scholarly journals The Association between Social Capital and Voting Participation in Three Developing Democracies in Africa

2018 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 42
Author(s):  
Jack Chola Bwalya ◽  
Prasanth Sukumar
Keyword(s):  
Social Capital ◽  
Political Participation ◽  
Empirical Research ◽  
Positive Influence ◽  
African Countries ◽  
Developing Democracies ◽  
Voting Participation ◽  
Using Data ◽  
Western Democracies

Numerous empirical research studies posit that social capital has a positive influence on peoples’ political participation. Studies conducted in developed western democracies have revealed that social capital strengthens democratic institutions by impacting both the quantity and quality of citizens’ political participation. However, in the developing democracies of Africa, the effects of social capital on political participation remain under-researched. This paper aims to empirically examine whether the interrelation between social capital and political participation holds true in the developing democracies of Africa. By operationalising the concept of social capital as membership in civic associations, this paper examines the influence of social capital on peoples’ voting participation in three Southern African countries, viz. Botswana, Namibia and Zambia. Using data from the sixth round of the Afrobarometer Survey, this study found that social capital was strongly linked to voting participation in these countries.

SUICIDE, SOCIAL CAPITAL, AND HATE GROUPS IN THE UNITED STATES

World Affairs ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 004382002110538
Author(s):  
Brendan Szendro
Keyword(s):  
Social Capital ◽  
Public Support ◽  
The United States ◽  
Public Attention ◽  
Far Right ◽  
Hate Groups ◽  
Suicide Rates ◽  
Using Data ◽  
Enduring Power

In recent years, hate groups have increasingly attracted public attention while at the same time escaping the purview of scholars. Although overt prejudiced attitudes have lost public support in recent decades, hate group and hate-group activity has remained relatively consistent. What, then, explains the enduring power of hate? I argue that hate groups have arisen in reaction to the loss of social capital, particularly in regard to rural and exurban communities. Using county-level suicide rates as a proxy for the loss of social capital, I test this theory using data from the lower 48 states from 2010 to 2019. I find that each 5.38 percent increase in suicide rates is associated with 1 additional hate group forming. These findings highlight the importance of examining quality-of-life in understanding far-right activity, and challenge previous findings with regard to rurality and hate.

scholarly journals Early roots of adult competence

2011 ◽  
Vol 35 (6) ◽  
pp. 490-496 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michelle M. Englund ◽  
Sally I-Chun Kuo ◽  
Jennifer Puig ◽  
W. Andrew Collins
Keyword(s):  
Social Capital ◽  
Interpersonal Relationships ◽  
Adaptive Functioning ◽  
Early Adulthood ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Path Modeling ◽  
Global Functioning ◽  
Developmental Models ◽  
Using Data

Social capital has traditionally been defined in terms of the amount of resources that one derives as a result of a diversity of interpersonal relationships. However, the quality of these relationships across development has not been examined as a contributor to social capital and few studies have examined the significance of various age-salient relationships in predicting adaptive functioning, especially testing for cumulative effects over time. Using data from the Minnesota Longitudinal Study of Risk and Adaptation, developmental models spanning from infancy to adulthood were tested via path modeling, linking quality of various age-salient relationships (e.g., infant–caregiver attachment, peer competence, friendship security, and effectiveness in romantic relationships) to global adaptive functioning at age 28. As hypothesized, quality of age-salient relationships during different developmental periods predicted the quality of subsequent relationships, but also showed links with adaptive functioning in early adulthood. Results also showed that the quality of infant attachment relationships not only was linked with more proximal relationships, but also had direct effects on global functioning, suggesting the potential significance of early relationship quality in adaption and well-being in adulthood.

The Quality of Social Capital and Political Participation in South Korea

2010 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 483-505 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aie-Rie Lee
Keyword(s):  
Social Capital ◽  
Political Participation ◽  
South Korea ◽  
Positive Association ◽  
Political Activity ◽  
Voluntary Activity ◽  
Political Consequences ◽  
Group Members

Previous research claims that associational membership produces social capital. Employing the first wave of the Asian Barometer Survey conducted in 2003, this study investigates the development of social capital and its political consequences in South Korea. Rather than study simple association membership, I examine thequalityof civil society (defined as associational commitment and interaction) that individuals pursue through membership. This, I believe, provides a close test of the theoretical impact of social interactions on political participation. The findings indicate that there is a positive association between voluntary activity and two modes of political activity (voting and campaign participation) in different ways and to varying degrees. Associational membership is a significant predictor of voting. In the case of the quality of social capital, associational interaction (talking politics with group members) turns out to be significant in encouraging participation in election campaigns. Overall, my findings on the role of social capital support Putnam's argument that group interactions foster democratic participation.

scholarly journals Social capital and knowledge sharing in academic research teams

2017 ◽  
Vol 85 (1) ◽  
pp. 191-207 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paola García-Sánchez ◽  
Nieves L. Díaz-Díaz ◽  
Petra De Saá-Pérez
Keyword(s):  
Social Capital ◽  
Knowledge Sharing ◽  
Social Relations ◽  
Academic Research ◽  
Positive Influence ◽  
Research Teams ◽  
Team Members ◽  
Positive Effect

The purpose of this article is to analyse the role of social capital within academic research teams and its influence on knowledge sharing. An empirical study was carried out with 87 academic research teams at a Spanish university. The results show that internal ties have a positive effect on trust. Moreover, the results also reflect that both dimensions of social capital (internal ties and trust) have a positive and significant effect on research teams’ knowledge sharing. Therefore, the findings reveal that the network’s structure has a positive influence on the quality of relationships among academic researchers that favour knowledge sharing. Points for practitioners The results provide universities’ managers with a better understanding of internal social capital in academic research teams, which has important implications for researchers’ willingness to collaborate and share knowledge. Public university managers may use strategies to improve interdependence among research team members, favouring social relations among researchers. Thus, public universities should enhance research teams with stronger ties and high levels of trust that increase knowledge sharing.

scholarly journals Social Capital and Value Co-Creation: The Case of a Polish Car Sharing Company

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (11) ◽  
pp. 4713 ◽  
Author(s):  
Grzegorz Tchorek ◽  
Michał Brzozowski ◽  
Katarzyna Dziewanowska ◽  
Agnieszka Allen ◽  
Waldemar Kozioł ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Social Capital ◽  
Social Trust ◽  
Positive Influence ◽  
Private Ownership ◽  
Car Sharing ◽  
General Trust ◽  
System Operator ◽  
Common Goals ◽  
Share Information

Based on the original and unique data collected from 1000 users of PANEK CarSharing in Poland (the biggest car sharing company in Warsaw), we explored the roles of social trust and social capital in stipulating the process of value co-creation, understood as the ability to share information (engage in dialogue) with other users and the system operator. Our results indicate that particular trust has a more positive influence on the dialogue between users and the operator than general trust. This means that the higher social capital that can be established among a relatively coherent group of people with similar interests and common goals is more important than the general trust arising from our assumption that all people can be trusted, even if we do not know them. Moreover, those customers who see a shared car as a substitute for private ownership as well as those who are more environmentally aware, reveal greater propensity to share information. An important incentive for information sharing is its positive influence on improving the quality of a car sharing system.

scholarly journals Peer Effects, Civic Learning, and Youth Civic Engagement

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hassan Hussein
Keyword(s):  
Social Capital ◽  
Civic Engagement ◽  
Political Participation ◽  
Peer Effects ◽  
Youth Civic Engagement ◽  
Civic Learning ◽  
Developing Democracies

The study examines the role of social capital on civic learning and political participation in developing democracies.

Social Capital and Subjective Quality of Life

2018 ◽  
pp. 174-185
Author(s):  
Monika Mularska-Kucharek
Keyword(s):  
Quality Of Life ◽  
Social Capital ◽  
Social Life ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Positive Influence ◽  
Subjective Quality Of Life ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Mental Well Being ◽  
The Relationship

This chapter describes how in recent decades, the concepts of social capital and quality of life have attracted the interest of both theoreticians and creators of social life. Both on the micro-, meso- and macrosocial levels, social capital has been viewed as one of the key elements of human well-being. Its positive influence on social well-being has been underlined by academics, practitioners of social life. In this chapter, the authors evaluate the relationship between social capital and the mental well-being of individuals. Through empirical analysis, the results of a representative research conducted among residents of one of the biggest Polish cities were examined. This concludes that social capital and social interaction are essential to the health of the individual.

scholarly journals Peer Effects, Civic Learning, and Youth Civic Engagement

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hassan Hussein
Keyword(s):  
Social Capital ◽  
Civic Engagement ◽  
Political Participation ◽  
Peer Effects ◽  
Youth Civic Engagement ◽  
Civic Learning ◽  
Developing Democracies

The study examines the role of social capital on civic learning and political participation in developing democracies.

Analyzing Africa's Total Factor Productivity Trends

2020 ◽  
pp. 128-146
Author(s):  
Chali Nondo ◽  
Juan R Jaramillo
Keyword(s):  
Data Envelopment ◽  
Truncated Regression ◽  
African Countries ◽  
Second Stage ◽  
Tfp Growth ◽  
Dependent Variables ◽  
Malmquist Indices ◽  
Productivity Indices ◽  
Using Data

Using data envelopment analysis (DEA), the authors investigate the productivity changes of 42 African countries by computing the Malmquist productivity indices. Subsequently, the measured Malmquist productivity indices become the dependent variables of a pooled truncated regression. The point estimates of the Malmquist indices indicate that TFP improved at an annual rate of 1.97% over the period 1992-2007. The decomposition of TFP shows that the major contribution of TFP growth is technological progress. Nevertheless, technical efficiency also appears to be trending upwards. Therefore, these results suggest that contrary to the dominant view in previous studies, Africa's TFP since the early 1990s has been accompanied by positive technological change rather than stagnation. The second stage results suggest that improving the quality of human capital and FDI not only augments the quality of labor, but also indirectly improves TFP. Regression results also show that an increase in openness positively affects TFP growth as this facilitates adoption of more efficient techniques of production.

Analyzing Africa's Total Factor Productivity Trends

2018 ◽  
Vol 7 (4) ◽  
pp. 45-61
Author(s):  
Chali Nondo ◽  
Juan R Jaramillo
Keyword(s):  
Data Envelopment ◽  
Truncated Regression ◽  
African Countries ◽  
Second Stage ◽  
Tfp Growth ◽  
Point Estimates ◽  
Malmquist Indices ◽  
Productivity Indices ◽  
Using Data

Using data envelopment analysis (DEA), the authors investigate the productivity changes of 42 African countries by computing the Malmquist productivity indices. Subsequently, the measured Malmquist productivity indices become the dependent variables of a pooled truncated regression. The point estimates of the Malmquist indices indicate that TFP improved at an annual rate of 1.97% over the period 1992-2007. The decomposition of TFP shows that the major contribution of TFP growth is technological progress. Nevertheless, technical efficiency also appears to be trending upwards. Therefore, these results suggest that contrary to the dominant view in previous studies, Africa's TFP since the early 1990s has been accompanied by positive technological change rather than stagnation. The second stage results suggest that improving the quality of human capital and FDI not only augments the quality of labor, but also indirectly improves TFP. Regression results also show that an increase in openness positively affects TFP growth as this facilitates adoption of more efficient techniques of production.

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