IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/wiw/wiwrsa/ersa12p591.html

Conflicts and social capital and economic development in Latin America

Author

Listed:
  • Paula Pavarina

Abstract

Conflicts and social capital and economic development in Latin America Keywords: social capital, economic development, conflict, cooperation. JEL CLASSIFICATION: O17; 043; O57. Abstract This study aims to discuss the economical behavior of Latin America, considering the importance of the attributes directly related to social capital (interpersonal trust, which leads to association and civic commitment, resulting in what Putnam calls 'civic community') pari passu governance, ie the formal attributes related to the behavior of economic agents in the presence of the state, which make up a 'backdrop' for the establishment of social, political and economic relations. Together, these two dimensions can enable to explain the economical behavior of conflict or cooperation in different countries. This is because the rational decision of cooperating or not is related to two factors: (1) the expected behavior of other agents ('I cooperate if and just if I hope the others will cooperate with me') and (2) the existence of standards, patterns or rules that prevent or hinder opportunism (otherwise the cooperative behavior would seem a 'fool’s choice'). The key question when added together the two dimensions is predictability. In other words, understanding the game' and the reluctance in facing the penalties imposed in cases of wrongful conduct. The expected behavior of other agents depends on the trust relationships that are established between them. The more 'general trust' is (replacing the purely interpersonal attributes), it is expected more cooperation. The 'generalized trust' occurs when one recognizes itself in the other or when others are part of 'my group'. Hence the importance of activities that brings together a large and different number of people and groups, named 'bridging' associations, which allow the inter-relationship between 'different' individuals. The more social capital is reflected in the amount of cross-cutting relationships; bigger will be the advantages of economic environment. The lack of confidence or associative participation leads to a 'social isolationism' that is characteristic of places and countries where economic or social fragmentation can be find. This situation can lead to positive results that are appropriated by some groups in private but not by all the collectivity. Conflict occurs when different interests collide: either because they are isolated benefits or privately appropriated ones, gathered in the expense of others groups; or because the benefits are not extended to everybody because of the context of institutional weakness. Using quantitative analysis this paper analyses correlations between social capital and growth in Latin America as well as between GDP per capita and institutional conditions (political and civil liberties, property rights, stability of political power, judicial independence and the rule of law).

Suggested Citation

  • Paula Pavarina, 2012. "Conflicts and social capital and economic development in Latin America," ERSA conference papers ersa12p591, European Regional Science Association.
    • Handle: RePEc:wiw:wiwrsa:ersa12p591
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www-sre.wu.ac.at/ersa/ersaconfs/ersa12/e120821aFinal00593.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Sriya Iyer & Michael Kitson & Bernard Toh, 2005. "Social capital, economic growth and regional development," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 39(8), pages 1015-1040.
    2. Woolcock, Michael & Narayan, Deepa, 2000. "Social Capital: Implications for Development Theory, Research, and Policy," The World Bank Research Observer, World Bank, vol. 15(2), pages 225-249, August.
    3. World Bank, 2009. "World Development Indicators 2009," World Bank Publications - Books, The World Bank Group, number 4367, April.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Jing Li & Carla Barbieri, 2020. "Demystifying Members’ Social Capital and Networks within an Agritourism Association: A Social Network Analysis," Tourism and Hospitality, MDPI, vol. 1(1), pages 1-18, December.
    2. Dufhues, Thomas & Buchenrieder, Gertrud & Fischer, Isabel, 2006. "Social capital and rural development: literature review and current state of the art [Sozialkapital und ländliche Entwicklung: Literaturüberblick und gegenwärtiger Stand der Forschung]," IAMO Discussion Papers 96, Leibniz Institute of Agricultural Development in Transition Economies (IAMO).
    3. Analia, Devi & Syaukat, Yusman & Fauzi, Akhmad & Rustiadi, Ernan, 2020. "The Impact of Social Capital on the Performance of Small Micro Enterprises," Jurnal Ekonomi Malaysia, Faculty of Economics and Business, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, vol. 54(1), pages 81-96.
    4. Oktay KIZILKAYA & Murat ÇETÝNKAYA & Emrah SOFUOÐLU, 2017. "Does Social Capital Have an Effect on Industry Production in G7 Countries? Causality Analysis," Journal of Economics Library, KSP Journals, vol. 4(1), pages 54-63, March.
    5. Lyndon Murphy & Robert Huggins & Piers Thompson, 2016. "Social capital and innovation: A comparative analysis of regional policies," Environment and Planning C, , vol. 34(6), pages 1025-1057, September.
    6. Molem Christopher Sama & Elizabeth Ankiambom Chiatii & Nkwetta Ajong Aquilas & Ofeh Moses Abit, 2016. "Building social capital in the fishery communities of the South-West region of Cameroon: The case of Limbe municipality," Asian Journal of Agriculture and rural Development, Asian Economic and Social Society, vol. 6(7), pages 119-130, July.
    7. Li, Aijun & Du, Nan & Wei, Qian, 2014. "The cross-country implications of alternative climate policies," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 72(C), pages 155-163.
    8. Erkki Karo & Rainer Kattel, 2010. "The Copying Paradox: Why Converging Policies but Diverging Capacities in Eastern European Innovation Systems?," Institutions and Economies (formerly known as International Journal of Institutions and Economies), Faculty of Economics and Administration, University of Malaya, vol. 2(2), pages 167-206, October.
    9. Okada, Keisuke, 2012. "The effects of female HIV/AIDS status on fertility and child health in Cambodia," Journal of Asian Economics, Elsevier, vol. 23(5), pages 560-570.
    10. Dufhues, Thomas & Buchenrieder, Gertrud & Quoc, Hoang Dinh & Munkung, Nuchanata, 2011. "Social capital and loan repayment performance in Southeast Asia," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 40(5), pages 679-691.
    11. Lise Rakner, 2012. "Foreign Aid and Democratic Consolidation in Zambia," WIDER Working Paper Series wp-2012-016, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    12. Mahto, Raj V. & Belousova, Olga & Ahluwalia, Saurabh, 2020. "Abundance – A new window on how disruptive innovation occurs," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 155(C).
    13. Augustin Kwasi Fosu, 2010. "The Global Financial Crisis and Development: Whither Africa," WIDER Working Paper Series wp-2010-124, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    14. Çakır, Mustafa Yavuz & Kabundi, Alain, 2013. "Trade shocks from BRIC to South Africa: A global VAR analysis," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 32(C), pages 190-202.
    15. Pilar Useche, 2016. "Who Contributes to the Provision of Public Goods at the Community Level? The Case of Potable Water in Ghana," Development Policy Review, Overseas Development Institute, vol. 34(6), pages 869-888, November.
    16. Chaudhary, Latika & Rubin, Jared, 2011. "Reading, writing, and religion: Institutions and human capital formation," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 39(1), pages 17-33, March.
    17. Nicola Banks, 2014. "What works for young people's development? A Case Study of BRAC's Empowerment and Livelihoods for Adolescent Girls programme in Uganda and Tanzania," Global Development Institute Working Paper Series 21214, GDI, The University of Manchester.
    18. Fox, Jonathan A, 2000. "The World Bank and social capital: Lessons from ten rural development projects in the Philippines and Mexico," Center for Global, International and Regional Studies, Working Paper Series qt1vj8v86j, Center for Global, International and Regional Studies, UC Santa Cruz.
    19. Bhagowalia, Priya & Chen, Susan E. & Masters, William A., 2011. "Effects and determinants of mild underweight among preschool children across countries and over time," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 9(1), pages 66-77, January.
    20. A. Arrighetti & G. Seravalli & G. Wolleb, 2001. "Social Capital, Institutions and Collective Action Between Firms," Economics Department Working Papers 2001-EP08, Department of Economics, Parma University (Italy).

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    JEL classification:

    • O17 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Formal and Informal Sectors; Shadow Economy; Institutional Arrangements
    • O57 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economywide Country Studies - - - Comparative Studies of Countries

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:wiw:wiwrsa:ersa12p591. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Gunther Maier (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.ersa.org .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.