Social capital theorists affirm that social factors, specific to each territory, such as relational structures and cognitive-normative values, influence economic variables and the development processes. It has been shown that intangible resources – in particular social capital – may contribute to the reduction of socio-economic marginalization of weak rural areas (Marquardt et al., 2012; Grieve e Weinspach, 2010; Nardone et al., 2010; Pisani e Franceschetti, 2011). Social capital may be an important factor of rural development if adequately supported by appropriate governance mechanisms, which regulate the relations between local, private and public actors (Lemos e Agrawal, 2006, Arts e van Tatenhove, 2006; Buizer et al., 2011; Secco et al., 2013). Co-operation among stakeholders and network creation are proper of the LEADER Approach, and in particular LAGs (Local Action Groups) should generate social capital. This paper aims to provide effective tools for understanding how social capital can operationally increase the performances of LEADER, providing indicators that can be used both in internal monitoring by LAGs themselves, and in external evaluation by Regions or European Commission. It is the result of a research project that tries to quantify the structural and cognitive social capital promoted by 9 selected LAGs in the rural areas of different Italian regions. The final output is a set of 96 innovative indicators, useful for the evaluation of social capital and of some key aspects of governance. The construction of the specific indicators has been facilitated by the subdivision of the complex concepts of social capital and governance in key dimensions and sub-dimensions. More specifically: 5 dimensions for structural social capital (context, actors of the network, horizontal structure of the network, transparency and accountability, reputational power), 6 dimensions for normative-cognitive social capital (trust and reciprocity, institutional trust, quality of the network, quality of the participation, common values, conflicts), 4 dimensions for governance (decisional processes, effectiveness and efficiency, capacity and organizational culture, vertical structure). Raw data has been obtained by 3 questionnaires, respectively distributed to LAGs’ directors, members of LAGs, and beneficiaries of projects. Results have been normalized and aggregated, and through a proper selection only 79 have been used for final analysis and comparisons. Social network analysis has been used for describing the relations among stakeholders, and some of its indices have been also adopted as indicators in the evaluation approach. The obtained results concern mainly (1) an analytical description of the values of the various indicators (grouped into dimensions and sub-dimensions) in each LAG (2) a comparison among all the indicators to underline the causes of excellences in each dimension. The focus on specific contexts doesn’t allow generalizations, but it is possible to follow the aggregation process from single indicators to composite indices to highlight strengths and weaknesses of each LAG. But the “hidden” outcomes of the project are the more interesting for future research: it was possible, through this pilot research, to test an innovative methodology to evaluate social capital and the perceptions that local stakeholders have about this topic.

Social capital and the LEADER Approach: from theory to empirics

PISANI, ELENA;FRANCESCHETTI, GIORGIO;SECCO, LAURA;DA RE, RICCARDO;CASTIGLIONI, MARIA;
2015

Abstract

Social capital theorists affirm that social factors, specific to each territory, such as relational structures and cognitive-normative values, influence economic variables and the development processes. It has been shown that intangible resources – in particular social capital – may contribute to the reduction of socio-economic marginalization of weak rural areas (Marquardt et al., 2012; Grieve e Weinspach, 2010; Nardone et al., 2010; Pisani e Franceschetti, 2011). Social capital may be an important factor of rural development if adequately supported by appropriate governance mechanisms, which regulate the relations between local, private and public actors (Lemos e Agrawal, 2006, Arts e van Tatenhove, 2006; Buizer et al., 2011; Secco et al., 2013). Co-operation among stakeholders and network creation are proper of the LEADER Approach, and in particular LAGs (Local Action Groups) should generate social capital. This paper aims to provide effective tools for understanding how social capital can operationally increase the performances of LEADER, providing indicators that can be used both in internal monitoring by LAGs themselves, and in external evaluation by Regions or European Commission. It is the result of a research project that tries to quantify the structural and cognitive social capital promoted by 9 selected LAGs in the rural areas of different Italian regions. The final output is a set of 96 innovative indicators, useful for the evaluation of social capital and of some key aspects of governance. The construction of the specific indicators has been facilitated by the subdivision of the complex concepts of social capital and governance in key dimensions and sub-dimensions. More specifically: 5 dimensions for structural social capital (context, actors of the network, horizontal structure of the network, transparency and accountability, reputational power), 6 dimensions for normative-cognitive social capital (trust and reciprocity, institutional trust, quality of the network, quality of the participation, common values, conflicts), 4 dimensions for governance (decisional processes, effectiveness and efficiency, capacity and organizational culture, vertical structure). Raw data has been obtained by 3 questionnaires, respectively distributed to LAGs’ directors, members of LAGs, and beneficiaries of projects. Results have been normalized and aggregated, and through a proper selection only 79 have been used for final analysis and comparisons. Social network analysis has been used for describing the relations among stakeholders, and some of its indices have been also adopted as indicators in the evaluation approach. The obtained results concern mainly (1) an analytical description of the values of the various indicators (grouped into dimensions and sub-dimensions) in each LAG (2) a comparison among all the indicators to underline the causes of excellences in each dimension. The focus on specific contexts doesn’t allow generalizations, but it is possible to follow the aggregation process from single indicators to composite indices to highlight strengths and weaknesses of each LAG. But the “hidden” outcomes of the project are the more interesting for future research: it was possible, through this pilot research, to test an innovative methodology to evaluate social capital and the perceptions that local stakeholders have about this topic.
2015
The CAP 2014-2020: scenarios for the European agro-food and rural systems
9788897683797
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Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/11577/3157881
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