Social capital in Greece: Measurement and comparative perspectives

Jones, Nikoleta and Malesios, Chrisovaladis and Iosifides, Theodoros and Sophoulis, Costas (2008): Social capital in Greece: Measurement and comparative perspectives. Published in: South European Society and Politics · (2008)

Abstract

The exploration of social capital formation on national level is a multipurpose task. The aim of this article is to analyze each component of aggregate social capital in Greece and to measure social capital across Greek regions. Through the comparison with other European countries it is concluded that several components of social capital in Greece may be characterized as weak. In addition, differentiations across Greek regions concerning the total stocks of social capital and each of its elements are observed. Through the article the need for further research is emphasized mainly on the formation of social capital and its consequences on several aspects of the Greek society.

• Item Type: MPRA Paper
• Language: English
• Keywords: Social Capital, Greece, Measuring Social Capital, Greek Regions, Confirmatory Factor Analysis
• Subjects: C - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods > C4 - Econometric and Statistical Methods: Special Topics; Q - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics ; Environmental and Ecological Economics > Q5 - Environmental Economics; Q - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics ; Environmental and Ecological Economics > Q5 - Environmental Economics > Q56 - Environment and Development ; Environment and Trade ; Sustainability ; Environmental Accounts and Accounting ; Environmental Equity ; Population Growth; Q - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics ; Environmental and Ecological Economics > Q5 - Environmental Economics > Q57 - Ecological Economics: Ecosystem Services ; Biodiversity Conservation ; Bioeconomics ; Industrial Ecology

References

Bartholomew, D. & Knott, M. (1999) Latent Variable Models and Factor Analysis, Arnold, London

Beugelsdijk, S. & van Schaik T. (2005) ‘Differences in social capital between 54 Western European Regions’, Regional Studies, vol. 39, no.8, pp.1053-1064

Bourdieu, P. (1986) ‘The forms of capital’, in Handbook of Theory and Research for the Sociology of Education, Ed. J.G. Richardson, Greenwood Press, NY, pp. 241-258

Bowles, S. & Gintis, H. (2002) ‘Social capital and community governance’, The Economic Journal, vol. 112, pp. F419-F436

Christoforou, A. (2005) ‘On the determinants of social capital in Greece compared to countries of the European Union’, Working Paper Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei.

Chtouris, S., Zissi, A., Papanis, E. & Rontos, K. (2006) ‘The state of youth in contemporary Greece’ Youth, vol. 14, pp. 309-322

Coleman, J.S. (1988) ‘Social Capital in the creation of human capital’, The American Journal of Sociology, vol. 94, pp. 95-120

Coleman J.S. (1990) Foundations of Social Theory, Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, Cambridge MA.

Diamandouros N. (1997). Ελληνική πολιτική και κοινωνία (Greek politics and society), in Το ελληνικό παράδοξο. Υπόσχεση και επίδοση (The Greek Paradox, Promise Vs. Performance), eds. G.T. Allison & K. Nicolaidis K., Papazisi, Athens, pp. 55-78.

European Values Study Group and World Values Survey Association. European and World Values Surveys four-wave integrated data file, 1981-2004, v.20060423, 2006. Available at http://www.worldvaluessurvey.org

EKKE (National Center of Social Research). (1996). Έρευνα πολιτικών προτύπων και πολιτικής συμπεριφοράς (Study for the political patterns and political behaviour in Greece). 1996. Available data at http://www.gsdb.gr/komvos/gr/

Fukuyama, F. (2001) ‘Social capital, civil society and development’ Third World Quarterly, vol. 22, pp. 7-20

Funkhouser, G.R. (1983), ‘A Note on the Reliability of Certain Clustering Algorithms’, Journal of Marketing Research, vol. 20, pp. 99- 102

Green, H. & Fletcher, L. (2003) ‘Social capital harmonised question set: A guide to questions for use in the measurement of social capital’, obtained from: http://www.statistics.gov.uk/socialcapital.: Social and Vital Statistics Division Office for National Statistics, UK

Grootaert, C. & van Bastelaer, T. (2002) ‘Social capital: From definition to measurement’, in Understanding and Measuring Social capital: A Multidisciplinary Tool for Practitioners, eds. C. Grootaert & T. van Bastelaer, The World Bank, Washington DC, pp. 1-16

Grootaert, C., Narayan, D., Jones, V.N. & Woolcock, M. (2004) Measuring social capital: An integrated questionnaire. The World Bank, Washington DC

Hjollund L., Svendsen G.T. (2003) ‘Social capital: A standard method of measurement’ in Trust, Social Capital and Economic Growth, eds M. Paldam & G.T. Svendsen Edward Elgar, Cheltenham

Horton, R.L. (1979) ‘Some reationships between personality and consumer decision making’, Journal of Marketing Research, vol. 16, pp. 233-246.

Jones, N., Malesios, M. & Sophoulis, C.M. (2007) ‘Social capital and public policy formation: An emphasis on Greek regions’, ISA Conference: Design for all, social inclusion, social economy and sustainable communities, Molyvos, Greece.

Jöreskog, K.G & Sörbom, D. (1999) LISREL 8 User’s Reference Guide. Scientific Software International, Lincolnwood, IL

Jowell, R. and the Central Co-ordinating Team (2003), European Social Survey 2002/2003: Technical Report, London: Centre for Comparative Social Surveys, City University. Available at http://ess.nsd.uib.no

Jowell, R. and the Central Co-ordinating Team (2005), European Social Survey 2004/2005: Technical Report, London: Centre for Comparative Social Surveys, City University. Available at http://ess.nsd.uib.no

Kaariainen, J. & Lehtonen, H. (2006) ‘The variety of social capital in welfare state regimes – a comparative study of 21 countries’, European Societies, vol. 8, 1, pp. 27-57

Kairidis D. Η Ελλάδα στη δεκαετία του 90: Η πρόκληση της μεταρρύθμισης (Greece in the 90’s: The challenge of reform) in Το ελληνικό παράδοξο. Υπόσχεση και επίδοση (The Greek Paradox, Promise Vs. Performance, eds G.T. Allison G.T. & K. Nicolaidis, Papazisi, Athens, pp.149-166.

Kaiser, H.F. (1970) ‘A Second Generation Little Jiffy’, Psychometrika, vol. 35, pp. 401-415

Kazakos P. (2006) Κοινωνικό κεφάλαιο και συλλογική δράση: επιπτώσεις σε οικονομικές δομές, επιδόσεις και μεταρρυθμίσεις. Η ελληνική εμπειρία. (Social capital and collective action: consequence on economical structure, performance and reforms. The Greek experience), Επιστήμη και Κοινωνία (Science and Society), vol. 16, pp. 107-38.

Knack, S. & Keefer, P. (1997) ‘Does social capital have an economic pay-off?’ Quarterly Journal of Economics, vol. 112, pp. 1251-1288

Krishna, A. & Shrader, E. (2002) ‘The social capital assessment tool: Design and implementation’ in Understanding and Measuring Social Capital eds C. Grootaert & T. van Bastelaer, The World Bank, Washington DC

Lavdas, K.A. & Papadakis, N. (2003) ‘Context, Process and Strategy in the Use of Memory: Remembrance, Neglect and Erasure in Greek Neo-Nationalism’, ECPR Joint sessions, Edinburgh

Lyberaki, A. & Paraskevopoulos, C.J. (2002) ‘Social capital measurement in Greece’. OECD-ONS International Conference on Social Capital Measurement, London, UK

Marsh, H.W. & Balla, J. (1994) ‘Goodness of fit in Confirmatory Factor Analysis: the effects of sample size and model Parsimony’ Quality and Quantity, vol. 28, pp. 185-217

Mavrogordatos, G. (1988) Μεταξύ Πιτυοκάμπτη και Προκρούστη: οι Επαγγελματικές Οργανώσεις στη Σύγχρονη Ελλάδα. (Between Pitiokampti and Prokrousti: Pressure Groups in Modern Greece), Odysseus, Athens

Mels, G. (2004) The Student Edition of LISREL 8.7 for Windows: Getting Started Guide Scientific Software International, Lincolnwood, IL

Mouzelis, Ν. (1987), Κοινοβουλευτισμός και εκβιομηχάνιση στην ημι-περιφέρεια: Ελλάδα, Βαλκάνια, Λατινική Αμερική (Politics in the semi-periphery: Early Parliamentarism and Late Industrialisation in the Balkans and Latin America ), Themelio, Athens

Mouzelis, N.P. (1995) ‘Greece in the Twenty-first century: Institutions and political culture’ in Greece prepares for the Twenty-first century, eds D. Constas & T.G. Stavrou, Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, Maryland, pp. 17-34

Mouzelis, Ν. & Pagoulatos G. (2003) ‘Κοινωνία πολιτών και ιδιότητα του πολίτη στη μεταπολεμική Ελλάδα’ (Civil society and citizens in post war Greece) Ελληνική Επιθεώρηση Πολιτικής Επιστήμης (Greek Review of Political Science), vol. 22, pp. 5-29

Narayan, D. & Cassidy, M.F. (2001) ‘A dimensional approach to measuring social capital: Development and validation of a social capital inventory’ Current Sociology, vol. 49, pp. 59-102

Newton K. (2001). Trust, Social Capital, Civil Society, and Democracy. International Political Science Review, vol. 22, pp. 201-214.

Newton, K. & Norris, P. (2000) ‘Confidence in public institutions: Faith, culture, or performance?’ in Disaffected Democracies: What's troubling the trilateral countries eds R. Putnam & S.J. Pharr, Princeton University Press, Princeton NJ, pp. 52-73.

Norusis, M. (2006) SPSS 14.0 Guide to Data Analysis, Prentice Hall, Upper Saddle River, NJ

Paraskevopoulos, C.J. (2001) ‘Social capital, learning and EU regional policy networks: Evidence from Greece’ Government and Opposition, vol. 36, pp. 253-278

Paraskevopoulos C.J. (2006) Κοινωνικό κεφάλαιο και δημόσια πολιτική στην Ελλάδα (Social capital and public policy in Greece), Επιστήμη και Κοινωνία (Science and Society), vol. 16, pp. 69-106

Paxton, P. (1999) ‘Is social capital declining in the United States? A multiple indicator assessment’, American Journal of Sociology, vol. 105, pp. 88-127

Poortinga, W. (2006) Social capital: An individual or collective resource for health? Social Epidemiology, vol. 62, pp. 292-302

Portes, A. (1998) ‘Social capital: Its origins and applications in Modern Sociology’, Annual Review of Sociology, vol. 24, pp. 1-24

Pretty, J. (2003) ‘Social capital and the collective management of resources’, Science, vol. 302, pp. 1912-1914

Putnam, R., with Leonardi, R.& Nanetti, R.Y. (1993) Making Democracy Work: Civic traditions in modern Italy, Princeton University Press, NJ

Putnam, R. (1995) ‘Bowling Alone: America's Declining Social Capital’, Journal of Democracy, vol. 6, pp. 65-78 Putnam, R. (1998) ‘Foreword’, Housing Policy Debate, vol. 9

Putnam, R. (2000) Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of American Community, Simon & Schuster Paperbacks, New York

Sotiropoulos, D.A. (2004a) ‘Formal weakness and informal strength: Civil society in contemporary Greece’ The Hellenic Observatory, London School of Economics and Political Science

Sotiropoulos, D.A. (2004b) ‘Southern European public bureaucracies in comparative perspective’ West European Politics, vol. 27, no.3, pp. 405-422

Transparency International (2006) ‘Report on the Transparency International Global Corruption Barometer’, Policy and Research Department, Berlin

Tsoukalas, C. (1987) Κράτος, Κοινωνία, Εργασία στη μεταπολεμική Ελλάδα (State, society and employment in post-war Greece), Themelio, Athens

Tsoukalas, C. (1995) ‘Free rides in wonderland or of Greeks in Greece’ in: Greece prepares for the Twenty-first century eds D. Constas & T.G. Stavrou, Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, pp. 191-219.

Uphoff N. (1998) ‘Understanding social capital: Learning from the analysis and experience of participation’ in Social Capital, eds I. Seregeldin & P. Dasgupta, Oxford University Press, Oxford

Urban, G.L. & Hauser, J.R.. (1980) Design and Marketing of New Products. Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs, NJ

van Oorschot, W., Arts, W. & Gelissen J. (2006) ‘Social capital in Europe. Measurement and social and regional distribution of a multifaceted phenomenon’, Acta Sociologica, vol. 49, pp. 149-176

Woolcock, M. & Narayan, D. (2000) ‘Social capital: Implications for development theory, research, and policy’, World Bank Research Observer, vol. 15, pp. 225-49.

Yiannis, N. (2001) ‘Κοινωνία Πολιτών, "Επίσημη Πολιτική" και Νεολαία’ (Civil society, ‘Official Policy’ and Youth) in Κοινωνία Πολιτών και Νεολαία (Civil society and youth) Ed. N. Yiannis, Papazisi, Athens