Showing papers on "Individual capital published in 2009"
Book•
15 May 2009
TL;DR: In this paper, the effects of investment in education and training on earnings and employment are discussed. But the authors focus on the relationship between age and earnings and do not explore the relation between education and fertility.
Abstract: "Human Capital" is Becker's study of how investment in an individual's education and training is similar to business investments in equipment. Becker looks at the effects of investment in education on earnings and employment, and shows how his theory measures the incentive for such investment, as well as the costs and returns from college and high school education. Another part of the study explores the relation between age and earnings. This edition includes four new chapters, covering recent ideas about human capital, fertility and economic growth, the division of labour, economic considerations within the family, and inequality in earnings.
12,071 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors identify two distinctive architectures of intellectual capital that facilitate ambidextrous learning, including refined interpolation and disciplined extrapolation, and propose two alternative HR configurations that facilitate this.
Abstract: Both researchers and managers are increasingly interested in how firms can pursue ambidextrous learning; that is, simultaneously exploring new knowledge domains while exploiting current ones. Ambidextrous learning is derived from intellectual capital architectures that underlie unique configurations of human, social, and organizational capital. We identified two distinctive architectures of intellectual capital that facilitate ambidextrous learning. Refined interpolation is an architecture comprised of specialist human capital supplemented by cooperative social capital, and complemented by organic organizational capital. Disciplined extrapolation is an architecture comprised of generalist human capital, supplemented by entrepreneurial social capital, and complemented by mechanistic organizational capital. As organization contexts to support these architectures, we have also identified two alternative HR configurations that facilitate ambidextrous learning. One HR configuration combines job or function-based development, ILM-based employee relations, and error embracing performance/control systems to support refined interpolation. The other HR configuration combines skill-based development, market-based employee relations, and error avoiding performance/control systems to support disciplined extrapolation. Our framework may provide valuable theoretical implications for HRM systems regarding the issues of internal fits and best configurations.
545 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors examined the relationship between intellectual capital and organizational learning capability, and found that human capital and relational capital actually improved new product development performance through organizational learning capabilities, while structural capital positively affects organizational learning ability.
532 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors develop and test a theoretical model of the effects of outside directors' human and social capital on firm growth, and find that outside directors membership on multiple boards, industry-specific managerial experience, and firm-specific founding experience have strong additive and interactive effects.
436 citations
TL;DR: The authors explored the role of community social capital in influencing educational per-formance beyond that attributed to family social capital and found that both process and structural attributes of family social social capital are key factors for high school students' educational achievement.
Abstract: It is increasingly recognized that families and communities are important in helping youths develop the knowledge and skills they need to obtain technologically sophisticated jobs, which are an emerging part of the global economy. In this paper we adopt social capital as a frame- work for examining the influence of family and community on promoting educational achievement among public school students. We explore more fully the role of community social capital in influencing educational per- formance beyond that attributed to family social capital. Using data from the National Education Longitudinal Survey (NELS), we find that both process and structural attributes of family social capital are key factors af- fecting high school students' educational achievement. Process and struc- tural attributes of community social capital also help youths to excel, though they contribute less strongly to achievement. These findings sug- gest that policies designed to promote educational achievement must ex- tend beyond the school and must seek to strengthen social capital in the family and the community. Increasing evidence indicates that our nation's economic well-being is linked directly to three factors: our capability to be participate ac- tively in the global economy, our ability to incorporate information technology into the workplace, and our capacity to develop a labor force with the knowledge and skills necessary to operate in an in- creasingly complex and dynamic work environment ( Judy and D'Amico 1997; Katz 1992:30-35). Probably the last of these three elements, an educated and skilled pool of workers, is the key fea- ture supporting our nation's effort to progress in the technologi- cally sophisticated global environment.
430 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors investigated the interplay between social capital, innovation and economic growth in the European Union and found that higher innovation performance is conducive to economic growth and that social capital affects growth indirectly by fostering innovation.
387 citations
TL;DR: This article found that social networks and relational capital enhance levels of illusion of control, which is directly related to the progress of new venture creation and found marginal support for the relationship between social capital and risk propensity.
Abstract: Why does social capital influence the progress of new venture creation for some entrepreneurs more than others? Our investigation suggests that social capital is not enough; that the type of person involved in network relationships matters to new venture creation. We test the effects of the interplay of social capital and cognition on a sample of 269 entrepreneurs. Our results confirm that social networks and relational capital enhance levels of illusion of control, which is directly related to the progress of new venture creation. We find marginal support for the relationship between social capital and risk propensity.
356 citations
TL;DR: In this article, a family capital typology based on sustainable family business theory II was presented, and the relative contribution of short-term firm achievements and long-term sustainab...
Abstract: The purpose was to present a family capital typology based on Sustainable Family Business Theory II and to document its relative contribution to short-term firm achievements and long-term sustainab...
296 citations
TL;DR: Human capital is to neoliberalism what Marx's free worker was to liberal capitalism, namely the subject at once presupposed and targeted by the institutions placed in charge of his governance.
Abstract: Human capital is to neoliberalism what Marx’s free worker was to liberal capitalism, namely the subject at once presupposed and targeted by the institutions placed in charge of his governance. This is the hypothesis we seek to defend here and which makes human capital the proper name of the neoliberal condition. The free worker is a split being: between his inalienable subjectivity and his made-for-hire labor power, between the aspirations constitutive of his spiritual life and the interests governing his material life, between the sphere of the reproduction of labor power and that of the production of commodities. Human capital on the other hand does not by any means presuppose a rift between the spheres of production and reproduction: it is the subject’s immanent stock of innate and acquired competences that prevails. Its use will produce revenue monetary or otherwise whilst its valorization will depend on everything the subject accomplishes and everything that happens to him in any existential register whatsoever. In other words, my human capital is me, in my capacity as a stock of competences or portfolio of performances in search of appreciation. Based on this definition, we ask in what way left-wing politics can draw on this neoliberal subjectivity, as the labor movement once learned to make use of the free worker's condition.
281 citations
TL;DR: This paper examined the extent to which people feel they can count on emotional and practical support from friends and relatives, and found that the social support of working-class elders, even those well networked in formal or informal ways, was strengthened less by their social capital than was that of professional and managerial occupational groups.
Abstract: How can the ‘social capital’ inherent in social networks provide contacts through which older people access practical and emotional support? What is the relative importance of kin and non-kin, and of participation in organisations and informal ties such as contacts with neighbours? Following a brief contextualisation that draws on previous literature, this paper addresses these questions through analysis of British Household Panel Survey (BHPS) data It examines the extent to which people feel they can count on emotional and practical support from friends and relatives A dependent variable was created that measures the outcome of the ‘social capital’ residing in a respondent's social network Relatively poor support was found amongst elders who were childless or had been continuously without a partner; relatively rich support was found amongst those who had frequent contact with other people, who interacted frequently with neighbours, and who regarded their neighbourhood as a positive social environment Being active in organisations had less effect on social support than informal social contacts Amongst many different forms of organisational activity, the only ones that had a positive association with social support were being in contact with others through religious activities, and engaging in sports clubs The social support of working-class elders, even those ‘well networked’ in formal or informal ways, was strengthened less by their social capital than was that of the professional and managerial occupational groups
277 citations
Posted Content•
TL;DR: This article examined the effects of social capital on entrepreneurial opportunity perception and weak tie investment using individual-level data from the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor linked with national level data on social capital and found that a resident of a country with higher generalized trust and breadth of formal organizational memberships was more likely to perceive entrepreneurial opportunities.
Abstract: This research examined the effects of social capital on entrepreneurial opportunity perception and weak tie investment using individual-level data from the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor linked with national-level data on social capital. Consistent with a social capital perspective, this study found that a resident of a country with higher generalized trust and breadth of formal organizational memberships was more likely to perceive entrepreneurial opportunities. A resident of a country with higher generalized trust was also more likely to invest in an entrepreneur with whom he or she had a weak personal tie than was a resident of a country with lesser generalized trust.
Book•
02 Jun 2009
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors argue that capital is not a narrow economic entity, but a symbolic quantification of power and that it has little to do with utility or abstract labour, and it extends far beyond machines and production lines.
Abstract: FROM THE BACK COVER
Conventional theories of capitalism are mired in a deep crisis: after centuries of debate, they are still unable to tell us what capital is. Liberals and Marxists both think of capital as an 'economic' entity that they count in universal units of ‘utils’ or 'abstract labour', respectively. But these units are totally fictitious. Nobody has ever been able to observe or measure them, and for a good reason: they don’t exist. Since liberalism and Marxism depend on these non-existing units, their theories hang in suspension. They cannot explain the process that matters most – the accumulation of capital.
This book offers a radical alternative. According to the authors, capital is not a narrow economic entity, but a symbolic quantification of power. It has little to do with utility or abstract labour, and it extends far beyond machines and production lines. Capital, the authors claim, represents the organized power of dominant capital groups to reshape – or creorder – their society.
Written in simple language, accessible to lay readers and experts alike, the book develops a novel political economy. It takes the reader through the history, assumptions and limitations of mainstream economics and its associated theories of politics. It examines the evolution of Marxist thinking on accumulation and the state. And it articulates an innovative theory of 'capital as power' and a new history of the 'capitalist mode of power'.
Journal Article•
TL;DR: In this paper, the extent to which human capital has direct impacts on firm performance from various critical perspectives is examined and a model that explains the relationship between human capital and firm performance is developed.
Abstract: Human capital is getting wider attention with increasing globalization and also the saturation of the job market due to the recent downturn in the various economies of the world. Developed and developing countries put emphases on a more human capital development towards accelerating the
economic growth by devoting necessary time and efforts. Thus human capital development is one of the fundamental solutions to enter the international arena. Specifically, firms must invest necessary resources in developing human capital which tend to have a great impact on performance. This paper examines the extent to which human capitals have direct impacts on firm performance from various critical perspectives. Firm performance is viewed in terms of financial and non-financial performance. Finally, this paper develops a model that explains the relationship between human capital and firm performance.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors set up a new framework for measuring social capital, allowing them to build indicators for five different dimensions of the concept and provide a single, synthetic, measure capturing that particular configuration of social capital which the literature generally associates with positive economic outcomes.
Abstract: The contribution of this paper to the social capital literature is threefold. First, we set up a new framework for measurement, allowing us to build indicators for five different dimensions of the concept. Second, we provide a single, synthetic, measure capturing that particular configuration of social capital which the literature generally associates with positive economic outcomes. Third, we carry out an empirical assessment of the relationships between the different types of social capital identified by our analysis and a range of socio-economic phenomena.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors predict that the three components of intellectual capital, namely, human capital, relational capital, and organizational capital, mediate the relationship between HRM practices and organizational performance.
Abstract: Previous studies indicate that the linkage between human resource management (HRM) practices and organizational performance is tenuous. Some key intermediate elements evidently have not been accounted for. In an era where intangibles have become the source of wealth and progress, intellectual capital could be one of the missing links. Therefore, this study predicts that the three components of intellectual capital, namely, human capital, relational capital, and organizational capital, mediate the relationship between HRM practices and organizational performance. Data from 277 hospitals, with a response rate of 56%, confirm the mediation role of intellectual capital in explaining the effect of HRM practices on organizational performance.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors provide an up-to-date synthesis of the literature on social capital and business and management, and discuss the ways in which critical realism and mixed methodology may enhance understanding of the process-based linkages between structural, relational and cognitive social capital.
Abstract: This paper adopts the template of systematic reviewing and provides an up-to-date synthesis of the literature on social capital and business and management. The review demonstrates that social capital research is concentrated into three core dimensions: structural, relational and cognitive. First, structural social capital includes social interaction and the frequency of contact and connectivity levels among and between actors’ network relations. Secondly, relational social capital refers to the underlying normative conditions of trust, obligation, expectation and identity that guide actors’ network relations. Thirdly, cognitive social capital refers to the meaningful contexts of communication among and between actors, and includes the shared language, codes and narratives used to create understanding. However, the rich linkages between structural, relational and cognitive social capital across equivalent/hierarchical social space and geographical boundaries are neglected. A further research focus identified is that the role of face-to-face and the increasingly routine tool of electronic mediated communication may produce different characteristics and levels of social capital. The paper also discusses the ways in which critical realism and mixed methodology may enhance understanding of the process-based linkages between structural, relational and cognitive social capital.
TL;DR: The concept of social capital is a complex multidimensional concept having different dimensions, types, and levels of measurement as discussed by the authors, and its major elements include social networks, civic engagement, norms of reciprocity, and generalised trust.
TL;DR: In this paper, a meta-analysis was applied to assess the effect of education on social trust and social participation, the basic dimensions of individual social capital, and the authors found that education is a strong and robust correlate of social capital.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors investigate the contribution of employee volunteering to corporate social responsibility, specifically whether and how it contributes to social capital, by exploring the social relations and resources which underpin social capital creation; the roles of opportunity, motivation and ability in bringing the actors together and enhancing their capacity for cooperation.
Abstract: As employee volunteering (EV) is increasingly regarded as a means of improving companies’ community and employee relations, we investigate the contribution of EV to corporate social responsibility, specifically whether and how it contributes to social capital. We investigate the dynamics of EV in three UK companies. We explore the social relations and resources which underpin social capital creation; the roles of opportunity, motivation and ability in bringing the actors together and enhancing their capacity for cooperation; and the ways in which alternative EV modes inform the different dimensions of social capital – networks, trust and norms of cooperation. Our paper contributes to our understanding of EV and the factors that enable it to create social capital. Finally we assess the contribution of EV to the overall corporate social responsibility agenda of companies.
TL;DR: In this paper, a brief overview of some of the contention concerning the creative industries, in terms of their purview, their significance within political economy, and the extent to which, and how, they may differ from other sectors.
Abstract: This article introduces its subject with a brief overview of some of the contention concerning the creative industries, in terms of their purview, their significance within political economy, and the extent to which, and how, they may differ from other sectors. Arguing that the `motley crew' is a very broad church, and management must not confine itself solely to the management of production but should also consider the role of consumption, the authors suggest that research into the creative industries may be considered in relation to the capitals that inform its domain: intellectual capital (creative ideas), social capital (networks), and cultural capital (recognized authority or expertise). Considering research in these terms allows us to identify a matrix that might provide the basis for conversations between a range of discrete research areas, while also guiding future research into the creative industries.
TL;DR: Based on the social capital, conflict, and ethics literatures, this article introduced a new concept, the family point of view, and provided theoretical arguments resulting in the following hypothese.
Abstract: Based on the social capital, conflict, and ethics literatures, this study introduces a new concept, the family point of view, and provides theoretical arguments resulting in the following hypothese...
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors examined five large leadership studies to clarify the role that human capital or social capital capabilities play in present day and future leadership and found that although there is a primary focus on human capital capabilities, social capital skills have received more attention as components of a leader's skill set.
Abstract: Purpose – As organizations face volatile and virtual environments there is a growing need to equip emerging leaders with skills to generate, utilize and maintain social capital This paper aims to examine five recent, large leadership studies to clarify the role that human capital or social capital capabilities play in present day and future leadershipDesign/methodology/approach – Researchers review five recent large leadership studies, assessing the human capital and/or social capital orientation of identified leadership capabilitiesFindings – The analysis indicates that, although there is a primary focus on human capital capabilities, social capital skills have begun to receive more attention as components of a leader's skill setResearch limitations/implications – The review focused on five published studies and does not reflect the comprehensiveness of a meta‐analysis Hence conclusions may not apply to all situations Further exploration and longitudinal study of the efficacy of various development
TL;DR: The authors found that ties to others in a network of strong ties among those who meet outside of board meetings were more important predictors of social influence than human capital or ties across boards.
Abstract: It is often assumed that directors with human capital such as prior management experience or independence from the company are the most influential board members. By contrast, in a survey of all the board members in 14 companies we found that ties to others in a network of strong ties among those who meet outside of board meetings were more important predictors of social influence than human capital or ties across boards. These ties within the board represent the social capital of members in the form of prior relationships with other directors, ties to others on the board, and membership in cliques within the board's network of ties. These results support a social capital perspective on influence that emphasizes relationships with others on the board as important factors in the social dynamics of board decision-making.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors developed a model of how family social capital, as well as an entrepreneur's knowledge capital and external social capital influences the start-up process of a startup.
Abstract: Using insights from the resource-based view, social capital, and network theories, the authors develop a model of how family social capital, as well as an entrepreneur’s knowledge capital and external social capital, influences the venture creation process. The model is tested on a sample of 85 nascent Hispanic entrepreneurs. Results indicate that family social capital, measured as family support, contributes to venture preparedness and the start-up decision, suggesting that it has both a direct and an indirect influence on venture creation.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors argue that existing studies on cultural capital and educational success fail to distinguish the different channels through which cultural capital promotes educational success, and they develop an empirical model that analyzes the significance of the three effects with respect to Danish children's choice of secondary education.
Abstract: This article argues that existing studies on cultural capital and educational success fail to distinguish the different channels through which cultural capital promotes educational success. Following Bourdieu, the article proposes that for cultural capital to promote educational success three conditions must hold: (1. parents must possess cultural capital, (2. they must transfer their cultural capital to children, and (3. children must absorb cultural capital and convert it into educational success. This research develops an empirical model that analyzes the significance of the three effects with respect to Danish children’s choice of secondary education. Denmark is well-suited for this study because access to secondary education is particularly meritocratic. The empirical analysis shows that all three channels through which cultural capital affects educational success are important.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors conceptualize international assignees as informational boundary spanners between multinational enterprise units, and develop a cross-level model that explores how assignees' social capital translates into inter-unit intellectual capital.
Abstract: We conceptualize international assignees as informational boundary spanners between multinational enterprise units, and develop a cross-level model that explores how assignees' social capital translates into inter-unit intellectual capital. First, as knowledge brokers, assignees create inter-unit intellectual capital by linking their home- and host-unit social capital, thereby enabling cross-unit access to previously unconnected knowledge resources. Second, as knowledge transmitters, assignees' host-unit social capital facilitates their creation of individual intellectual capital, which, in turn, translates into inter-unit intellectual capital. We conclude that individual social capital needs to be explicitly transferred to the organizational level to have a sustained effect on inter-unit intellectual capital.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors introduce the notion of network capital to explain the resources contained within inter-firm networks that do not necessarily equate with the type of trust and obligations associated with social capital.
Abstract: The leveraging of inter-firm networks is increasingly considered to be a strategic resource that can potentially be shaped by managerial action. In recent years, scholars have turned to the concept of social capital to understand how the transfer of knowledge occurs within and across firms. However, this has resulted in an overstretching of the social capital concept. The aim of this paper is to refine and add specificity to the current broad application of the social capital concept. It is argued that although the social capital concept explains investments in networks based on a network logic relating to sociability and socialization, it does not explain investments in networks based on a logic relating to economic expectations. These expectations result in network participation that is more calculative than networks containing social capital. The paper introduces the notion of ‘network capital’ to explain the resources contained within inter-firm networks that do not necessarily equate with the type of trust and obligations associated with social capital. Network capital is defined as an investment in calculative relations through which firms gain access to knowledge to enhance expected economic returns. It is argued that while network capital can be strategically managed, particularly to influence knowledge flow, the nature of social capital is such that it is very difficult to manage. It is concluded that the network capital–social capital framework opens a number of avenues in terms of future research, especially in relation to the extended resource-based view of the firm and theories of open innovation.
TL;DR: In this article, an investment game between a producer and a lender in an incomplete-contracts setting is proposed, and it is shown that social capital will have the greatest effect on the total surplus from the game at lower levels of institutional strength and the effect of social capital vanishes when institutions are very strong.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors discuss how companies use relational capital as the basis for collaborative entrepreneurship and suggest that small and medium-size firms place more value on relational capital than do larger firms.
Abstract: Collaborative entrepreneurship research suggests that organizations will soon pursue more collaborative relationships throughout a worldwide network of firms, driving a strategy of continuous innovation, specially small- and medium-size firms (SMEs). Tapping into a body of literature that focuses on the importance of human capital in driving long-term success, we merge ideas of collaborative research with a growing body of work on human capital or human resource management in SMEs. Our paper states that it is not the human, per se, that is the real asset but the relationships those humans have that are the most inimitable and important capital. We will discuss how companies use relational capital as the basis for collaborative entrepreneurship. Consistent with our hypotheses, our exploratory study suggests that smaller firms place more value on relational capital than do larger firms. We also have some indication that the key capital that differentiates low vs. high performance, regardless of firm size, is the relational capital aspect. To sum up, relational capital is a fundamental asset for firms, but especially for SMEs, and high performing companies are those that are able to negotiate with others and develop collaborative agreements, thus placing a high value in relational capital.