IN SEARCH OF SOCIAL CAPITAL IN ECONOMICS

The economic well-being of economic agents is assumed to be interpersonally dependent and varies according to the strength of relationships, values, and social bonds. The extent of this interpersonal dependency is measured using social capital coefficients in a neoclassical model in which agents with stable preferences maximize utility. The model's predictions are tested empirically by asking agents how their distribution of a scarce resource is altered by relationships.Institutional and Behavioral Economics,

A WHITE PAPER ON THE RELEVANCE OF SOCIAL CAPITAL FOR THE COLLEGE OF AGRICULTURE AND NATURAL RESOURCES (CANR)

Social capital is about relationships that are often based on earned or inherited kernels of commonality. Social capital raises the ethical question of when relationships should be allowed to influence outcomes. The essential theory underlying the social capital paradigm is that relationships of sympathy or social capital influence almost every interpersonal transaction. Since interpersonal transactions occur in many settings, the study of social capital is multi-disciplinary and interested in such diverse topics as charitable giving, leadership development, educational achievements, migration patterns, formation of cooperatives, how people care for the environment, diffusion of technology, advertising, economic development, family integrity, flow of legal, recreational, and health services, management of organizations, community development, animal health, passage of legislation, and the creation of civil society. Social capital is relevant to the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources (CANR) because it represents an important resource that must be studied and managed to achieve CANR's mission.Institutional and Behavioral Economics, Teaching/Communication/Extension/Profession,

REFLECTIONS ON RELEVANCE OF PROFESSIONAL JOURNALS

It appears the major private benefit from peer reviewed journals such as the Review of Agricultural Economics (RAE) is certification. To maintain public support for our journals, increased efforts are needed to demonstrate the social benefits from peer reviewed publications. Research cost considerations have led agricultural economists to emphasize applied disciplinary work using secondary data and to ignore the important work of careful data collection and reporting. Moreover, pressures to publish have led to more isolated research efforts ignoring other disciplines. Recommendations to improve the relevance of journal publications include more active efforts by journal editors to make applied journals such as RAE more accessible to the public.Certification, Confirmation studies, Private goods, Public goods, Relevance, Teaching/Communication/Extension/Profession,

SOCIAL CAPITAL AND RISK RESPONSES

The economic well-being of economic agents is assumed to be interpersonally dependent. The extent of this interpersonal dependency varies according to the strength of relationships, values, and social bonds and is measured using social capital coefficients in a neoclassical model in which agents with stable preferences maximize utility. The model's predictions are tested empirically by asking agents how their willingness to bear a risk is altered when their refusal to accept the risk increases the risk faced by others.Institutional and Behavioral Economics, Risk and Uncertainty,

APPLICATIONS OF SOCIAL CAPITAL THEORY

Experiments and studies were conducted to investigate the role of social capital. Social capital (relationship to others) is a productive asset which is a substitute for and complement to other productive assets. The productivity of social capital leads to the expectation that firms and individuals invest in relationships. Data were collected to answer the following questions: Does the identity (relationship) of trading partners affect selling and buying prices; the acceptance of catastrophic risk; the choice of share or cash leases in agriculture; loan approval; and the banks investment to retain customers? The evidence is in the affirmative.Behavioral economics, Institutional economics, Social capital, Institutional and Behavioral Economics,

SOCIAL CAPITAL AND ECONOMIC COOPERATION

The socioeconomic movement is an effort to better explain human behavior by combining insights of economists and sociologists. This paper contributes to the socioeconomic literature by including the influence of relationships, values, and social bonds in the neoclassical economic model by introducing social capital coefficients. The usefulness of the resulting social capital model is demonstrated theoretically in a two-firm cooperative model and tested empirically using data from a survey of students who allocate their time between individual and joint projects.Social capital, Social capital coefficients, Total revenue-equity frontier, Institutional and Behavioral Economics,

SOCIAL CAPITAL: SYMPATHY, SOCIO-EMOTIONAL GOODS, AND INSTITUTIONS

This paper summarizes the current state of the social capital paradigm from the viewpoint of the authors. The paper presents and defends a social capital definition based on sympathetic relationships. The paper also summarizes an expanded set of rational preferences that depend on social capital. Then, the paper describes the origin of social capital and its economic consequences, and introduces the concept of socio-emotional goods. Socio-emotional goods may attach themselves to physical goods and services. When this happens, physical goods and services are exchanged on terms different than those values established in an arm's-length market or in exchanges between strangers. It is possible to invest in social capital and this paper reviews several opportunities for social capital investment. Moving from a micro to a macro focus in the study of social capital directs the paper's focus from informal to formal institutions. Finally, the paper summarizes agreed-on social capital principles that suggest that the social capital paradigm is maturing. Key Words: earned kernels, inherited kernels, institutions and networks, social capital, socio-emotional goodsearned kernels, inherited kernels, institutions and networks, social capital, socio-emotional goods, Institutional and Behavioral Economics,

INFLATION, CASH FLOWS, AND GROWTH: SOME IMPLICATIONS FOR THE FARM FIRM

Agribusiness,

SOCIAL CAPITAL, THE TERMS OF TRADE, AND THE DISTRIBUTION OF INCOME

Social capital, a person or group's sympathy or sense of obligation for another person or group, assumes relationships can alter the terms of trade and the likelihood of trades between individuals. Other important economic consequences of social capital result from its ability to internalize externalities. This paper introduces social capital into the neoclassical model to derive forecasts of how relationships will alter the minimum-sell prices of farmland and the likelihood of trades between persons with different relationships. Also deduced in this paper is the effect of social capital on the level and dispersion of benefits from trade. Empirical evidence from a 1,500 farmland owner-operator survey is analyzed and provides support for the social capital paradigm.Institutional and Behavioral Economics, International Relations/Trade,