Suchergebnisse

The chapters in this volume explore the challenges and opportunities raised by this concept for researchers, practitioners and teachers. Social Capital and Economic Development is based upon a consistent, policy-based vision of how social capital affects well-being in developing countries.

As membership in civic organizations declines in the United States, could volunteering for nonprofit organizations be an alternative source of social capital formation? After theoretically connecting volunteering with social capital using a household production framework, the authors then use a unique data set from Vermont to estimate the determinants of the probability of receiving a social capital benefit and the level of such a benefit. The probability of receiving a social capital benefit from one's most important nonprofit organization is increased: (a) if it is a religious or social service organization, (b) if one increases their volunteering for the organization, and (c) if one is female, college educated, or in a two-parent family. However, the relative magnitude of volunteering is similar, or relatively small, compared to the other significant determinants. An increase of volunteer hours does increase levels of social capital; however, the magnitude of this effect is also relatively small.

Abstract  By undertaking a census of all agricultural, outdoor recreational, and environmental groups (land‐based groups) in two adjacent counties in Vermont, we demonstrate the dramatic increase of local environmental groups in the last 15 years. Building on the methodologies of Kempton et al. (2001), we first show that official lists of nonprofit groups‐from the Vermont Secretary of State, the Internal Revenue Service, and local grassroots directories—significantly undercount local environmental groups. Second, we show that since the mid‐1980s, the number and membership roles of local autonomous environmental groups have grown rapidly relative to all other types of local and nonlocal land‐based groups in these counties. This article provides preliminary evidence of the recent "greening of social capital."

Many oil, mineral, and plantation crop-based economies experienced a substantial deceleration in growth following the commodity boom and bust of the 1970s and early 1980s. This article illustrates how countries dependent on point source natural resources (those extracted from a narrow geographic or economic base, such as oil and minerals) and plantation crops are predisposed to heightened economic and social divisions and weakened institutional capacity. This in turn impedes their ability to respond effectively to shocks, which previous studies have shown to be essential for sustaining rising levels of prosperity. Analysis of data on classifications of export structure, controlling for a wide array of other potential determinants of governance, shows that point source and coffee and cocoa exporting countries do relatively poorly across an array of governance indicators. These governance effects are not associated simply with being a natural resource exporter. Countries with natural resource exports that are diffuse relying primarily on livestock and agricultural produce from small family farms do not show the same strong effects and have had more robust growth recoveries.

ObjectiveThis article examines the role of relationship lending in the automobile loan market at a community development credit union (CDCU) and at a traditional community bank. MethodData collected from actual car loan applications are used in a probit analysis to estimate the importance of selected demographic, financial, and loan-specific variables on the probability of loan approval at the two types of financial institutions. ResultsWe first show that the community bank relies on credit scoring, not relationship lending. Relationship lending is, however, a critical factor in the loan decision at the CDCU. Low-income households with strong ties to the CDCU are likely to receive loans, despite poor credit histories. ConclusionsIf consolidation, deregulation, and technology move mainstream financial institutions away from relationship lending and toward credit scoring, CDCUs will occupy an increasingly critical niche for low-income households. Adapted from the source document.

Objective. This article examines the role of relationship lending in the automobile loan market at a community development credit union (CDCU) and at a traditional community bank.Method. Data collected from actual car loan applications are used in a probit analysis to estimate the importance of selected demographic, financial, and loan‐specific variables on the probability of loan approval at the two types of financial institutions.Results. We first show that the community bank relies on credit scoring, not relationship lending. Relationship lending is, however, a critical factor in the loan decision at the CDCU. Low‐income households with strong ties to the CDCU are likely to receive loans, despite poor credit histories.Conclusions. If consolidation, deregulation, and technology move mainstream financial institutions away from relationship lending and toward credit scoring, CDCUs will occupy an increasingly critical niche for low‐income households.