IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/fem/femwpa/2005.68.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

On the Determinants of Social Capital in Greece Compared to Countries of the European Union

Author

Listed:
  • Asimina Christoforou

    (Athens University of Economics and Business)

Abstract

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.

Suggested Citation

  • Asimina Christoforou, 2005. "On the Determinants of Social Capital in Greece Compared to Countries of the European Union," Working Papers 2005.68, Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei.
    • Handle: RePEc:fem:femwpa:2005.68
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://feem-media.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/NDL2005-068.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Stephen Knack & Philip Keefer, 1997. "Does Social Capital Have an Economic Payoff? A Cross-Country Investigation," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 112(4), pages 1251-1288.
    2. Tsakalotos, Euclid, 1998. "The Political Economy of Social Democratic Economic Policies: The Pasok Experiment in Greece," Oxford Review of Economic Policy, Oxford University Press and Oxford Review of Economic Policy Limited, vol. 14(1), pages 114-138, Spring.
    3. Fox, Jonathan, 1996. "How does civil society thicken? the political construction of social capital in rural Mexico," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 24(6), pages 1089-1103, June.
    4. Brown, L. David & Ashman, Darcy, 1996. "Participation, social capital, and intersectoral problem solving: African and Asian cases," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 24(9), pages 1467-1479, September.
    5. Edward L. Glaeser & David Laibson & Bruce Sacerdote, 2002. "An Economic Approach to Social Capital," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 112(483), pages 437-458, November.
    6. Burchell, Brendan & Wilkinson, Frank, 1997. "Trust, Business Relationships and the Contractual Environment," Cambridge Journal of Economics, Cambridge Political Economy Society, vol. 21(2), pages 217-237, March.
    7. Dora L. Costa & Matthew E. Kahn, 2001. "Understanding the Decline in Social Capital, 1952-1998," NBER Working Papers 8295, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    8. Petro, Nicolai N., 2001. "Creating Social Capital in Russia: The Novgorod Model," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 29(2), pages 229-244, February.
    9. Heller, Patrick, 1996. "Social capital as a product of class mobilization and state intervention: Industrial workers in Kerala, India," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 24(6), pages 1055-1071, June.
    10. Andrew Henley & Euclid Tsakalotos, 1993. "Corporatism And Economic Performance," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, number 217.
    11. Freeman, Richard B, 1997. "Working for Nothing: The Supply of Volunteer Labor," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 15(1), pages 140-166, January.
    12. Juster, F Thomas & Stafford, Frank P, 1991. "The Allocation of Time: Empirical Findings, Behavioral Models, and Problems of Measurement," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 29(2), pages 471-522, June.
    13. John F. Helliwell, 1996. "Do Borders Matter for Social Capital? Economic Growth and Civic Culture in U.S. States and Canadian Provinces," NBER Working Papers 5863, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    14. Anderson, Elizabeth, 2001. "Symposium on Amartya Sen's philosophy: 2 Unstrapping the straitjacket of ‘preference’: a comment on Amartya Sen's contributions to philosophy and economics," Economics and Philosophy, Cambridge University Press, vol. 17(1), pages 21-38, April.
    15. Mauricio Rubio, 1997. "Perverse Social Capital—Some Evidence from Colombia," Journal of Economic Issues, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 31(3), pages 805-816, September.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Daskalopoulou & I., 2017. "Democracy and social capital in Greece," Business & Entrepreneurship Journal, SCIENPRESS Ltd, vol. 6(1), pages 1-2.
    2. Tamilina, Larysa, 2012. "Social policies and trust in the social security system," MPRA Paper 96519, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    3. Jingyue Zhang & Nan Lu, 2019. "What Matters Most for Community Social Capital among Older Adults Living in Urban China: The Role of Health and Family Social Capital," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(4), pages 1-14, February.
    4. Tamilina, Larysa, 2011. "Policy specific effects of welfare states’ impact on social trust," MPRA Paper 96515, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    5. Tamilina, Larysa, 2012. "Characteristics of social policies and social trust," MPRA Paper 96517, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    6. Isabel Neira Gómez & Marta Portela, 2011. "Determinantes del capital social," Investigaciones de Economía de la Educación volume 6, in: Antonio Caparrós Ruiz (ed.), Investigaciones de Economía de la Educación 6, edition 1, volume 6, chapter 60, pages 986-1001, Asociación de Economía de la Educación.
    7. Tamilina, Larysa, 2011. "The welfare state and social trust: a descriptive analysis," MPRA Paper 96514, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    8. Nectarios Oudeniotis & George O. Tsobanoglou, 2022. "Interorganizational Cooperation and Social Capital Formation among Social Enterprises and Social Economy Organizations: A Case Study from the Region of Attica, Greece," Social Sciences, MDPI, vol. 11(3), pages 1-15, March.
    9. Caraveli, Helen, 2017. "The LEADER Programme as a vehicle in promoting social capital in rural regions: a critical assessment and examples from the case of Greece," Rural Areas and Development, European Rural Development Network (ERDN), vol. 14, pages 1-16.
    10. Tamilina, Larysa, 2011. "The Impact of Welfare States on Social Trust Formation: A Multidimensional Approach," MPRA Paper 96489, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    11. Thierry Debrand & Nicolas Sirven, 2008. "Promoting Social Participation for Healthy Ageing - A Counterfactual Analysis from the Survey of Health, Ageing, and Retirement in Europe (SHARE)," Working Papers DT7, IRDES institut for research and information in health economics, revised Jan 2008.
    12. Tamilina, Larysa, 2018. "The impact of welfare states on social trust: theoretical and empirical foundations," MPRA Paper 96512, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    13. Irene Daskalopoulou, 2016. "Social capital at the outburst of the economic crisis in Greece, 2008-2010," International Journal of Business and Economic Sciences Applied Research (IJBESAR), International Hellenic University (IHU), Kavala Campus, Greece (formerly Eastern Macedonia and Thrace Institute of Technology - EMaTTech), vol. 9(2), pages 79-86, June.
    14. Liagouras, George, 2018. "On the Edge of the South European Model: Familism, Business and State in Greece," OSF Preprints 8eqmb, Center for Open Science.
    15. Jones, Nikoleta & Malesios, Chrisovaladis & Iosifides, Theodoros & Sophoulis, Costas, 2008. "Social capital in Greece: Measurement and comparative perspectives," MPRA Paper 99299, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    16. Anneli Kaasa & Eve Parts, 2007. "Individual-Level Determinants Of Social Capital In Europe: Differences Between Country Groups," University of Tartu - Faculty of Economics and Business Administration Working Paper Series 56, Faculty of Economics and Business Administration, University of Tartu (Estonia).
    17. Tamilina, Larysa, 2018. "A brief overview of approaches to defining social trust," MPRA Paper 96510, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    18. Tamilina, Larysa, 2011. "The welfare state and social trust: a three-dimensional approach of analysis," MPRA Paper 96513, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    19. Tri Wahyu Nugroho & Nuhfil Hanani & Hery Toiba & Sujarwo Sujarwo, 2022. "Promoting Subjective Well-Being among Rural and Urban Residents in Indonesia: Does Social Capital Matter?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(4), pages 1-16, February.
    20. Tamilina, Larysa, 2011. "Decommodification and stratification effects on social trust," MPRA Paper 96516, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    21. Giulia El-Dardiry & Christine Dimitrakaki & Chara Tzavara & Ulrike Ravens-Sieberer & Yannis Tountas, 2012. "Child Health-Related Quality of Life and Parental Social Capital in Greece: An Exploratory Study," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 105(1), pages 75-92, January.
    22. Sirven, Nicolas & Debrand, Thierry, 2008. "Social participation and healthy ageing: An international comparison using SHARE data," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 67(12), pages 2017-2026, December.
    23. Tamilina, Larysa, 2012. "Group specific effects of social policies on social trust," MPRA Paper 96518, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    24. Yahya Shadi & Mohammad Hassan Lotfi & Saharnaz Nedjat & Mostafa Amini Rarani & Esmaeil Khedmati Morasae, 2018. "Explaining Unequal Levels of Social Capital in Tehran," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 140(1), pages 243-265, November.
    25. Tamilina, Larysa, 2018. "Theories of social trust formation: a brief literature overview," MPRA Paper 96511, University Library of Munich, Germany.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Serra, Teresa & Poli, Elena, 2015. "Shadow prices of social capital in rural India, a nonparametric approach," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 240(3), pages 892-903.
    2. Tamilina, Larysa, 2012. "Characteristics of social policies and social trust," MPRA Paper 96517, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    3. Sabatini, Fabio, 2006. "The Empirics of Social Capital and Economic Development: A Critical Perspective," Knowledge, Technology, Human Capital Working Papers 12097, Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei (FEEM).
    4. Bofota, Youyou Baende & Boucekkine, Raouf & Bala, Alain Pholo, 2016. "Social Capital As An Engine Of Growth: Multisectoral Modeling And Implications," Macroeconomic Dynamics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 20(8), pages 2093-2122, December.
    5. Julie L. Hotchkiss & Anil Rupasingha & Thor Watson, 2022. "In-migration and Dilution of Community Social Capital," International Regional Science Review, , vol. 45(1), pages 36-57, January.
    6. Angel de la Fuente & Antonio Ciccone, 2003. "Human capital in a global and knowledge-based economy," UFAE and IAE Working Papers 562.03, Unitat de Fonaments de l'Anàlisi Econòmica (UAB) and Institut d'Anàlisi Econòmica (CSIC).
    7. Igaune Edīte & Liepa-Balode Ilze & Hermane Agnese, 2016. "The Mutual Reciprocity of Education, Non-Formal Cultural Education and Social Capital," Economics and Culture, Sciendo, vol. 13(2), pages 35-43, December.
    8. Robert Oxoby, 2009. "Understanding social inclusion, social cohesion, and social capital," International Journal of Social Economics, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 36(12), pages 1133-1152, October.
    9. Dufhues, Thomas & Buchenrieder, Gertrud & Fischer, Isabel, 2006. "Social capital and rural development: literature review and current state of the art [Sozialkapital und ländliche Entwicklung: Literaturüberblick und gegenwärtiger Stand der Forschung]," IAMO Discussion Papers 96, Leibniz Institute of Agricultural Development in Transition Economies (IAMO).
    10. Feigenberg, Benjamin & Field, Erica M. & Pande, Rohini, 2010. "Building Social Capital through Microfinance," Working Paper Series rwp10-019, Harvard University, John F. Kennedy School of Government.
    11. Philipp Marek & Benjamin Damm & Tong-Yaa Su, 2015. "Beyond the Employment Agency: The Effect of Social Capital on the Duration of Unemployment," SOEPpapers on Multidisciplinary Panel Data Research 812, DIW Berlin, The German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP).
    12. repec:zbw:iamodp:92017 is not listed on IDEAS
    13. Joel Sobel, 2002. "Can We Trust Social Capital?," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 40(1), pages 139-154, March.
    14. Freire, Tiago & Li, Xiaoye, 2013. "How Immigration Reduced Social Capital in the US: 2005-2011," MPRA Paper 44540, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    15. Raymond Parsons, 2007. "The Emergence Of Institutionalised Social Dialogue In South Africa," South African Journal of Economics, Economic Society of South Africa, vol. 75(1), pages 1-21, March.
    16. Tamilina, Larysa, 2012. "Group specific effects of social policies on social trust," MPRA Paper 96518, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    17. Tüzin Baycan & Özge Öner, 2023. "The dark side of social capital: a contextual perspective," The Annals of Regional Science, Springer;Western Regional Science Association, vol. 70(3), pages 779-798, June.
    18. Julie L. Hotchkiss & Anil Rupasingha, 2021. "Individual social capital and migration," Growth and Change, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 52(2), pages 808-837, June.
    19. Tamilina, Larysa, 2011. "Decommodification and stratification effects on social trust," MPRA Paper 96516, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    20. Tamilina, Larysa, 2011. "Policy specific effects of welfare states’ impact on social trust," MPRA Paper 96515, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    21. Paolo Vanin, 2013. "Social and civil capital," Chapters, in: Luigino Bruni & Stefano Zamagni (ed.), Handbook on the Economics of Reciprocity and Social Enterprise, chapter 31, pages 306-317, Edward Elgar Publishing.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Determinants; Social capital in Greece; European union; Diversity;
    All these keywords.

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:fem:femwpa:2005.68. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Alberto Prina Cerai (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/feemmit.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.