Social capital, transition in agriculture, and economic organisation: a theoretical perspective

Social capital is defined as the shared knowledge, trust, and culture, embodied in the structural forms of networks and other stable inter-agent relationships. Social capital has been shown to be more difficult to build than economic capital, and to have greater beneficial effects for community as a whole. The relevance of the social capital concept for transitional agenda is explained by the increasing responsibility of private collective action and grass-roots decisions in managing the business activities in agriculture, since this is required by the more democratic foundations of the market economy. Different forms of business organisations are shown to be differentially but consistently associated with social capital, with the major social capital dependent organisational form being the cooperative. The growing complexity of inter-agent relations (particularly in transitional context) causes the increasing amount of economic responsibility being transferred from authority-based to social capital-based forms of economic organisation, i.e. from markets and hierarchies, based mainly on economic capital, to networks with their primary accent on social capital. The social capital-based organisation in agriculture is particularly important in view of its industry-specific limitations and is represented mainly by cooperatives and farmers associations. The optimal role of the government is to invest in social capital in order to enable rural communities to solve their problems by means of private collective action (self-organisation), rather than attempt to substitute the latter. -- G E R M A N V E R S I O N: Sozialkapital wird definiert als geteiltes Wissen, Vertrauen und gemeinsame Kultur, eingebettet in Netzwerkstrukturen und andere stabile Beziehungen zwischen Agenten. Es hat sich gezeigt, dass Sozialkapital schwieriger aufzubauen ist als ökonomisches Kapital und dass es größere Auswirkungen auf die Gemeinschaft als Ganzes hat. Die Relevanz des Sozialkapital-Konzeptes für die Agenda der Transformationsländer wird erklärt durch die wachsende Verantwortung von privaten, kollektiven Handlungen und Basisentscheidungen beim landwirtschaftlichen Betriebsmanagement, wie es für die demokratischen Strukturen der Marktwirtschaft erforderlich ist. Verschiedene Betriebsformen sind unterschiedlich, jedoch durchweg verbunden mit Sozialkapital. Die landwirtschaftlichen Produktionsgenossen-schaften erweisen sich dabei als am meisten abhängig von Sozialkapital. Die wachsende Komplexität der Inter-Agenten-Beziehungen (insbesondere im Kontext des Transformationsprozesses) bewirkt, dass ein steigender Anteil ökonomischer Verantwortung von autoritätsbasierten zu sozialkapital-basierten Organisationsformen übergeht, d. h. von Märkten und Hierarchien, die vor allem auf ökonomischen Kapital basieren, zu Netzwerken mit dem Schwerpunkt auf Sozialkapital. Die sozialkapitalbasierten Organisationen in der Landwirtschaft werden hauptsächlich durch Genossenschaften und Bauernverbände repräsentiert und sind besonders wichtig in Hinblick auf ihre industriespezifischen Beschränkungen. Politische Maßnahmen sollten Investitionen in Sozialkapital unterstützen, um ländliche Gemeinden zu befähigen, ihre Probleme durch private, kollektive Handlungen (Selbstorganisation), anstatt zu versuchen, diese zu ersetzen.social capital,agricultural cooperative,economic organisation,Sozialkapital,Agrargenossenschaft,ökonomische Organisation

Reconceptualising the third sector: toward a heterodox perspective

The paper explores the way the work of classic institutionalist authors can inform modern nonprofit economics. From the perspective of Thorstein Veblen, nonprofit organisation is explained as an institutional consequence of the pecuniary-industrial dichotomy. John R. Commons' institutional economics is used to highlight the role of nonprofit organisation in eliminating excessive scarcities of vital goods, thus achieving a more reasonable standard of living in a society. In the theoretical system of Clarence Ayres, nonprofit organisation is shown to embody a particular stage in the progressive weakening of the institution of private property in response to technological imperatives. The paper concludes with discussing nonprofit organisation as a conceptual link in reconciling the institutionalist paradigms of instrumental value and reasonable value.institutionalism, nonprofit organisation, Veblen, Commons, Ayres

The Organizational Nature of Agricultural Cooperatives: A Perspective from the Farm Problem Theory

This article uses the farm problem theory as the framework for a comparative analysis of cooperative, market and hierarchical organization in the agrifood system. In order to carry out this analysis, the article proposes the organizational economics approach to the farm problem which supplements the traditional approaches explaining it in terms of low opportunity costs and high mobility costs of factors employed in agriculture. According to the proposed organizational economics approach, the farm problem is the outcome of inappropriateness of hierarchical and market organization for effective coordination of agricultural activities. The central argument of the article is that agricultural cooperatives are important because they partially perform the coordination functions not effectively delivered in agriculture by the conventional hierarchical and market types of economic organization.cooperative, market, hierarchy, farm problem, structural change, Agribusiness,

Are Cooperatives Hybrid Organizations? An Alternative Viewpoint

This paper questions the designation of cooperatives as hybrids of market and hierarchy on the grounds that cooperatives possess more differences from these governance mechanisms than commonalities with them. It is argued that the definition of a governance mechanism’s hybridity depends on the definition of the governance continuum, with the conventional market-hierarchy continuum failing to accommodate the specificity of the cooperative organization. Utilizing the logic of the property rights theory of the firm, the paper develops an alternative continuum for cooperative, hierarchical, and market organization. These governance mechanisms are shown to exhibit growing difference in the extensiveness of property rights assigned to the involved contractual parties. This continuum does not imply the hybridity of cooperatives; rather, it locates hierarchy between market and cooperative organization. The empirical validity of the new continuum is confirmed by the results of a survey of members of several Ukrainian rural cooperatives.Agribusiness,

Emergence:a systems theory’s challenge to ethics

The paper reconstructs Niklas Luhmann’s diagnosis of the dysfunctional character of moral communication in the modern society by emphasizing the emergent character of today’s moral problems. In the systems-theoretic literature, emergence means the irreducibility of the properties of the whole to the characteristics of its parts. Two arguments have been advanced. First, the dysfunctional character of moral communication has been traced back to the emergent character of many moral problems. Moral communication has thus been shown to be not inherently dysfunctional, but rather needful of semantic forms that take account of the emergent properties of the economic and other social systems. Second, these properties highlight the moral aspect of the precariousness of system–environment relations as seen by Luhmann. As a moral problem, this precariousness can be resolved through greater sensitivity of social systems to their environment, social and natural alike. Accordingly, the emergent properties of the economic and other social systems can be captured by recasting the concept of responsibility as the individual-level or organizational-level projection of the environmental sensitivity of these systems.</p

The anti-GMO advocacy:an institutionalist and systems-theoretic assessment

Purpose: Public debates on the use of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) are strongly influenced by the nongovernmental organization (NGO)-led advocacy, most of which is harshly critical of genetic engineering. This advocacy has resulted in discourse failures marked by the disregard for the scientific consensus on the risks and benefits of GMOs. This paper aims to present a theoretical inquiry into this phenomenon. Design/methodology/approach: Drawing on American institutionalism and Niklas Luhmann social systems theory, the paper explains these discourse failures in terms of the problematic relationship between institutions and technology. Findings: Clarence Ayres would likely see these discourse failures as a form of “institutional resistance” to the progress of science and technology. In contrast, Marc Tool’s social value principle stresses the importance of democratic legitimation and public acceptance of new technologies, while being sensitive to the possibility of ideologically biased discourses. It is argued that the institutionalist understanding of the interplay between democracy, science and technology would benefit from a better account of Niklas Luhmann’s concept of “complexity reduction”. Social implications: The study shows that some NGOs are powerful enough to actively shape, if not manipulate, public attitudes and sentiments against GMOs. Originality/value: The case of the anti-GMO advocacy calls for a new conceptualization of how democracy, science and technology fit together.</p

Stakeholder governance to facilitate collaboration for a systemic circular economy transition: A qualitative study in the European chemicals and plastics industry

Implementing the circular economy (CE) requires novel forms of stakeholder collaboration. While the contemporary literature on stakeholder theory is commonly characterized as “pro-business-oriented,” it remains ambiguous on how precisely stakeholder collaborations may pave the way for a systemic CE transition. By applying a qualitative-empirical research approach utilizing semi-structured interviews, this paper identifies three types of stakeholder governance for CE collaborations—(i) company-centric governance, (ii) industry-oriented governance, and (iii) cross-industry-oriented governance. Our contribution to stakeholder theory lies in examining how a systemic CE transition may bridge “the stakeholder-system divide.” We emphasize the unique role of innovative governance in ensuring the success of stakeholder relationships while highlighting how systemic changes of the business environment may give an impetus to stakeholder collaborations. We contribute to the CE literature by gaining the following insights into stakeholder collaborations in the European chemicals and plastics industry: (a) successful collaborations typically feature a variety of different stakeholders maintaining close mutual interactions; (b) a systemic CE transition calls for managerial strategies that are collectively governance-oriented rather than company-centric. This article thus sheds light on the criticality of stakeholder collaborations and collective-oriented governance strategies in fostering CE practices within the European chemicals and plastics industry highlighting that stakeholder collaborations for a CE need to be extended beyond immediate industrial and sectoral boundaries

Gender Heterogeneity and Politics in Decision-Making About Green Public Procurement in the Czech Republic

Green public procurement (GPP) is a widely recognized public policy tool that has attracted considerable scholarly research. However, much of this research has paid little attention to the nature of discretionary decision‐making on the part of bureaucrats and local politicians; nor has it recognized that a crucial determinant of the implementation of GPP is the extent to which women hold administrative and political positions. While GPP tends to be discussed as a tool for promoting gender equality, we draw on feminist insights to argue that doing so may be a tool for enhancing the uptake and implementation of GPP. Utilizing the data from a large‐N survey among local politicians and upper‐echelon bureaucrats in the Czech Republic, we develop a path analysis model exploring the influence of gender on their decision‐making. The results give credence to our overall argument that women are more likely to promote GPP. This argument not only breaks new ground by revealing the gendered nature of GPP but also generates straightforward policy implications