Impacts of flooding are expected to increase, most notably in residential areas. As a consequence, private households are increasingly encouraged to engage in private flood mitigation complementary ...to public measures. Despite the growing literature on private flood mitigation, little is known about how social capital influences households' perception of and coping with flood risks. This study draws on survey data of 226 flood-prone households in two Austrian Alpine municipalities, both recently affected by riverine flooding. We show that social capital cuts both ways: on the positive side, social capital increases perceived self-efficacy and provides critical support during and most notably after flood events. On the negative side, social capital reduces flood risk perceptions of private households. While social ties are effective when responding to and recovering from floods, the expectation of social support downplays risk, making precautionary action by households less likely. The results also show that flood-affected households receive more social support than they provide to others. In the long-run, this can lead to a problematic reciprocity imbalance, challenging the long-term stability of the interpersonal exchanges underlying social capital. Among the various sources of social support, informal social networks (neighbours, friends and relatives) provide the most important workforce in the response and recovery phase of a flood event. It is therefore crucial for flood risk management to recognise and promote the protective quality of social capital alongside conventional structural and non-structural measures.
The ability to attract skilful workers to a rural area is of fundamental importance for achieving local economic growth (e.g., Aure et al., 2018). However, firms in rural areas often experience ...difficulties with both recruiting workers and integrating them, to ensure that they will stay long-term (e.g., Gieling et al., 2017). The specific role of a major firm in a rural area for attracting and integrating newcomers is however understudied. This is unfortunate, as such firms appear crucial for local demographic and economic growth. We contribute to fill this gap by exploring how newcomers employed at the Northern Als headquarter of Danfoss – a company with 40,000 employees worldwide that produces thermostatic and refrigeration units – are integrated in various local, family/friendship and firm-related social networks. Based on 10 semi-structured interviews, observations and 35 informal conversations, we investigate how these Danfoss newcomers build bridging, bonding and linking types of social capital (Putnam, 2000). We found two newcomer ideal types. The Bridging Newcomer was most successfully integrated in local communities. The Bonding Newcomer either participated in firm-related networks or sought company with family and close friends outside Northern Als.
•The role of private firms in rural areas is important for attracting and integrating newcomers and, by this, create local and regional economic growth.•We found two firm-related newcomer ideal types: The Bridging Newcomer, who was most successfully integrated in local communities; and the Bonding Newcomer, who either participated in firm-related networks or sought company with family and close friends outside the local area.•Exploring the integration of firm-related newcomers, we explored how they build bridging and bonding social capital (Putnam, 2000); as well as linking social capital (Szreter and Woolcock, 2004).•Cooperation between firm, local communities and the municipality might remedy misunderstandings and counteract prejudices, increasing the probability of the integration of newcomers and making them long-term stayers.
Applying uses and gratifications theory (UGT) and social capital theory, our study examined users of four social networking sites (SNSs) (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Snapchat), and their ...influence on online bridging and bonding social capital. Results (N = 297) found that Twitter users had the highest bridging social capital, followed by Instagram, Facebook, and Snapchat, while Snapchat users had the highest bonding social capital, followed by Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. SNS intensity, trust, tie strength, homophily, privacy concerns, introversion, and attention to social comparison were also found to moderate the relationship between SNS use and online bridging and bonding social capital.
•Uses and gratification theory (UGT) was applied to explain social networking site usage.•Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Snapchat influence bridging/bonding social capital.•SNS intensity, tie strength, privacy, introversion, and social comparison are moderators.
Drawing upon resource-based theory (RBT) and social capital theory (SCT), this study examines how do multinational enterprises (MNEs) in the emerging markets (EMs) utilize strategic resources to ...drive innovation performance. We used a survey questionnaire to collect data from 352 supervisor-subordinate dyadic samples in the MNEs in the EMs. The data collected was analyzed using structural equation modeling (SEM) to examine the study's hypotheses. We found that knowledge-based HRM practices directly and indirectly through social capital influence knowledge sharing behaviors in the MNEs. Furthermore, the study's findings suggest that knowledge sharing mediates the influence of social capital on innovation performance. Moreover, this study empirically suggests how knowledge-based HRM practices through the mediating role of social capital and knowledge sharing on innovation performance. This study's essential contribution is to extend and enrich the RBT, SCT, HRM, knowledge, and innovation literature in the field.
Objectives
This study aims to investigate which neighborhood‐based social capital components are associated with a higher level of cognitive function in LMICs.
Methods
This international ...population‐based study used cross‐sectional survey data from the World Health Organization's Study on global AGEing and adult health (SAGE), a study of adults aged 50 years or older in China, Ghana, India, the Russian Federation, and South Africa from 2007 through 2010 (N = 29 528). Associations between neighborhood‐based social capital indicators (trust in neighbors, perceived neighborhood safety, and community participation) and cognitive function were examined using ordinary least squares regressions and random‐effects meta‐analyses.
Results
Results of the meta‐analyses of within‐country effects indicated that trust in neighbors were positively associated with cognitive function across India, Russia, and Ghana, but negatively associated in South Africa (β = −0.041, SE = .013, P < .01) and no effect in China (P > .05). The significant effect of perceived neighborhood safety was only found in South Africa (β = 0.051, SE = .007, P < .001) and China (β = 0.030, SE = .005, P < .001). Community participation approached a null effect in South Africa (P > .05).
Discussion
Different indicators of neighborhood‐based social capital, which are well‐established protective resources for cognitive function, may have varied relationships with cognitive function cross‐nationally. This finding provides a better understanding of the mechanisms by which neighborhood social capital may contribute to better cognitive function in LMICs than high‐income countries, potentially due to differences in neighborhood environments, health systems, and availability of public resources.
The aim of this study is to identify trends in social capital-focused studies on community-based forest management and collective actions related to forests (collectively CBFM) and how social capital ...affects forest management by reviewing studies on this topic in Asian developing countries. We found an increased number of studies over the last decade using various approaches in terms of social capital positioning, types of structural social capital, and analysis methods. Four main social capital positionings were identified in their research designs: (a) as features found in communities; (b) as a factor influencing CBFM; (c) as an effect of CBFM; and (d) as an agent in a dynamic process involving CBFM. The studies we reviewed did not extend to assessing forest conditions. Given the contextual nature of social capital, integrative approaches combining qualitative and quantitative techniques with assessment of forest conditions present challenges in relation to social capital studies on CBFM.
Social capital, which is derived from psychological research, has an important value in the construction of network relationships in enterprises. It influences the direction and tendency of network ...connections in start-up enterprises and has gradually become an important factor in the study of entrepreneurship by scholars. However, the relationship between this and the effectiveness of innovation is unclear. In this study, the social capital is divided into bonding social capital and bridging social capital, and specific data of agricultural entrepreneurs are collected through questionnaire surveys. The results show that both bonding and bridging social capital have a significant positive effect on agricultural entrepreneurship performance. The entrepreneurial capacity of agricultural entrepreneurs regulates the relationship between social capital and creative performance. In the relationship between integrated social capital and creative performance, operational competency plays a positive role and opportunity recognition plays a negative role. On the other hand, in the relationship between bridging social capital and creative performance, the opportunity recognition plays a positive role and the operational competency plays a negative role. Finally, based on the above findings, this study proposes theoretical and practical implications and suggestions for follow-up research.
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to explore resources or capabilities that enable medium-sized firms to be resilient, namely, to avoid and recover from supply chain disruptions.
...Design/methodology/approach
A case-study method is employed with four medium-sized manufacturing firms headquartered in the USA that have global supply chains. Data are collected from semi-structured interviews with key informants from diverse functions and managerial levels, archival documents, observation and a resilience assessment.
Findings
Internal social capital emerged as a resilience-enhancing resource, comprising: structural capital grounded in small network size, geographical proximity among decision makers and low hierarchy; relational capital grounded in close relationships, commitment and respect; and cognitive capital grounded in long employee tenure.
Originality/value
This is the first paper in the supply chain management literature to examine the resilience of medium-sized firms, an under-researched context. It is also the first paper to introduce internal social capital as a resilience-enhancing resource. Hence, this is among the few papers to propose a resilience-enhancing resource rooted not in a firm’s supply chain operations but its human resources. This paper, moreover, identifies several facets of internal social capital within medium-sized firms. Finally, the paper makes several managerial contributions.
This paper explores the role of social capital in mitigating the mental health harms of social/mobility restrictions instigated in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. We test whether: (a) social ...capital continued to predict lower mental distress during the pandemic; and (b) whether social capital buffered (moderated) the harm of social/mobility restrictions on psychological distress. In addition, we test the level at which social capital mitigation effects operated, i.e., at the individual- and/or contextual-level. To do so, we apply multilevel models to three waves of the COVID-19 Household Impact Survey consisting of probability samples of U.S. adults (with the average interview completion rate of 93%). In a novel approach, we explore two modes of capturing contextual social capital: aggregated individual-level survey responses and independently measured social capital indices (SCIs). Findings show that at the individual level social capital was associated with lower psychological distress. It also buffered the harm of restrictions: increasing restrictions had a weaker effect on distress among individuals interacting with neighbors more frequently. Importantly, mitigating processes of contextual social capital appeared conditional on how it was measured. Using aggregated survey responses, contextual social capital had no direct effect on distress but exerted an additional buffering role: individuals in counties with higher average neighbor-interaction experienced a weaker impact of restrictions. Using the independent SCI measures, we found county social capital reduced distress. However, its negative effect on distress becomes increasingly weaker the more restrictions an individual reported: where individuals reported lower restrictions, higher county SCI reduced distress; however, where individuals reported higher restrictions, higher county SCI had no effect on distress. More restrictive environments thus cut individuals off from the benefits of higher county social capital as measured using the SCI.
•Individual social capital (SC) is associated with lower psychological distress.•Individual SC buffers the negative effect of mobility restrictions on distress.•People with higher ecological SC experienced a weaker effect of mobility restrictions.•Those living in higher SC counties reported less distress but only with fewer restrictions.
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