The Compensating Income Variation of Social Capital

There is a small but growing literature on the determinants of social capital. Most of these studies use a measure of trust to define social capital empirically. In this paper we use three different measures of social capital: the size of the individual’s social network, the extent of their social safety net and membership of unions or associations. A second contribution to the literature is that we analyze what social capital contributes to our well-being. Based on this, we calculate the compensating income variation of social capital. We find differences in social capital when we differentiate according to individual characteristics such as education, age, place of residence, household composition, and health. Household income generally has a statistically significant effect. We find a significant effect of social capital on life satisfaction. Consequently, the compensating income variation of social capital is substantial.social capital, life satisfaction

The 60s Turnaround as a Test on the Causal Relationship between Sociability and Happiness

The nexus between social leisure and life satisfaction is riddled with endogeneity problems. In investigating the causal relationship going from the first to the second variable we start from considering that retirement is an event after which the time investable in (the outside job) relational life increases. We instrument social leisure with the probability of retirement of the three and four years younger cohorts. With such approach we document that social leisure has a positive and significant effect on life satisfaction. Our findings shed some light on the age-happiness pattern. Policy implications are also discussed.Life satisfaction, relational goods, social capital

Social Capital as a Predictor of Quality of Life: The Czech Experience

In the paper, we understand social capital as a variable that affects the quality of life. A variable whose change affects another variable is called a predictor. The paper is based on Putnam’s understanding of social capital with the dimensions of trust, norms and networks. Trust is considered the most important dimension, and for the purposes of the paper social capital is identified with trust. Quality of life is a holistic concept with two dimensions expressing an assessment of satisfaction with life. After society became richer - in the 1960's in the West and, after the collapse of the bipolar world, also in Central and Eastern Europe - the need for quantity was replaced by the need for quality. The paper is focused on Czechia, with social capital as a predictor of quality of life being investigated geographically at the level of districts. According to the research hypothesis, social capital will have a strong influence on the quality of life of residents in Czechia, i.e., it will be its predictor. To test the validity of the research hypothesis, research was conducted. The aim of the paper is to outline the epistemology of social capital from the aspect of quality of life, description of quality of life and then to test the validity of the research hypothesis by measurements. The result of the quantification of social capital and quality of life at the level of districts and their correlation is important from an epistemological point of view for two reasons. The first is to question the generally accepted premise of the position of social capital as a strong predictor of quality of life. The second is the recognition that the premise of the position of social capital as a strong predictor of quality of life applies in the districts with the highest quality of life

The 60es turnaround as a test on the causal relationship between sociability and happiness

The nexus between relational life and life satisfaction is riddled with endogeneity problems. By investigating the causal relationship going from the first to the second variable we consider that retirement is a shock which increases the time investable in (outside job) relational life. As a consequence we instrument investment in relational goods with the aggregate exogenous age-retirement pattern. With such approach we document that investment in relational life has a positive and significant effect on life satisfaction. Consequences of our findings in terms of retirement effects and age-happiness pattern are also discussed.life satisfaction, relational goods, social capital

Life satisfaction in adolescents:the role of individual and social health assets

The aim of this study is to explore the relationship between adolescents’ life satisfaction and individual and social health assets. A nationally representative sample of 3,494 Portuguese adolescents (mean age = 14.94 ± 1.30 years; 53.6% girls) completed the Health Behavior in School-aged Children survey measuring a variety of health behaviors and beliefs. A sequential regression analysis was conducted with gender, individual assets (academic achievement, social competence, self-regulation and life objectives) and social assets (family support, peer support, parental monitoring and school connectedness) entered in separate steps. A second regression analysis was conducted with social assets entered before individual assets. The final model explained 18.3% of life satisfaction. School connectedness (β = .198, p < .001) and family support (β = .154, p < .001) were the strongest predictors of adolescents’ life satisfaction followed by social competence (β = .152, p < .001), academic achievement (β = .116, p < .001) and self-regulation (β = .064, p < .001). Social assets explained a larger variance of life satisfaction than individual assets when entered first in the regression (r2 = .134 and r2 = .119, respectively, p < .001). When entered last step in the regression analysis, social assets added more to life satisfaction’s variance than when individual assets were added in the last step (r2 = .060 and r2 = .045, respectively, p < .001). These results reinforce the role social interaction and social capital models in the promotion of well-being

Understanding the Influence of Social Networks and Social Roles on Individuals with Developmental Disabilities: Providing Opportunities in Order to Assess Quality of Life

This study investigates the influence of social role opportunities on quality of life for individuals with developmental disabilities (DD). It also explores the impact of informal social networks on social capital for this population. This study analyzed the effects of newly created social role opportunities on quality of life for a small group of individuals with DD. The hypothesis suggested that those given a new social role would report a higher quality of life than those not given a new role. Pre-test/post-test interviews were administered and a 6 week intervention was implemented with participants of a local social group in order to assess quality of life. A Social Capital Index interview was also conducted to determine the social capital of the participants in the social group. In terms of social capital, the second hypothesis proposed that members of the social group would have more social capital than those who were not members of a social group. Results from this interview were compared to data from individuals who were not members of a social group in order to determine if informal social networks influence social capital. Nonparametric statistics were used, but no statistically significant findings were revealed. Despite the lack of significance, qualitative evidence aligns with previous literature and suggests that people with development disabilities share a common desire for more social role opportunities

State education as high-yield investment: human capital theory in European policy discourse

Human Capital Theory has been an increasingly important phenomenon in economic thought over the last 50 years. The central role it affords to education has become even more marked in recent years as the concept of the ‘knowledge economy’ has become a global concern. In this paper, the prevalence of Human Capital Theory within European educational policy discourse is explored. The paper examines a selection of policy documents from a number of disparate European national contexts and considers the extent to which the ideas of Human Capital Theory can be seen to be influential. In the second part of the paper, the implications of Human Capital Theory for education are considered, with a particular focus on the possible ramifications at a time of economic austerity. The paper argues that Human Capital Theory risks offering a diminished view of the person, a diminished view of education, but that with its sole focus on economic goals leaves room for educationists and others to argue for the educational, social, and moral values it ignores, and for the conception of the good life and good society it fails to mention

Local indeterminacy in two-sector overlapping generations models

In this paper, we consider a two-sector two-periods overlapping generations model with inelastic labor, consumption in both periods of life and homothetic CES preferences. We assume in a first step that the consumption levels are gross substitutes and the consumption good is capital intensive. We prove that when dynamic efficiency holds, the occurrence of sunspot fluctuations requires low enough values for the sectoral elasticities of capital-labor substitution. On the contrary, under dynamic inefficiency, local indeterminacy may be obtained without any restriction on the input substitutability properties. Assuming in a second step that gross substitutability in consumption does not hold, we show that sunspot fluctuations arise under dynamic efficiency without any restriction on the sign of the capital intensity difference across sectors and provided the sectoral elasticities of capital-labor substitution admit intermediary values.Two-sector OLG model, social production function, dynamic (in)efficiency, gross substitutability in consumption, local indeterminacy, sunspot fluctuations

Social Security and Individual Welfare: Precautionary Saving, LiquidityConstraints, and the Payroll Tax

Recent advances in the examination of efficiency gains from dynamic tax reforms have used simulation models to isolate intragenerational and/or intergenerational effects. Important considerations having to do with uncertainty or capital market imperfections are frequently missing from such a framework. In this paper, we focus on the welfare gains from introducing social security retirement annuities, given lifetime uncertainty and borrowing restrictions.Our principal findings are four. First, given the considerations mentioned above, "precautionary saving" exceeds life-cycle saving (that would have taken place in the absence of lifetime uncertainty), lending further support to the notion that the perfect-certainty version of the life-cycle model provides an inadequate explanation of observed saving behavior. Second, the introduction of an actuarially fair social security system leads to a significant partial equilibrium increase in lifetime consumption and welfare, accompanied by a reduction in the capital stock.The increase in lifetime welfare is reduced, however,and in many cases eliminated, when borrowing restrictions are imposed.Third, extending the model to general equilibrium, we find that the partial equilibrium gains in lifetime welfare from participation in social security are offset by the interaction of higher steady-state interest rates and binding liquidity constraints. Finally, replacing the proportional payroll tax with a progressive tax (essentially a linear tax with an exemption), we show that age-specific tax schemes can restore much of the potential gain from introducing social security.

Transnationalism, social capital and gender – young Pakistani Muslim women in Bradford, UK

This work was funded by the Leverhulme Trust.This article considers the relationship between transnationalism and social capital amongst young Pakistani Muslim women in Bradford, West Yorkshire. The central aim of the article is to explore how second generation Pakistani Muslim women accrue faith based social capital to negotiate and resist transnational gendered expectations, norms and practices. In particular, they use faith-based social capital that is transnationally informed: to challenge the patriarchal expectations and norms of their families; to gain access to higher/further education and thereby improve their life opportunities; and to resist growing anti-Muslim sentiment. This paper draws on qualitative research (in-depth interviews) conducted in BradfordPostprintPeer reviewe