Hans Westlund

The spatial dimension of social capital

Social capital pertains to the social relations between humans, and since these social relations have a spatial dimension, so too does social capital. However, the spatial dimension of social capital has received little attention in the literature so far. Even in a globalizing world where electronic and virtual communication have the potential to defeat the need for geographical proximity, it is still relevant to consider the spatial dimension of social capital. After all, human beings exist most prominently in real rather than in virtual space. This special issue undertakes an inquiry into the spatial dimension of social capital from an explorative perspective. It aims to further theoretical and empirical understanding of the spatial dimension of social capital. As editors we recognize that the debate on social capital is still ongoing in the literature and that it is fed from different, sometimes conflicting perspectives. Therefore, the spatial dimension of social capital can only be conceptualized in the light of these different perspectives, which necessitates an explorative approach. Nonetheless, the various contributions of this special issue allow several conclusions that are valuable to the ongoing discussion on social capital and its spatial dimension. In the first part of this introductory paper, we discuss social capital from a conceptual angle, as we distinguish between two key approaches (the “structuralist” and “interactionist” approaches). We then argue how these approaches may be helpful to the understanding of the spatial dimension of social capital. In the second part, we introduce the various contributions and explain how they contribute to the aim of this special issue.

Measuring enterprises' investments in social capital : a pilot study

Westlund H. and Nilsson E. (2005) Measuring enterprises’ investments in social capital: a pilot study, Regional Studies 39 , 1079–1094. Research into the impact of social capital on economic growth has focused mainly on the social capital related to the civic society. Social capital related to business enterprises has received little attention. This pilot study aims to develop a method of measuring investment by enterprises in social capital and to study possible connections between the enterprises’ investments in social capital and their economic growth. Based on a network approach, the paper makes a distinction between the networks’ links and the norms, values, etc. that are created and sustained by the nodes (i.e. the enterprises and other actors) and distributed via the links. The study has been limited to measurement of the links. Three types of link are analysed: (1) direct investment in social links; (2) investment in economic links forming the basis of social links; and (3) investment in social links originating from economic links.

Start-ups and Local Entrepreneurial Social Capital in the Municipalities of Sweden

Westlund H., Larsson J. P. and Olsson A. R. Start-ups and local entrepreneurial social capital in the municipalities of Sweden, Regional Studies. This paper contains one of the first empirical attempts to investigate the influence of local entrepreneurial social capital (ESC) on start-up propensity. A unique database, including not only total start-ups but also data on start-ups divided into six sectors, is used to study the impact of ESC on start-ups per capita. The results support the hypothesis that social capital, measured both as (1) firm perception of local public attitudes to entrepreneurship and (2) the share of small businesses influences start-up propensity in Swedish municipalities. The findings also support previous results suggesting that social capital has a somewhat stronger influence in rural areas than in urban areas.

An unplanned green wave: settlement patterns in Sweden during the 1990s

This study focuses on the population changes in the countryside and in urban centres within the municipalities of Sweden outside the metropolitan areas, between 1990 and 1997. Overall, the countryside showed a higher population increase than the municipality centres. Smaller population centres suffered a population decline. The increase in population in the countryside was strongest in areas surrounding the metropolises and around regional centres. Statistical analysis showed that population change outside population centres mainly varies with the average income, labour-market access, and taxation values or housing costs in the municipalities. This process of change has run directly counter to the policy that was formulated for small municipalities from the end of the 1960s onwards. The growth in rural population was spontaneous for the most part, and more or less in conflict with the plans of the municipalities.

Building Social Capital For Social Entrepreneurship

By entrepreneurial combinations of voluntary resources, project means from public and private sources, commissions on contracts and other ways of financing, the youth house Fryshuset, with a great ...

Social Capital, Distance, Borders and Levels of Space: Conclusions and Further Issues

In this special issue, we attempted to combine two multifaceted concepts, social capital and space, a difficult and complex task. The various papers in this special issue have all demonstrated that social capital has a spatial dimension but they have also demonstrated that a straightforward connection between the two concepts does not emerge. In our view, the next step on the road to explaining the relation between social capital and space is to better conceptualize the latter. In the introductory paper, we focused on social capital, arguing that this concept can be approached from a structuralist or an interactionist perspective (with focus on the networks and the norms/values, respectively) and that it can bring positive as well as negative effects. Social capital is carried by individuals and different types of organizations, but, as the contributions in this special issue demonstrate, it also has a spatial factor. This necessitates conceptualizing space more clearly in order to better understand how social capital and space are related. In this final paper, we make an effort in this direction. Space may be theorized as a concept with three complex approaches. 1. A horizontal space in which distance is a continuous variable and in which access to social capital diminishes continuously with distance—although the relationship is not necessarily linear. This distance approach is based on the classic contributions

Form or contents? On the concept of social economy

This paper discusses the concept of social economy. Based on an economic‐historical perspective, reciprocity is seen as the fundamental principle for the social economy. In contrast to the “official” definitions, social economy is not restricted to only certain juridical forms. From the perspective outlined in this paper, social economy and commercial economy emerge not as opposite poles to each other but as parts of a continuous spectrum. Economic activities dominated by social objectives are also performed in other forms than the juridical forms of the social economy. Commercially‐dominated activities contain social elements as well. There are also many examples of social‐economic activities that expand, increase their commercialisation rate and subsequently are transformed to commercial enterprises. Studies on social features of the economy may thus be performed on a very wide field.

Building Social Capital for Social Entrepreneurship

By entrepreneurial combinations of voluntary resources, project means from public and private sources, commissions on contracts and other ways of financing, the youth house Fryshuset, with a great ...

The Social Capital of Regional Dynamics: A Policy Perspective

Creating something new, improving the quality and characteristics of existing products or producing things in a more cost efficient manner are three of the ways responsible for economic growth. Of these three, it is only the last one that can be considered connected to neoclassical theory, in the form of optimum combination of the given production factors under a given technology. A change in technology, as well as the sources to the other two ways contributing to the economic growth do not occur through variations in the quantities of production factors, but by the setting up of new production functions through different types of innovations, or what Schumpeter (1934, 1950) denominated as new combinations of production factors. In this expression also lies an understanding of the heterogeneity of the concepts of labor and capital and the possibility of combining an infinite number of labor and capital in an infinite number of combinations. Thus, studying innovations and economic change requires other approaches than those of traditional mainstream economics.

Social Economy and New Jobs: A Summary of Twenty Case Studies in European Regions

Social Economy and New Jobs. A Summary of Twenty Case Studies in European Regions. Annals of Public and Cooperative Economics