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Social capital, public services and the welfare state

Social capital is able to improve the quality of life also reducing inequalities and fostering the efficiency and accessibility of public mechanisms of social protection. This sub-section deals in particular with the relationship between social capital and the welfare state in public services delivery and inequalities reduction. Further useful readings are available in Social capital and health and Social capital and poverty in developing countries sections.
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Essential Readings

• Evans, P. (1997), Government Action, Social Capital and Development: Reviewing the Evidence on Synergy, in Evans, P. (ed), State-Society Synergy: Government and Social Capital in Development, University of California Press.

• Kumlin, S., Rothstein, B. (2004), Making and Breaking Social Capital: The Impact of Welfare State Institutions, Forthcoming in Comparative Political Studies.

• Lindbeck, A. (2003), An Essay on Welfare State Dynamics, IUI Working Paper Series No. 595, The Research Institute of Industrial Economics.

• Lindbeck, A., Nyberg, S., Weibull, J.W. (2002), Social Norms and the Welfare State Dynamics, IUI Working Paper Series No. 585, The Research Institute of Industrial Economics.

• Lopez, O.C. (2003), Social Capital and Government in the Production of Public Goods, Universidad Autonoma de Barcelona, Departamento de Economía e Historia Económica.

• Olson, M. (1965), The Logic of Collective Action: Public Goods and the Theory of Groups, Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press.

• Rothstein, B. (1998), Just Institutions Matter: The Moral and Political Logic of The Universal Welfare State, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press.

• Rothstein, B. (2001), Social Capital in the Social Democratic Welfare State, Politics and Society, Vol. 29, No. 2, 206-240.

• Rothstein, B., Stolle, D. (2003), "Social Capital, Impartiality and the Welfare State: An Institutional Approach", in Hooghe, M., Stolle, D. (eds) (2003), Generating Social Capital: Civil Society and Institutions in Comparative Perspective, New York, Palgrave.

• Sabatini, F. (2005), Social Capital, Public Spending and the Quality of Economic Development, University of Rome La Sapienza, Department of Public Economics. Paper accepted for presentation at the COE/JEPA (Center of Excellence / Japan Economic Policy Association) Joint International Conference, "Towards a New Economic Paradigm", Kobe, Japan, 17-18 December 2005.

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Further Readings

• Anderson, L.R., Mellor, J.M., Milyo, J. (2003), Social Capital and Contributions in a Public Goods Experiment, Working Paper Series: 03.17, The Harris School, University of Chicago.

• Anderson, L.R., Mellor, J.M., Milyo, J. (2003), Inequality, Group Cohesion, and Public Good Provision: An Experimental Analysis, Working Paper Series: 03.08, The Harris School, University of Chicago.

• Andersson, J.O., Kangas, O. (2003), Solidarity without limits? Support for basic income in Finland and Sweden, Paper presented at the Conference Welfare and the Social Bonds, Tilburg University, March, 2003.

• Arts, W., Halman, L., van Oorschot, W. (2003), The Welfare State: Villain or Hero of the Piece?, Paper presented at the Conference Welfare and the Social Bonds, Tilburg University, March, 2003.

• Bowles, S., Gintis, H. (2000), Social Capital and Community Governance, University of Massachussets Department of Economics working paper.

• Cecchi, C. (2003), Public Goods and Public Services. The process of Building Social Capital in Rural Areas, paper presented to the XL Sidea Annual Conferente, Padova, 18-20 September.

• Engel, S., Iskandarani, M., Useche, M. (2005), Improved water supply in the Ghanaian Volta Basin: Who uses it and who participates in community decision-making?, EPT Discussion Paper 129, Environment and Production Technology Division, International Food Policy Research Institute.

• Gelissen, J., Scheepers, P., Grotenhuis, M. (2003), Welfare States And Dimensions Of Social Capital: Cross-national Comparisons Of Social Contacts In European Countries, Paper presented at the Conference Sustainable Ties in the Information Society, Tilburg University, March, 2003.

• Knijn, T. (2003), To Complement or to Substitute: Re-visioning of the Welfare State, Paper presented at the Conference Welfare and the Social Bonds, Tilburg University, March, 2003.

• Kumlin, S., Rothstein, B. (2003), Investing in Social Capital: The Impact of Welfare State Institutions, Paper prepared for the 2003 Annual Meeting of the American Political Science Association.

• Pargal, S., Hug, M., Gilligan, D. (2000), Private Provision of a Public Good: Social Capital and Solid Waste Management in Dhaka, Bangladesh, The World Bank, Policy Research Working Paper Series: 2422.

• Rothstein, B. (2002), Cooperation for Social Protection. Explaining Variations for Welfare Programs, American Behavioral Scientists, Vol. 45, No. 5, 901-918.

• Rothstein, B. (2003), Social Capital and the Organization of the Welfare State, Paper presented at the Conference Welfare and the Social Bonds, Tilburg University, March, 2003.

• Rothstein, B. (2003), Social Capital in a Working Democracy. The Causal Mechanism, in Oyvind Osterud (ed), Power and Democracy: Critical Interventions, London, Ashgate.

• Rothstein, B., Uslaner, E.M. (2005), All for All: Equality and Social Trust, London School of Economics Health and Social Care Discussion Paper Number 15.

• Sampson, R.J., Raudenbush, S.W, Earls, F. (1997), Neighborhoods and Violent Crime: A Multilevel Study of Collective Efficacy, Science, 277, 918-24.

• Scheepers, P., Grotenhuis, M. (2003), Who Cares for the Poor in Europe? Micro and Macro Determinants of Fighting Poverty in 15 European Countries, Paper presented at the Conference Welfare and the Social Bonds, Tilburg University, March, 2003.

• Stone, W. (2000), Social Capital, Social Cohesion and Social Security, Paper presented at the 2000 International Research Conference on Social Security, Helsinki, 25-27 September 2000.

• Stone, W. (2003), Ageing, Social Capital and Social Support, Australian Institute of Family Studies.

• Van Oorschot, W., Arts, W., Halman, L. (2005), Welfare state effects on social capital and informal solidarity in the European Union: evidence from the 1999/2000 European Values Study, Policy & Politics, Volume 33, Number 1, January 2005, pp. 33-54(22).

• Wallis, J., Dollery, B. (2001), Government Failure, Social Capital and the Appropriateness of the New Zealand Model for Public Sector Reform in Developing Countries, World Development, 2001, vol. 29, issue 2, 245-263.

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