The Dark Side of Social Capital Re-examined from a Policy Analysis Perspective: Networks of Trust and Corruption

Abstract

This work deepens the analysis of the “dark side” of social capital proposed by Alejandro Portes and Patricia Landlot and revisited by Peter Graeff. For this purpose, it combines the individualistic approach of economic theory with the social perspective of other social sciences to study the economics of corruption embedded in a social structure (a network of trust). It assesses the importance of social relations as a necessary condition to achieve corrupt objectives. To do so, a model of corrupt public contracts embedded in networks of trust is built. Theoretical evidence is found on the importance of networks of trust for the success of corrupt deals between officials and recipients. In addition, seeds are sown for future research and analysis of the role of institutions and monitoring agencies. Finally, the foundation is laid for research in the field of experimental economics to conduct an empirical examination of this proposed model and some policy implications are derived.     

Education,political discontent,and emigration intentions: evidence from a natural experiment in Turkey

Public Choice - We exploit the 1997 school reform that prolonged compulsory schooling from 5 to 8 years to investigate the causal effect of education on emigration intentions. Our IV...     

Risk Exposure,Humanitarianism and Willingness to Pay for Universal Healthcare: A Cross-National Analysis of 28 Countries

Social Justice Research - In this article, we explore the associations of people’s valuations of universal healthcare with risk exposure and humanitarianism across diverse institutional...     

Examining the judgments of pedophiles in relation to a non-sexual offense

ABSTRACT

Even though pedophilia is not synonymous with child sexual abuse, it remains a highly stigmatized phenomenon. As such, non-offending pedophilic individuals are judged as being dangerous, abnormal, amoral, and in need of punishment. It is unknown, however, whether a pedophilic individual would be judged more harshly than a heterosexual individual and a homosexual individual in relation to a nonsexual, nonviolent offense. This was the aim of the present study. A final sample of 309 participants were recruited online and allocated to one of three sexual orientation conditions. Participants read the same hypothetical crime report (breaking and entering) followed by a suspect profile that was identical across conditions except for sexual orientation. They then provided sentencing and moral character judgements of the suspect. Participants also completed a punitive attitudes scale pertaining to pedophilia. Results showed that the pedophilic individual received harsher judgments relative to the heterosexual individual, but only at higher levels of pre-existing punitive attitudes. These findings suggest that anti-pedophilia stigma can bias judgments about offenses that are not sexual. We argue that this is due to a ‘reverse halo effect’. However, we consider an alternative explanation based on the idea of interpreting information in a schema-consistent manner. Limitations and suggestions for future research are discussed.     

Exploring the role of migrants’ remittances in the UN's nation building and development management in Haiti

Remitting outweighs foreign aid by a rate of more than eight times, resulting in a skewed perception of the Haitian economy and consequent hindrance to development. Endowing Haitian state institutions and civil society by strengthening the potential role of migrants’ remittances in regional socio-economic reconstruction could prevent some of the mistakes uncovered in previous development policies from recurring in current nation-building initiatives. The funding gap of the United Nations’ short term funded projects could be bridged with a long term commitment of a new migrant class of investors to finance productive projects and endow regional participatory institutions.     

Wealth Inequality,Educational Environment and School Enrolment: Evidence from Mexico

Using data from the extended section of the 2010 Mexican census (2.9 million households), we study how school enrolment is associated with wealth inequality and with the educational environment the child is exposed to at the household and municipal levels. We provide robust evidence of wealth inequality as a negative predictor of school enrolment for children in primary, secondary and high school age ranges while a positive role is played by the educational environment. Through the introduction of interaction terms, we account for how economic and educational variables are intertwined at both the household and the municipal level, and we are able to illustrate the considerable heterogeneity in the role of adult education for households at different standards of living.     

Organizational control rationales in knowledge-intensive organizations: An integrative review of emerging trends

This theoretical paper uses a complete review of organizational control configuration (OCC) literature to illustrate the innovation, complexity and dynamics of control in knowledge-intensive organizations (KIOs). On the basis of interdisciplinary analysis of the extant literature on OCC, the paper offers a comprehensive look at the “control pathway” taken by the various KIOs. By means of this integrative review of existing theory and research, the paper argues for greater attention to KIOs' control rationales in OCC theory and research. In doing so, it offers a comprehensive conceptual framework for the study of control in KIOs and suggests a number of propositions for future research.