Social capital indicators

However, what is it about social status and social integration that makes them so important to health One proposal is that social status indicates social capital, and that it is a person s social capital which is most important to health. Wilkinson rejects this hypothesis, stating that social capital is an epiphenomenon and that we still have to identify the causal factors underlying it (Wilkinson 1999, p. 52). 

When Kawachi and co-workers carried out a path analysis, it indicated that the primary effect of income inequality on mortality is mediated by social capital (as measured by level of perceived fairness). Income inequality exerts a large indirect effect on overall mortality through the social capital variable. As income inequality increases, so does the level of social mistrust, which is in turn associated with increased mortality rates. 

Technological progress determines the characteristics of flows in supply chains. It influences flow time, quality, cost, effectiveness and efficiency. The computerisation and automation of operation is the most dynamic economic trend. Labour costs in supply chains, in particular in high-tech sectors, are more often generated by intellectual and social capital than by the actual labour force. The trend described above is demonstrated by the improvement of operational indicators of supply chains such as production efficiency, delivery time, production and distribution waste and process quality. It seems obvious that in the foreseeable future those supply chains that do not use modern solutions will be less competitive or will, following a survival strategy, search for other sources of competitive advantage. 

When using the term high social capital, one should ask how the capital s level may be determined. To date, no universal and generally accepted model or formula for calculating social capital has been proposed in the literature. This indicates that social capital is highly complex and intangible. Despite difficulties in the classification of social capital, attempts have been made to measure it (Baraniecka 2005, pp. 15-25). The methods used to measure social capital are reviewed in Table 7.2. 

A multiplier equal to 1 indicates the absence of social capital. 

Mesh number in the network indicates so-called negative social capital and this forms the basis for estimating the proper level of social capital. 

Taking into account the potential benefits of using a company s social capital for its development, one should consider how to measme this category of social capital. Unfortimately, the microeconomic approach to social capital, which offers fewer research results and academic discussions, has not yet developed a universal set of assessment indicators. Therefore, in the literature on the subject, macroeconomic solutions are transferred to microeconomic area. A popular set of indicators includes the six sources of social capital according to the World Bank. They include (Herbst 2007, p. 88) ... 

A set of simple indicators may be drawn up for the structure of social capital. They may include the number of business relationships in an organisation, the level of trust and the amoimt of information shared or shared initiatives (Baraniecka and Witkowski 2011). Investments in social capital are important, as they indirectly support the use of other capital human, physical or financial. Social capital supports the operation of an organisation that has a deficit of other types of capital (Moron 2009, p. 36). 

At this stage, a steady measurement of the social capital is made based on the profile and dedicated indicators developed earlier. 

The screening tests during indirect reasoning showed the considerable importance of social capital in undertaking initiatives in supply chain management. The companies researched indicated that the lack of trust and commitment of collaborators in the supply chain and ensuing restrictions in access to data, as well as the growing uncertainty of business operations were a major barrier to the implementation of actions towards improvement. 

The companies see many benefits from high social capital in the supply chain, the most important benefit (indicated by 32% of respondents) being the increase in the competitiveness of the supply chain (and of individual companies within it). Other areas influenced by the supply chain s social capital are presented in Table 7.4. 

Economic impacts of sustainability can be measured with a capital approach that can be defined as maintaining economic, environmental, human, and social capital over time for future generations (Kulig, Kolfoort, and Hoekstra 2010). The capital approach can be proposed as a theoretical basis for sustainable development indicators (Atkinson and Hamilton 2003 World Bank 2006 UNECE 2014). The capital approach provides a theoretical approach by measuring all capital stocks in their own units. The capital approach can provide consistent, theoretically sound, and policy-relevant comparisons between countries (Kulig et al. 2010). 

Figure 5.1 Commonly exocrine glands found in social insects. Glands with capital lettering indicate a putative pheromonal function (author J. Billen) (with Westview Press permission).

Figure 4 presents the social costs of each technology and the formula for discounting and summing the social cost savings. The asterisk indicates that the prices and the discount factor reflect the social value of inputs and the social opportunity cost of capital. The total social benefits are obtained for 65 locations and for all yeairs in the forty year planning period. 

---