Motivations to volunteer and social capital: the role of intrinsic motivations in promoting networks of cooperative relations

Although intrinsic motivations receive increasing attention in explaining human actions, our knowledge on their causes and effects is incomplete. Quite surprisingly, the existing literature fails to consider the relationship between intrinsic motivations and social capital formation. The present paper increases understanding on the effect of intrinsic motivations by studying the role that different motivations to volunteer have on the creation of volunteers’ social capital which is intended as networks of cooperative relations. Our empirical analysis considers three indices of social capital, aimed at measuring both the quantitative (number) and the qualitative (degree of familiarity and cooperation) character of social relations, and intrinsic and extrinsic motivations to volunteer (ideal motivations, the desire to feel useful to others, the pursuit of social recognition and the desire to increase the number of acquaintances or friends). We find that the creation of social capital through participation in voluntary associations is not indifferent to the motivations which induced the volunteer to start his/her unpaid activity. In particular, we show that intrinsic motivations enable people to extend their social networks by creating relations characterized by a significant degree of familiarity. By contrast, extrinsic motivations, and in particular the decision to join an association in order to increase the number of acquaintances or friends, promote the creation of networks from a quantitative point of view, but they do not facilitate the creation of relations based on a particular degree of confidence.Intrinsic Motivations, Social Capital, Volunteer Work, Social Networks

Social capital and smart growth of the EU countries

Social capital according to OECD definition is networks together with shared norms, values and understandings that facilitate co-operation within or among groups. Currently, social capital is identified as a one of the key factors of economic development. Most of the existing literature focuses on the role of social capital for economic growth, meanwhile the purpose of this study is to examine the role which social capital plays in the processes of smart growth in the EU countries. Smart growth is based on knowledge and innovation. The notion of smart growth, its factors and measuring methods are new categories which emerge from the concept of EU's strategic development objectives. The study uses a soft modelling method which allows for measuring and analysis of the relationships among unobserved variables (latent variables)

Increasing Diversity: Modeling of Social Capital for Navigating the Science and Health Professions Pipeline

Social capital theory states that resources, both actual and prospective, are inherently linked to networks and relationships that can be used as opportunities. Therefore, a basic tenet of social capital theory is that "relationships matter." In the science and health profession pipeline, strong mentoring relationships and collaborative research networks are critical elements in developing an individual's capacity for navigating the pipeline and for success and advancement in these fields. However, underrepresented minorities are often bereft of social capital because they lack proper mentorships and are often not part of "inner" circles for networking. Additionally, social capital can be leveraged to develop organizational capacity that supports diversity. In this dissertation, social capital theory is examined through the lens of three pipeline initiatives targeting pre-high school, high school, undergraduate, and graduate-level populations. The three initiatives (E-matching, achieving Successful Productive Academic Research Careers, and Mentoring in Medicine) were evaluated and the results are presented here as three related but unique manuscripts. The particular forms of social capital examined are knowledge, mentorship, and networks needed to navigate the pipeline for science and health professions careers. All three initiatives had significant impact on increasing social capital via the social capital indicators of increased knowledge, mentorship, networks, information and resources. Study results suggest that it would be useful to replicate these initiatives on a larger scale to build social capital at earlier levels of the pipeline to enhance diversity in the science and health professions. Additionally, study results suggest that the social capital obtained from brief interactions in short duration initiatives is valuable as a factor in assisting students to navigate the pipeline; therefore this should not be underestimated. Lastly, a logic model framework is provided for measuring social capital for navigating the STEM and health professions pipeline

The Effect of Social Capital of Entrepreneurs in Entrepreneurial Process

Abstract. when many entrepreneurial processes framework identify the role of networking as important part at the start-up development stage, this study have extended the concept of networking and embraced it in the concept of individual social capital of entrepreneurs. However, much of literature on measuring social capital has focused on the quantity of social capital rather than quality made by it. This study will focus and seek to expand the depth and richness of social capital during new venture creation and later identifying the effect of individual social capital in entrepreneurial process. to expand and specify the richness of individual social capital during venture creation, Timmons Model of Entrepreneurial process are used. It considers opportunity, team, and resources as three components for successful new business, and later associate it with Bonding and Bridging and Linking Social Capital of Entrepreneur. The research is mainly expected to provide insight for the business founders and nascent entrepreneurs, help them facing the challenges in starting and running the business, so that they can aware the important of good network and relationship during entrepreneurial process. The focus is to describe how individual social capital of entrepreneur’s networks can affect their own business. This study only considers social capital in individual level and ignore social capital on collective level. This study uses qualitative approach and conducts semi-structured interview with 10 entrepreneurs operating on various industry and various background in Bandung to enhance the Social Capital variety of this study. The Result of This Study shows that individual social capital playing major role during entrepreneurial process. having family and close friends in business, and as well encouragement from family and close friends are strongly associated with successful nascent outcomes. the good social capital of founder’s will be result in better business. We also found as the company grow bigger, the result looks indicate that bridging social capital and linking social capital increasingly become more important, it reveal that bridging social capital connection of entrepreneur’s link it into specific networking and knowledge which may be not available in Bonding Social Capital ties. Overall, Individual social capital exists and affecting entrepreneur’s entrepreneurial process conscious or unconsciously. Suggestion for future research regarding this topic is qualitative study that including personality and environment and relationship or correlation between individual social capital in opportunity, team, and resource aspect of new venture creation. Keywords: Individual Social Capital, Nascent Entrepreneur, Entrepreneurial Process, Start-upÂ

Social capital in industrial districts: Influence of the strength of ties and density of the network on the sense of belonging to the district

This is the accepted version of the following article: Molina-Morales, F.X.; Capó-Vicedo, J.; Mª Teresa Martínez Fernández; Expósito Langa, M. (2013). Social capital in industrial districts: Influence of the strength of ties and density of the network on the sense of belonging to the district. Papers in Regional Science. 92(4):773-789. doi:10.1111/j.1435-5957.2012.00463.x, which has been published in final form at http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1435-5957.2012.00463.x/pdf.A sense of belonging is a crucial factor determining the identification of the firms in industrial districts. From the social capital perspective, this paper analyses how the structural and relational dimensions of social capital determine a firm's sense of belonging to the industrial district. The study analyses a sample of 213 companies belonging to two Spanish industrial districts. 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The significance of professional, personal and business networks to academic entrepreneurs.

The degree of informational support academic scientists acquired from social network is associated with greater perceived feasibility that may influence their involvement in the research commercialization. Social capital has been commonly assessed by measuring the number of direct contacts from business and industry networks as well as the frequency of establishing new contacts. These approaches, however, have not adequately explained how social capital is beneficial to their entrepreneurial endeavor. This paper attempts to validate social capital as a formative construct using partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) to explore the relative importance of personal, professional and business networks to academic entrepreneurs in their technology transfer pursuit. A sample of 115 academic entrepreneurs of a Malaysia public research university was surveyed. The analyses of formative measurement model to evaluate construct validity, collinearity and significance of indicators revealed that scientists’ personal network is the most important social resource that facilitate and encourage them in the technology transfer pursuit, followed with business partners and potential investors. Although scientists have a large professional network through their attendance to conference, workshops and seminars, however, these platforms are often themed to focus more on sharing scientific knowledge rather than on academic entrepreneurship

Understanding the effect of IS change: A social capital perspective

This paper argues that by adopting a social capital perspective of the effects of Information Systems (IS) implementation we are able to provide insights into both human and technological aspects of change interventions. This theoretical paper is firmly embedded within socio-technical approaches and aims to conceptualise and address concerns relating to organisational issues of systems and technology management. IS implementation inevitably impacts upon the existing work and social relationships within organisations where there is the potential experience of reduced system effectiveness through a periodic lack of coordination and control. It is evident, in this respect, that the adoption of IS produces challenges to human collaboration which clearly add a social dimension to systems management. The paper broadly outlines how a social capital perspective may determine the areas of focus from IS-driven organisational change and provide indications about potential ways to improve system and technology adoption. This may support more appropriate designs for change interventions that enable organisations to accrue more value from IS

Measuring Transport Resilience: A Manawatu-Wanganui Region Case Study

The resilience of transport networks is attracting greater scrutiny at the international, national and sub-national levels. This research report explores the current state of knowledge about measuring transport resilience and presents a case study to address the question is: How resilient is the road and rail infrastructure in the Manawatu-Wanganui Region? This region in New Zealand’s lower North Island provides an interesting case study due to its strategic location in the North Island’s and indeed New Zealand’s transport network. In addition, it has experienced significant disruptions in the recent past, most notably widespread failures caused by flooding in 2004, and the lengthy closure of a significant inter-regional road connection, the Manawatu Gorge State Highway 3 road, due to a landslide in 2011-2012. It also provides an opportunity to explore this topic outside of a major metropolitan region. The region’s transport networks and infrastructure also have important social and economic functions. This research report is structured around a proposed Transport Resilience Indicator Framework (RIF) which explores six key dimensions of transport infrastructure resilience: engineering, services, ecological, social, economic and institutional. This holistic approach to measuring transport resilience and is envisaged to accommodate both qualitative and quantitative indicators. Within this framework, data were gathered via analysis of secondary sources and nine key informant interviews. The interview participants were from public sector agencies responsible for managing aspects of the region’s transport network, the private sector and one social service provider. The participants had considerable knowledge relating to the planning of the road network and/or its economic and social significance. They also had knowledge of the impacts and/or management of recent disruptions. The institutions responsible for managing the region’s transport network can identify vulnerabilities in the network, but can also collaborate and learn from past disruptions. Concerns were expressed about the level of funding for maintaining and upgrading the region’s transport networks, particularly for territorial authorities with large networks and small rates bases. The region is strongly dependent on the roading network, with limited alternatives during roading network disruptions. It proved difficult to quantify the environmental impacts of transport disruptions. A case study of the response of a local ii health shuttle service provided an example of how a community, by drawing on social capital, was able to adapt and respond appropriately to a transport disruption. One key area identified for further research is assessing the capacity of private contractors to respond to natural hazard events of varying magnitudes. The RIF could also be strengthened by the use of indicators based on quantitative data, in addition to qualitative data. It is suggested that one method of achieving this could this could be to adopt a multi-disciplinary approach, drawing on expertise, methods and perspectives from related professions, such as engineering and economics. [Executive summary