 and 2014. Results reported indicate that terrorist incidents can trigger social dynamics that affect trust attitudes; however, these effects are short-lived and dissipate rapidly. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

During the communist era, numerous social and political constraints limited civic engagement in communities throughout Central and Eastern Europe. This paper explores whether such constraints have left lasting marks, and whether such lingering effects potentially slow the process of democratization. Three specific questions were explored: (1) whether civic engagement in a post-communist state differs from that in an established Western democracy; (2) whether the quality of social perception suffers when civic engagement is constrained; and (3) whether a link exists between civic engagement and tangible forms of political judgment. Data were analyzed from surveys conducted in Cluj-Napoca, Romania, in 1994 and in South Bend, Indiana, in 1984. Compared with South Bend residents, the people of Cluj-Napoca discuss politics less, engage in interactive forms of political participation at lower rates, know less about their neighbors, and fail to link the interests of people in the community to broader political judgments. Given the centrality of civic engagement to democratic legitimacy, these findings justify concern regarding the prospects for full democratization in Central and Eastern European contexts in which social interaction does not yet flourish. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents evidence that generalized trust promotes health. Children of immigrants in a broad set of European countries with ancestry from across the world are studied. Individuals are examined within country of residence using variation in trust across countries of ancestry. The approach addresses reverse causality and concerns that the trust measure picks up institutional factors in the individual's contextual setting. There is a significant positive estimate of ancestral trust in explaining self-assessed health. The finding is robust to accounting for individual, parental, and extensive ancestral country characteristics. Individuals with higher ancestral trust are also less likely to be hampered by health problems in their daily life, providing evidence of trust influencing real life outcomes. Individuals with high trust feel and act healthier, enabling a more productive life.

This paper considers the relationship between social capital and health in the years before, at and after retirement. This adds to the current literature that only investigates this relationship in either the population as a whole or two subpopulations, pre-retirement and post-retirement. We now investigate if there are further additional subpopulations in the years to and from retirement. We take an information criteria approach to select the optimal model of subpopulations from a full range of potential models. This approach is similar to that proposed for linear models. Our contribution is to show how this may also be applied to nonlinear models and without the need for estimating subsequent subpopulations conditional on previous fixed subpopulations. Our main finding is that the association of social capital with health diminishes at retirement, and this decreases further 10 years after retirement. We find a strong positive significant association of social capital with health, although this turns negative after 20 years, indicating potential unobserved heterogeneity. The types of social capital may differ in later years (e.g., less volunteering) and hence overall social capital may have less of an influence on health in later years., (Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.)

Migration from a poorer country to a wealthier one often results in a lower relative economic status for the migrant (even when it increases their incomes in an 'absolute' sense)-and thus perhaps results also in a decrease in his/her happiness. By the same logic, migration from a wealthy country to a poorer one might bring a higher status position for the migrant and so might raise his/her happiness. This paper investigates happiness among migrants who move from northern European countries to Spain, Portugal, Greece and Cyprus, comparing them to stayers in the origin countries (Belgium, Switzerland, France, Germany, Britain, and the Netherlands). The analysis shows that migrants are less happy than stayers, in a bivariate comparison and a conventional regression model. A consideration of results from 'treatment models' and matching analyses suggests that the difference represents a decrease in happiness for the migrants (and not a difference in happiness prior to migration), contrary to an expectation rooted in an anticipated increase in economic status. Migrants have lower relative incomes than stayers; when relative income is controlled, the happiness disadvantage of migrants is smaller. Controlling additionally for absolute income does not lead to further change in that difference. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We assess the causal relationship between health and social capital, measured by generalized trust, both at the individual and the community level. The paper contributes to the literature in two ways: it tackles the problems of endogeneity and reverse causation between social capital and health by estimating a simultaneous equation model, and it explicitly accounts for mis-reporting in self-reported trust. The inter-relationship is tested using data from the first four waves of the European Social Survey for 25 European countries, supplemented by regional data from Eurostat. Our estimates show that a causal and positive relationship between self-perceived health and social capital does exist and that it acts in both directions. In addition, the magnitude of the structural coefficients suggests that individual social capital is a strong determinant of health, whereas community level social capital plays a considerably smaller role in determining health., (Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.)

This paper examines a hypothesis that there is a negative correlation between the activity in social organizations and the support for the welfare state. The hypothesis was inspired by the study showing a reinforcing effect of welfare spending on social capital indicators and a negative substitution effect on informal solidarity (van Oorschot, Arts and Halman 2005). The analysis was performed using data from the 2008/2016 European Social Survey, taking into consideration additional sociodemographic variables. The results revealed a lack of correlation between the associational activity and the support for the welfare state, and a relatively coherent pattern of impact of the control variables on associational activity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Transdisciplinarity is a demanding paradigm, considered by many in the literature as the way to move forward in terms of science and policy integration. In this paper we present the example of a tailored transdisciplinary (TD) process to tackle a key topic of European policy – the future of agriculture at the regional level. This phased process was followed in seven regions across Europe and involved the co-construction of future visions, engaging both researchers and a range of relevant stakeholders. This paper presents results based on a critical reflection made by researchers and stakeholders in Portugal and Scotland, throughout the participatory process. These results provide insights into the roles and responsibilities of researchers and stakeholders in TD processes. One main conclusion is that accumulated social capital can be essential to initiate and maintain a TD process, and requires a commitment between the research community and the surrounding society. Our analysis demonstrates the challenges of implementing a TD process within the temporal frame/boundaries of a research project and the added value of having transdisciplinarity as part of the long term strategy of a research group, not just one part of a specific project. Not acknowledging this may lead to disappointment and fatigue amongst those connecting with researchers. We also found that researchers position themselves differently in a TD process depending on their soft skills, experience and knowledge about transdisciplinarity; hence we call attention to the need to work more explicitly with these skills in the research environment and to present this concept in an early stage of researcher training, if better transdisciplinarity is to be achieved. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper revisits the contact hypothesis by assessing differences in generalized trust among participants of Turkish non-profit organizations and ethnically mixed organizations in Amsterdam. Most voluntary sector research takes the contact hypothesis at its core and assumes that the concentration of ethnic minorities in non-profit organizations is detrimental to learning generalized trust. These studies assume that diversity within organizations is better for developing generalized norms without examining participation in ethnically homogenous organizations. I address this gap in the literature by analysing the variance of generalized trust among organizations and their participants. I achieve this through the analysis of purposively designed survey data. The findings suggest that a contact mechanism at voluntary organizations is problematic and should not be asserted uncritically. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Among non-European regions colonized by Europeans, regions that were relatively richer five centuries ago (like Mexico, Peru, and India) tend to be poorer today, while regions that originally were relatively poorer (like the United States, Chile, and Australia) tend now to be richer. Acemoglu, Johnson, and Robinson (abbreviated AJR) established the generality of this reversal of fortune. Chanda, Cook, and Putterman (abbreviated CCP) have now reanalyzed it, taking as a unit of analysis populations rather than geographic regions. That is, India's population was Indian 500 y ago and is still overwhelmingly Indian today, whereas the United States' population was Native American 500 years ago but is overwhelmingly Old World (especially European) today. Reversals of fortune disappeared when CCP analyzed populations rather than geographic regions: for instance, the geographic region of the modern United States has become relatively richer since AD 1500, but the predominantly European population now occupying the United States was already relatively rich in AD 1500. Evidently, European colonists carried ingredients of wealth with them. I discuss the biological and cultural baggage transported by European immigrants and associated with wealth. Among that baggage, AJR emphasize institutions, CCP emphasize social capital, and I identify many different elements only loosely coupled to each other. This paper discusses the problem, especially acute in the social sciences, of "operationalizing" intuitive concepts (such as mass, temperature, wealth, and innovation) so that they can be measured. Basic concepts tend to be harder to define, operationalize, and measure in the social sciences than in the laboratory sciences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper draws on economic theory, sociology and political science approaches to explain informal payments in the Romanian health care system. It estimates the likelihood of paying a bribe (informal payment) using a reduced health care demand equation in a probit model with sample selection correction. Social capital, as having a relationship with doctors, and the perception of the health care system, as corrupt, are found to influence the probability of making an informal payment. The likelihood of making an informal payment in the Romanian health care system is modelled using a maximum-likelihood probit estimation with sample selection correction. In the selection equation, reduced health care demand, self-perceived health status and being afraid of diseases are used as exclusion restrictions for identifying the parameters of the econometric model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Associations are likely to recruit resource rich individuals and they are places where individuals interact, and thus, are likely to exchange social resources. The paper asks which kinds of associations embed individuals holding many social resources. According to theoretical considerations, I distinguish between bridging and bonding associations. Bridging associations are likely to embed heterogeneous individuals while bonding associations embed homogeneous individuals. Therefore, the range of social resources available inside associations may be higher in bridging than in bonding associations. Thinking about the resource exchanging environment inside the associations, a further distinction of bonding associations seems reasonable: some aim at political goals outside the group (e.g., trade unions or professional organizations) and others focus on developing a nice atmosphere inside the group (apolitical bonding associations like elderly leisure associations). I analyze data from Eurobarometer 62.2 using multilevel analyses. Descriptive analyses indicate that active individuals have access to more social resources than inactive individuals. This relation varies for apolitical and political bonding associations according to the European countries. The multilevel analyses controlling for individual characteristics and country variables indicate that potential resources accessible to individuals active in associations depend on the focus of the associations. While bridging and apolitical bonding associations embed individuals accessing more social resources than non-active individuals, political bonding associations are not likely to embed resource rich individuals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]