Sozialkapital und Sozialpartnerschaft

'Der Begriff 'Sozialkapital' wird in verschiedener, oft unscharfer Bedeutung verwendet. Zunächst wird der Inhalt des Begriffs Sozialkapital im Unterschied zum Sachkapital und zum Humankapital dargestellt. In der Literatur wird Sozialkapital in hohem Maß mit generellem Vertrauen und auf Gegenseitigkeit beruhender Bereitschaft zu gemeinwohlorientiertem Verhalten identifiziert. Sozialpartnerschaft kann als spezifische Form dieses Vertrauensverhältnisses zwischen sozialen Gruppen gesehen werden, das eine friedliche Regulierung von Interessengegensätzen ermöglicht. Die so genannte 'Neue lnstitutionenökonomie' bietet einen dem Konzept des Sozialkapitals verwandten Ansatz zur näheren Analyse der Arbeitsbeziehungen als 'relationale Kontrakte', ebenso Olsons Theorie des kollektiven Handelns, v. a. sein Begriff der 'umfassenden Organisation'. Damit kann erklärt werden, in welchen Formen Sozialkapital die wirtschaftliche Performance verbessern kann. Es bleibt allerdings fraglich, ob die Bezeichnung von institutionellen Arrangements als 'soziales Kapital' tatsächlich ein besseres Verständnis dieser Zusammenhänge ermöglicht.' (Autorenreferat)'The concept of 'social capital' is used in different contexts, often with a rather vague meaning. At the beginning of the article the content of the 'social capital' concept is discussed, contrasting it against 'real capital' and 'human capital'. To a large extent 'social capital' is identified with trust and the practice of civic virtues in society. Social partnership represents a specific form of comprehensive trust relationships between social groups, supporting a peaceful regulation of interest conflicts. Designed as 'relational contracts', the so-called 'new institutional economics' offers an approach for the analysis of industrial relations, similar to that of social capital. This is also true for Olson's theory of collective action, particularly for his concept of 'encompassing organizations'. This helps explaining, how social capital contributes positively to economic performance. Whether institutional arrangements really can be understood better by classifying them as 'social capital', still represents an open question.' (author's abstract)

Approaches of the Austrian School to the Soziale Frage before World War I – Wieser and Böhm-Bawerk

Purpose – The paper aims to provide an overview of the Austrian School's approaches to the social question before World War I. Design/methodology/approach – The paper takes the form of a comparative study. Findings – In his contributions Friedrich von Wieser supported co-operative associations as an organizational form of big enterprise to be used as instruments to ameliorate the social condition of workers; and who dealt with issues such as private ownership of the means of production and economic inequality, impact of collective bargaining on wage formation, and public economy, where he discussed the contribution of public sector production to social value. Further reports on Böhm-Bawerk's essay on disadvantageous consequences of free competition where he came to the conclusion that free competition in reality does not maximize national economic welfare, without, however, drawing concrete policy consequences from his findings. As Austria's finance minister he introduced a modestly progressive income tax early in the twentieth century. Later, in his essay “Control or economic law” he took a more reserved position with respect to the possibilities of correcting ore modifying outcomes of the market process. Practical implications – The paper illustrates that redistribution can enhance economic welfare. Originality/value – Calls back to memory that opinions of the first generation of the Austrian School (Wieser, Böhm-Bawerk) were different from Ludwig Mises' positions expressed in Die Gemeinwirtschaft that all measures of social policy are aimed at the destruction of the free market economy, which later came to be considered as the dominant position of the Austrian School towards the social question.Economic models, Economic theory, Unemployment

Seckendorff as an Economist in Comparison with Contemporary Writers

Seckendorff, Becher, mercantilism,

A nova disciplina de sistemas econômicos comparados: uma proposta

<abstract language="eng">The new discipline of comparative economic systems: a proposition. This article offers elements for a reorientation of the subject matter of the discipline " Comparative Economic Systems" with the impact of the fall of the Berlin’s wall. Thus, we argue that in the context of the modern democratic society the political choice between society models occurs in a narrower set of options. Thus the study of pure forms of socialism is of historical interest, but he is not relevant to this discipline since it must prioritize the debate around the choice of compatible alternative models within the rule of law. So the article offers a new program for this discipline, able to describe and to understand the diversity of systems between countries that had opted for mixing market economy