SOCIAL CAPITAL – WHY TRUST, SOCIAL NORMS AND NETWORKS ARE IMPORTANT FOR INDIVIDUALS, ORGANISATIONS, COMMUNITIES AND NATIONAL ECONOMIES 2400-PLSM090A
The seminar aim is to guide and support students to write their graduate theses. In the first part of the seminar, the classes will be conducted as a group work and will be focused on presenting different aspects of social capital concept. The classes will cover possible research areas and several social researches’ methods. Topics to be discussed during this part of the seminar are going to be adapted to students’ areas of interest. The introductory list of topics consists of :
- Social capital concept and its definition;
- Social capital and other forms of capital;
- Bonding and bridging social capital
- Differences between micro and macro analyses of social capital
- Social and economic context of education and science;
- Social capital as a cure for market failures;
- The role of civic society;
- Economic significance of trust and reputation;
- The role of informal institutions;
- Corporate social capital – internal and external;
- Social mechanisms influencing teams’ and organizations’ behaviors and outcomes;
- Social capital on the labor market;
- Social networks and innovation;
- Business ethics and corporate social responsibility;
- Measuring social capital;
- Social network analysis;
- Quantitative and qualitative approaches;
- Econometric modeling of social factors;
- Scales constructing.
As the main aim of the second part of the seminar is to support students to choose their research areas and topics, the content of the classes will be tailored to the students interests and needs. The classes will be started by a methodological introduction and presentation of the graduate thesis requirements. During the classes, there are going to be presented and discussed parts of student theses. This part of the seminar will be mostly based on individual work with students, focused on their theses’ preparation.
Most of the student work is to be done on their own. Except for the classes and additional consultation with the lecturer, students will have to read literature, prepare presentations (first part of the seminar), collect materials for the thesis, curry on the researches and write the thesis itself (second part of the seminar).
Type of course
Course coordinators
Learning outcomes
1. Expertise and cognizance
Upon the seminar completion a student knows the concept of social capital and its different definitions. A student understands interactions between social networks, social norms, trust and economic outcomes, both on the individual and society’s level. He/she has knowledge about various applications of social capital in the economic discourse and recognizes the strengths and weaknesses of different approaches to study social capital from the economic perspective. He/she has an orientation in both qualitative and quantitative methods that may be used to study social capital and is familiar with issues regarding social capital measurement. A student knows the requirements that are demanded from the master’s thesis. He/she knows how to cite other authors’ work.
2. Skills
Upon the seminar completion a student is able to analyze the relationships between various socio-economic factors while paying due attention to their complexity and multifaceted character. A student is able to conduct a research based on interdisciplinary social concepts, however embedded in economic theory. He/she is able to collect literature regarding the subject of interest. A student is able to critically assess the material collected. Especially, he/she is able to provide an interpretation of given empirical researches’ results and is able to make conclusions. A student is able to propose and verify a research hypothesis. A student is able to design and plan his/her own research and choose an adequate research method. He/she is able to interpret the results of his/her work and knows their limitations. A student is able to present the results of his work in front of his/her colleagues and take part in the discussion on the results presented by others. A student is able to prepare a master’s thesis in accordance with appropriate requirements.
3. Other competences
A student has an ability of teamwork. He/she is able to recognize the need of constant acquiring new knowledge and skills. A student understands ethical dilemmas connected with conducting social researches. He/she is able to organize his work efficiently within limited time horizon.
KW01, KW02, KW03, KU01, KU02, KU03, KK01, KK02, KK03
Assessment criteria
In the first part of the seminar students will be reading and presenting several articles during the classes. Till the end of the first semester they have to decide on their graduate thesis topics. In the second part of the seminar obtaining a credit is based on the progress in completion of the graduate thesis.
Bibliography
1. Bourdieu Pierre (1986), The forms of capital, w: Handbook of Theory of Research for the Sociology of Education, red. J.G. Richardson, Greenwood Press, New York.
2. Burt Ronald S. (2005), Brokerage and Closure : An Introduction to Social Capital; New York: Oxford University Press, Oxford.
3. Coleman James S. (1990), Foundations of Social Theory, Harvard University Press, Cambridge.
4. Czapiński Janusz (2008), Kapitał ludzki i kapitał społeczny a dobrobyt materialny. Polski paradoks, Zarządzanie Publiczne, nr 2(4): 5-28.
5. Dasgupta Partha (2002), Social Capital and Economic Performance: Analytics, w: Foundations of Social Capital, red. Elinor Ostrom, T.K. Ahn, Edward Elgar Publishing, Chaltenham.
6. Foundations of Social Capital, red. Elinor Ostrom, T.K. Ahn, Edward Elgar Publishing, Chaltenham, UK and Northampton, MA.
7. Fukuyama Francis (2000), Social Capital and Civil Society, International Monetary Fund Working Paper.
8. Granovetter Mark (1985), Economic Action and Social Structure: The Problem of Embeddedness, American Journal of Sociology, vol. 91, no.3: 481-510
9. Grootaert Christiaan, Thierry van Bastelaer (2002), The Role of Social Capital In Development: An Empirical Assessment, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
10. Knack Stephen, Keefer Philip (1997), Does Social Capital have an economic payoff? A cross-country investigation, Quarterly Journal of Economics, November: 1251-88.
11. Kogut Bruce, Zander Udo (1996), What Firms Do? Coordination, Identity, and Learning, Organization Science, vol. 7, no. 5 (Sept.-Oct.): 502-518.
12. Lin Nan (2001), A Theory of Social Structure and Action, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
13. Łopaciuk-Gonczaryk Beata (2009), Więzi społeczne, zaufanie i kapitał społeczny, w: Więzi społeczne i przemiany gospodarcze. Polska i inne kraje europejskie, red. Golinowska Stanisława, Wilkin Jerzy, Bednarski Marek, Sztanderska Urszula, Socha Mieczysław, Balcerzak-Paradowska Bożena, Instytut Pracy i Spraw Socjalnych, Warszawa, s. 33-49.
14. North Douglass C. (1990), Institutions, Institutional Change and Economic Performance, Cambridge University Press.
15. Polanyi Karl (1968), Our Obsolete Market Mentality, in George Dalton (ed.), Primitive, Archaic and Modern Economies: Essays of Karl Polanyi, Chapter 4, NY: Anchor Books, New York, p. 59-77, w: Networks, red. Gernot Grabher, Walter W. Powell, Critical Studies in Economic Institutions, vol. I, Edward Elgar Publishing, Chaltenham.
16. Putnam Robert D. (2000), Bowling alone: The Collapse and the Revival of American Community, Simon & Schuster, New York.
17. Sen A. (1995), On Ethics and Economics, Blackwell, Oxford.
18. Sztompka Piotr (2007), Zaufanie. Fundament społeczeństwa, Wydawnictwo Znak, Kraków.
19. Williamson Oliver E. (1998), Ekonomiczne instytucje kapitalizmu, Wydawnictwo Naukowe PWN, Warszawa.
Additional literature will be proposed following the students interests and needs.
Additional information
Additional information (registration calendar, class conductors, localization and schedules of classes), might be available in the USOSweb system: