¿Qué influye en la decisión individual de participar? Un enfoque microeconómico del capital social para el caso de las organizaciones de la Sociedad Civil en Chile[What influence the individual decision to participate? A microeconomic social capital approach for Civil Society organizations in Chile]

In defining the guidelines of central governments, regional and local, the participation of civil society has been incorporated as a guiding principle in the construction of development strategies. This initiative involves promoting the participation of people and strengthening civil organizations. To face this challenge it should study the process of formation of civil organizations. The objective of this work is to study the problem of participation from a microeconomic perspective, using the approach of social capital to determine the factors influencing the decision to participate. In order to achieve this objective information of CASEN 2003 was used to estimate a Probit Model. The results show lower levels of participation to the extent that the opportunity costs grow with individual incomes higher, more children at home and higher levels of unemployment. Participation is higher in the older population and level of education, which is related to increased capacity of expression and negotiation. Finally higher levels of participation are observed in the population belongs to some native people, married people, households who have own house and living in rural areas, which is associated with the possibility that social networks are specific communities.