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Social Capital and Local Development

This section collects studies dealing with the role of social norms, social relations, and social networks in regional economic development, both in industrialized and in developing countries, with a particular regard for post-communist transition economies. Strong emphasis is placed on the role of networks between small and medium-sized firms, which may lead to the creation of industrial districts and learning regions.
Further useful references will be soon available on the forthcoming section on the industrial districts.
The section is under construction: suggestions and comments are always most welcome.

• Essential readings

• Furhter readings

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Essential Readings

• Cooke, P., Morgan, K. (1999), The Associational Economy: Firms, Regions and Innovation, Oxford, Oxford University Press.

• Florida, R. (1995), Toward the Learning Region, Futures, No. 27, 527-535.

• Morgan, K. (1997), The Learning Region: Institutions, Innovation and Regional Renewal, Regional Studies, Vol. 31, No. 5, 491-503.

• Leonardi, R., Nannetti, R.Y., Putnam, R.D. (1985), La pianta e le radici: Il radicamento dell'istituto regionale nel sistema politico italiano, Bologna, Il Mulino.

• Leonardi, R. (1995), Convergence, Cohesion and Integration in the European Union, London, Palgrave MacMillan.

• Leonardi, R. (1995), Regional Development in Italy: Social Capital and the Mezzogiorno, Oxford Review of Economic Policy, Vol. 11 (1995), Issue 2, 165-179.

• Putnam, R.D., Leonardi, R., Nanetti, R.Y. (1993) Making Democracy Work: Civic Traditions in Modern Italy, Princeton University Press, Princeton, trad. it. La tradizione civica nelle regioni italiane, Mondadori, Milano.

• Sabatini, Fabio (2005), The Role of Social Capital in Economic Development. Investigating the Causal Nexus through Structural Equations Models, University of Rome La Sapienza, Department of Public Economics, mimeo.

• Sabatini, Fabio (2006), Does Social Capital Improve Labour Productivity in Small and Medium Enterprises?, Working Paper No. 92, University of Rome La Sapienza, Department of Public Economics.

• Sabatini, Fabio (2006), Social capital, labour precariousness and the economic performance. An empirical assessment of the strength of weak ties in Italy, Third Sector and Civil Economy Working Paper Series, No. 26, January 2006, University of Bologna, Faculty of Economics.

• Trigilia, C. (2001), Social Capital and Local Development, European Journal of Social Theory, 2001; 4, 427-442.

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Further Readings

• Anderson, A.R., Jack, S.L. (2002), The articulation of social capital in entrepreneurial networks: a glue or a lubricant?, Entrepreneurship & Regional Development, Vol. 14, No. 3, 193-210.

• Ansell, C. (2000), The Networked Polity: Regional Development in Western Europe, Governance, Vol. 13, Issue 2, Page 279.

• Armstrong, H.W., Kehrer, B., Wells, P. (2001), Initial Impacts of Community Economic Development Initiatives in the Yorkshire and Humber Structural Funds Programme, Vol. 35, No. 8, 673-688.

• Baerenholdt J.O., Aarsaether N. (2002), Coping Strategies, Social Capital and Space, European Urban and Regional Studies, April 2002, Vol. 9, No. 2, 151-165(15).

• Bacci, L. (2002), The intangible determinants of competitiveness and their measurement: the case of regional analysis, PRISM Policy Implications Research Papers, No. WP03.

• Bagnasco, A (1977), Le tre Italie, La problematica territoriale dello sviluppo economico italiano, Bologna, Il Mulino.

• Bellandi, M. (2000), Local Development, Big Firms And Social Capital, Paper presented at the European Congress of the Regional Science Association, Barcelona, August 29, September 1, 2000.

• Bellandi, M. (2002), Italian Industrial Districts: An Industrial Economics Interpretation, European Planning Studies, Vol. 10, No. 4, 425-437.

• Beugelsdijk, S., van Schaick, T. (2003), Social Capital and Regional Economic Growth, Paper presented at the European Regional Science Association (ERSA) 2003 Congress, University of Jyväskylä, Jyväskylä, Finland, 27-30 August 2003.

• Boccia, F., Leonardi, R., Letta, E., Treu, T. (2004), I Mezzogiorni d'Europa. Verso la riforma dei Fondi strutturali, Bologna, Il Mulino.

• Boschma, R.A. (2004), Social capital and regional development: an empirical analysis of the Third Italy, in Boschma, R.A., Kloosterman, R. (eds.), Learning from clusters. A critical assessment, Dordrecht, Springer Verlag, forthcoming march 2005.

• Broekel, T., Brenner, T. (2005), Local Factors and Innovativeness – An Empirical Analysis of German Patents for Five Industries, Papers on Economics & Evolution, No. 0509, Max Planck Institute of Economics, Evolutionary Economics Group.

• Cabus, P. (2001), The Meaning of Local in a Global Economy: The 'Region's Advocacy of Local Interests' as a Necessary Component of Current Global/Local Theories, European Planning Studies, Vol. 9, No. 8, 1011-1029.

• Callois, J.M., Angeon, V. (2004), On the role of social capital on local economic development. An econometric investigation on rural employment areas in France, Paper presented at the Agricultural Economic Society Conference 2004.

• Camagni, R. (2002), On the Concept of Territorial Competitiveness: Sound or Misleading?, Urban Studies, Vol. 39, No. 13, 2395-2411.

• Casey, T. (2004), Social Capital and Regional Economies in Britain, Political Studies, Volume 52 Issue 1 Page 96, March 2004.

• Casson, M. (2002), Analysing Regional Business Networks: An Economic Perspective, University of Reading, Department of Economics Working Paper.

• Cohen, S.S., Fields, G. (1999), Social Capital and Capital Gains, or Virtual Bowling in Silicon Valley, Paper prepared for the Local Economic and Employment Development (LEED) Programme for the Conference "Local Economic Development: Social Capital and Productive Networks", Mexico City, January 18-19th, 1999.

• Cooke, P. and K. Morgan (1993), The network paradigm: new departures in corporate and regional development, Environment and Planning D 8, 1993, 7-34.

• Cooke, P., Wills, D. (1999), Small Firms, Social Capital, and the Enhancement of Business Performance Through Innovation Programmes, Small Business Economics, No. 13, 219-234.

• Dornish, D. (1999), The Social Embeddedness of Polish Regional Development: Representative Institutions, Path Dependencies, and Network Formation, Paper written as part of Regional Economic Performance, Governance and Cohesion in an Enlarged Europe project sponsored by the Economic and Social Research Council’s "One Europe or Several" programme.

• Evans, M., Syrett, S. (2003), Generating Social Capital? The Social Economy and Local Regeneration, Paper presented at the Regional Studies Association Conference "Reinventing Regions in the Global Economy", Pisa, 12th-15th April, 2003.

• Faris, R., (2004), Lifelong Learning, Social Capital and Place Management in Learning Communities and Regions: a Rubic’s Cube or a Kaleidoscope?, Observatory PASCAL (Place Management, Social Capital and Learning Regions) Working Paper.

• Farrell, H., Knight, J. (2004), Trust, Institutions and Institutional Change: Industrial Districts and the Social Capital Hypotesis, mimeo.

• Felzensztein, C. (2003), Collaborative networks and inter-firm co-operation in marketing: Where are we? Where do we need to go?, Paper presented at the Sixth McGill Conference on International Entrepreneurship , University of Ulster, Northern Ireland.

• Fürst, D., Schubert, H., Rudolph, A., Spieckermann, H. (2001), Regional Actor Networks Between Social Capital and Regional Governance, Connections 24(1), 42-67.

• Geddes, M. (2000), Tackling Social Exclusion in the European Union? The Limits to the New Orthodoxy of Local Partnership, International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, Vol. 24, Issue 4, 782.

• Gordon, I.R., McCann, P. (2000), Industrial Clusters: Complexes, Agglomeration and/or Social Networks?, Urban Studies, Vol. 37, No. 3, 513-532.

• Grootaert, C. (1999), Social Capital, Household Welfare and Poverty in Indonesia, Local Level Institutions Working Paper No. 6, The World Bank.

• Guiso, L., Sapienza, P., Zingales, L. (2000), The Role Of Social Capital In Financial Development, The American Economic Review, June 2004, Vol. 94, No. 3, 526-556(31).

• Hassink, R. (2004), The Learning Region: A Policy Concept to Unlock Regional Economies from Path Dependency?, Paper presented at the conference Regionalization of Innovation Policy – Options and Experiences, June 4-5, 2004, Berlin.

• Helmsing, B. (2001), Externalities, Learning and Governance: New Perspectives on Local Economic Development, Development and Change, March 2001, Vol. 32, No. 2, 277-308(32).

• Huggins, R. (1998), New Ways for Local and Regional Economic Development, Proceedings of the Annual Political Studies Association Conference held at the University of Keele.

• Isham, J. (2001), Can Investments in Social Capital Improve Local Development and Environmental Outcomes? A Cost-Benefit Framework to assess the Policy Options, in Isham, J., Kelly, T., Ramaswamy, S. (eds), Social Capital and Well-Being in Developing Countries, Edward Elgar Publications.

• Jones, M., MacLeod, G. (1999), Towards a Regional Renaissance? Reconfiguring and Rescaling England's Economic Governance, Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers, Vol. 24, Issue 3, September 1999.

• Keating, M. (2000), Rethinking the Region. Culture, Institutions and Economic Development in Catalonia and Galicia, European Urban and Regional Studies, Vol. 8, No. 3, 217-234 (2001).

• Kingsley, G., Malecki, E.J. (2004), Networking for Competitiveness, Small Business Economics, 23 (1): 71-84, August 2004.

• Knorringa, P., Meyer-Stamer, J. (1998), New Dimensions in Local Enterprise Co-operation and Development: From Clusters to Industrial Districts, Contribution to ATAS Bulletin XI, New approaches to science and technology co-operation and capacity building.

• Koschatzky, K. (2004), Knowledge-Based Regional Development. Governance Concepts at the Interface between Global Challenges and Regional Innovation Potentials, Paper presented at the Conference Regionalization of Innovation Policy – Options and Experiences, organized by the German Institute for Economic Research (DIW Berlin), Berlin, June 4-5, 2004.

• Landabaso, M., Mouton, B., Miedzinski, M. (2003), Regional Innovation strategies: a tool to improve social capital and institutional efficiency? Lessons from the European Regional Development Fund innovative actions, Paper presented at the conference of the Regional Studies Association “Reinventing regions in a global economy”, 12-15 April 2003, Pisa.

• Lehto, E., Oksa, J. (2003), Local Development and Social Capital: The Case of Sotkamo, Paper presented at the 43rd European Congress of the Regional Science Association, Peripheries, centres, and spatial development in the new Europe, University of Jyväskylä, Finland, 27th-30th August 2003.

• Leonardi, R., Nanetti, R., Putnam, R.D. (eds) (1987), Il caso Basilicata: L'effetto regione dal 1970 al 1986, Bologna, Il Mulino.

• Leonardi, R. (1998), Coesione, convergenza e integrazione nell'Unione Europea, Bologna, Il Mulino.

• Leonardi, R., Paraskevopoulos, C. (1996), Social Capital and Learning Institutional Networks: Making Sense of Subsidiarity in European Regional Policy, Paper presented at the European Regional Science Association, 36th European Congress, Zurich, Switzerland, 26-30 August, 1996.

• Lorenzen, M. (2001), Localized Learning and Policy: Academic Advice on Enhancing Regional Competitiveness through Learning, European Planning Studies, Vol. 9, No. 2, 163-185.

• Lubeck, P., Eischen, K. (1999), Silicon Islands and Silicon “Valles”: Informational Networks and Regional Development Strategies in an Era of Globalization, University of California, Santa Cruz, Center for Global, International and Regional Studies, Working Paper No. WPTC-99-10.

• Mayer, M. (2003), The onward sweep of social capital: causes and consequences for understanding cities, communities and urban movements, International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, Vol. 27, No. 1, 110-132(23).

• McDonald, D., St.Clair Baker, A., Hardy, R. (2005), Kent: a Virtual City Region, Observatory PASCAL (Place Management, Social Capital and Learning Regions) Working Paper.

• Milani, C. (2003), Social Capital and Local Development Theories: Lessons from the Pintadas Experience, Escola de Administração at the Federal University of Bahia, mimeo.

• Milani, C. (2003), Teorias do Capital Social e Desenvolvimento Local: lições a partir da experiência de Pintadas (Bahia, Brasil), Escola de Administração at the Federal University of Bahia, mimeo.

• Mohan, G., Stokke, K. (2000), Participatory development and empowerment: the dangers of localism, Third World Quarterly, Vol. 21, No. 2, 247-268.

• Molenaers N. (2003), Associations or Networks? Social Capital and Local Development Practices, in Hooghe M., Stolle D. (eds.), Generating Social Capital, The Role of Voluntary Associations and Institutions for Civic Attitudes, New York, Palgrave Macmillan, 113-132.

• Morgan, B. (2002), Higher Education and Regional Economic Development in Wales: An Opportunity for Demonstrating the Efficacy of Devolution in Economic Development, Regional Studies, Vol. 26, No. 1, 65-73.

• Mutti, A. (2000), Particularism and the Modernization Process in Southern Italy, International Sociology, December 2000, Vol. 15, No. 4, 579-590(12).

• Nel, E.L., Mcquaid, R.W. (2002), Research & Practice: The Evolution of Local Economic Development in South Africa: The Case of Stutterheim and Social Capital, Economic Development Quarterly, Vol. 16, No. 1, 60-74(15).

• Patton, D., Kenney, M. (2003), Innovation and Social Capital in Silicon Valley, BRIE Working Paper 155, University of California, Davis.

• Raagmaa, G. (2002), Regional Identity in Regional Development and Planning, European Planning Studies, Vol. 10, No. 1, 55-76.

• Radosevic, S. (2000), Regional Innovation Systems in Central and Eastern Europe: Determinants, Organizers and Alignments, University College London School of Slavonic and East European Studies, mimeo.

• Rupashinga, A., Goetz, S.J., Freshwater, D. (2002), Social and institutional factors as determinants of economic growth: Evidence from the United States counties, Papers in Regional Science, Vol. 81, No. 2, 139-155.

• Rutheford, T.D. (2001), Opportunities and Dilemmas: Labour and Regional Innovation, Paper presented at the International Workshop on Innovation Clusters and Interregional Competition, 12-13, November 2001.

• Sabatini, Fabio (2006), Social Capital, Public Spending and the
Quality of Economic Development: the Case of Italy, FEEM Working Paper 14.06, Eni Enrico Mattei Foundation, Milan, January 2006.

• Seri, P. (2001), Losing areas and shared mental models: towards a definition of the cognitive obstacles to local development, Paper presented at the Danish Research Unit for Industrial Dynamics (DRUID) Winter Conference, Copenhagen, 18-20 Jan. 2001.

• Shortall, S. (2004), Social or Economic Goals, Civic Inclusion or Exclusion? An Analysis of Rural Development Theory and Practice, Sociologia Ruralis, Vol. 44, Issue 1, Page 109 - January 2004

• Shucksmith, M. (2000), Endogenous Development, Social Capital and Social Inclusion: perspectives from leader in the UK, Sociologia Ruralis, Vol. 40, Issue 2, 208.

• Teague, P., Murphy, M.C. (2004), Social partnership and local development in Ireland: The limits to deliberation, International Institute for Labour Studies Discussion Papers No. DP/156.

• Tura, T., Harmaakorpi, V. (2003), Social Capital in Building Regional Innovative Capability: A Theoretical and Conceptual Assessment, Paper presented at the 43rd Congress of the European Regional Science Association (ERSA). Jyväskylä Finland, 27-30 August 2003.

• Van Zon, H. (1998), The Mismanaged Integration of Zaporizhzhya with the World Economy: Implications for Regional Development in Peripheral Regions, Regional Studies, Vol. 32, No. 7, 607-618.

• Westlund, H., Bolton, R. (2003), Local Social Capital and Entrepreneurship, Small Business Economics, Vol. 21, No. 2, 77-113.

• Westlund, H., Forsberg, A., Höckertin, C. (2002), Social capital and local development in Swedish rural districts, Paper presented at the 42nd Congress of the European Regional Science Association, Dortmund, Germany 27th-31st August 2002.

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