Bridges in social capital: A review of the definitions and the social capital of social capital researchers

There has been a recent surge of interest in social economics and social capital. Articles on social capital that are published in the last five years constitute more than 60 percent of all articles on social capital. Research on social capital is now massive and spans sociology, economics, management, political science and health sciences. Despite this interest there is still not a consensus on the definition and the measurement of social capital. This paper argues that this is due to lack of interaction between disciplines. The social capital of social capital researchers is low between disciplines. Different from other theories of capital, social capital theory has concurrently been developed by various disciplines and as such, advancements in social capital research could only be achieved by conducting cross-disciplinary research.Capital, social capital, co-authorship network, network analysis, diffusion processes

How "black" is the black sheep compared to all others? Turkey and the EU

In this paper we question the validity of the arguments against Turkey's membership of the EU and challenge the political wisdom of excluding Turkey from Europe. First, we argue that fundamental European values are not as uniform as they are made out to be. There are significant differences among the member states and the different European regions on basic values relating to religion and democracy. Second, we argue that many of Turkey's supposed cultural differences with the rest of Europe are in fact unsubstantiated. We support our arguments by analyzing widely available macroeconomic evidence and the data from the European Values Study, 1999 (EVS99).Turkey, EU, Institutions, Institutional Analysis, Values, EVS

How do social capital and government support affect innovation and growth? Evidence from the EU regional support programmes

This research investigates the role of social capital and government intervention in explaining the differences of innovation output and economic growth for regions of the European Union from 1990-2002. Using several measures of social capital and innovation, and the European Union’s Objective 1, 2 and 5b figures for EU regional support, the estimates suggest that EU funding is not significantly contributing to economic outcomes, while social capital is. Investigation of a possible complementary relationship between social capital and government support reveals that regions with higher levels of social capital are more likely to effectively gain from EU regional support programmes. This result implies that aside from the benefits associated with the direct effect of social capital on economic outcomes, social capital appears to be a critical prerequisite for the effective implementation of government programmes. From a policy perspective, it appears to be important to stimulate education to foster human capital formation. When combined, human capital and social capital are likely to yield stronger effects for effective policies which increase economic outcomes.Social capital, Innovation, Economic growth, European Union, Structural funds

Social Capital, Innovation and Growth: Evidence from Europe

This paper investigates the interplay between social capital, innovation and economic growth in the European Union. We identify innovation as an important mechanism that transforms social capital into economic growth. In an empirical investigation of 102 European regions in the period 1990-2002, we show that higher innovation performance is conducive to economic growth and that social capital affects growth indirectly by fostering innovation. Our estimates suggest that there is only a limited role for a direct effect of social capital on economic growth.Social capital, Innovation, Economic growth, European Union

Measuring and interpreting trends in the division of labour in the Netherlands

This paper introduces indicators about the division of labour to measure and interpret recent trends in employment in the Netherlands. We show that changes in the division of labour occur at three different levels: the level of the individual worker, the level of the industry and the spatial level. At each level, the current organisation of work is determined by an equilibrium of forces that glue tasks together and unbundled tasks. Communication costs are the main force for clustering or gluing together tasks; comparative advantage stimulates unbundling and specialisation. Our results show that on average the Netherlands has witnessed unbundling in the period 1996-2005. So, on average the advantages of specialisation have increased. These developments can explain to a considerable extent changes in the structure of employment. Especially at the spatial level, our approach explains a substantial part of the increase in offshoring during this period.

How do technology-based accelerators build their legitimacy as new organizations in an emerging entrepreneurship ecosystem?

Purpose: This paper aims to understand technology-based accelerators’ legitimation efforts in an emerging entrepreneurship ecosystem. Design/methodology/approach: This research is based on qualitative inductive methodology using ten Turkish technology-based accelerators. Findings: The analysis indicates that accelerators’ legitimation efforts are shaped around crafting a distinctive identity and mobilizing allies around this identity; and establishing new collaborations to enable collective action. Further, the authors observe two types of technology-based accelerators, namely, “deal flow makers” and “welfare stimulators” in Turkey. These variations among accelerators affect how they build their legitimacy. Different types of accelerators make alliances with different actors in the entrepreneurship ecosystem. Accelerators take collective action to build a collective identity and simultaneously imply how they are distinguished from other organizations in the same category and the ones in the old category. Originality/value: This study presents a framework to understand how accelerators use strategies and actions to legitimize themselves as new organizations and advocate new norms, values and routines in an emerging entrepreneurship ecosystem. The framework also highlights how different accelerators support legitimacy building by managing the judgments of diverse audiences and increasing the variety of resources these audiences provide to the ecosystem

The interplay between science and invention networks in knowledge cohesion: evidence from european regions

International audienceThis paper aims to analyse international collaborations in science and inventive activity and investigate how the landscape of knowledge production in Europe has changed in the past 25 years. We further aim to analyse to what extent collaborations in science and collaborations in patents are related at the regional level. These collaborations can be set up by researchers, universities and firms, and governments fund such collaborative initiatives (e.g., EU’s Framework Programmes). Thus, both academics and policy makers will benefit from knowing the impact of collaborations in research and patents. The paper has four research questions: 1) Do patent and research networks in Europe have similar dynamics? 2) Do patentshave any impact on the formation and evolution of research networks? 3) Do the innovation performances of regions affect the formation and evolution of research networks? 4) Do the innovation performances of regions affect the formation and evolution of patent networks? By answering these questions our ultimate aim is to coin a new concept we refer as “knowledge cohesion” and provide a critical look at the smart specialization policies in Europe