Relational Work in Economic Sociology: A Review and Extension

Understanding how economic transactions are constitutive in the development, maintenance, and solidification of relationships has been of particular importance for economic sociologists in recent years. Following the work of Viviana Zelizer, economic sociologists have expanded from a purely network‐based approach of analyzing economic action to consider how and in what ways relations shape economic life. This paper provides a review of Zelizer's relational view of economic activity and presents an extension to the theory. While scholars have successfully applied “relational work” to many areas of economic life, this paper asks whether one can use the theory to examine economic interactions between human and non‐human agents. The example of tithing in the Prosperity Gospel tradition is used in order to expand relational work to this realm.     

Reexamining economic sociology: Beyond rational choice reductionism

The article aims at reexamining the origins and character of economic sociology by comparison with rational choice within the history of economic and social ideas, particularly neoclassical economic and classical sociological theory. Some suggestions for a rational choice approach to economic sociology are particularly curious in that they tend to conflate the distinct characters and origins of these two disciplines throughout this history and have in turn provided an impetus for this reexamination. Modern rational choice theorists display a predilection for reducing economic (and, all) sociology into an economic approach to human behavior, with many economic sociologists evincing some degree of lenience or benevolence vis-à-vis such tendencies. Both tendencies do not seem justified in light of the different nature and origin of economic sociology and rational choice in the history of social and economic ideas. Since the current literature lacks coherent attempts at specifying the nature and historical roots of economic sociology versus those of rational choice, the article contributes toward filling in this hole.     

Verteilungskoalitionen und Demokratische Staatsstrukturen als Determinanten der wirtschaftlichen Entwicklung?

This comment critically focuses upon Volker Kunz’s (KFfSS Vol. 52, 2000: 195–225) empirical findings concerning the political and institutional underpinnings of economic development in the OECD world. It is argued that a most similar systems design is inappropriate to explore the political sources of economic growth. Reanalyzing the determinants of economic growth rates in a cross-section of 21 OECD countries provides little evidence for a political dimension of economic development. More specifically, I cannot replicate his findings that consensus democracy and distributional coalitions hamper economic growth. It is shown that long-term economic growth rates first and foremost are determined by economic catch-up resulting from differentials in initial levels of economic development.     

Economic socialization in children in a midwestern American community

This study is part of an international program of research involving fifteen countries. The goal of the research program is to advance international understanding of economic socialization in children. This study attempts to describe and understand this process in American children aged 8, 11 and 14. In-depth interviews were used to learn about economic understanding, economic reasoning and economic attitudes in 87 children living in a midwestern town. Analysis of the interview data indicated that economic socialization is indeed a reality in that sophistication increased with age.     

复苏与调整：中国经济分析中的上海观点——评《经济复苏与战略调整：中国经济分析2009～2010》

2009年中国经济在全球率先复苏,并在某种程度上引领了全球经济整体向好。如何看待世界和中国经济复苏,复苏中是否会出现再次探底,与此相关的政策是否会调整,以及调整的方向与力度将如何等,是国内外学者和社会各界人士十分关注的重大和热点问题。《经济复苏与战略调整：中国经济分析2009～2010》一书认为,在经济复苏中,加大战略调整力度,不仅是转变中国经济发展方式的必然选择,同时也是顺应世界经济格局变动、凸显世界经济发展主题的重要组成之一。     

Beyond economic insecurity and cultural backlash: Economic nationalism and the rise of the far right

Far‐right parties gain in electoral support across the globe. Studies describe this phenomenon either as a cultural backlash or as a reaction to growing economic inequality. The economic inequality perspective suggests that the transforming workforce in post‐industrial societies gives rise to economic insecurity among those who feel left behind. In contrast, the cultural backlash thesis argues that the increasing support for far‐right parties represents a rejection of values such as cosmopolitanism and multiculturalism. More recent scholarship sought to show how economic and cultural factors combined increase the support for the far right. Most of these studies investigate public opinion polls, voting behaviour, and voters´ socio‐economic contexts. This paper reviews these studies and argues that the way in which far‐right political parties construct an interconnection of economic and cultural ideas in discourse is largely neglected in the existing body of literature. The paper concludes that the concept of economic nationalism captures how these two components are intertwined; economic nationalist discourse in far‐right political manifestos and speeches provides a more complete comprehension how public opinion is being shaped. This contribution offers a starting point for future studies to examine how cultural values, such as nationalism, reconstruct and influence articulation of economic policy.     

Re-examining the economic roots of public relations

The present global financial/economic crisis affects virtually the whole world and has brought to light a neglected economic context in public relations. To anyone familiar with the field's early history, it is obvious that a large part of that history intertwines with the long struggle between corporate, purely economic, interests and the need to apply public relations to combat public hostility and to gain public favour. This article works with both functional and critical approaches to engage with the particular relevance that the economic context of public relations holds in times of economic downturn. In referring to economic context, it includes the following issues: the economic roots of public relations practice in the historical context, the interactions between public relations theory and theories of economics and political economy, and the importance of economics to public relations practitioners.     

试论新世纪初阿联酋的经济与贸易发展

阿联酋是中东地区颇有政治和经济影响力的重要国度之一,其油气资源丰富,经济发展良好,多年来始终执行自由开放的经济运行政策,投资环境极为宽松;同时,近几年来该国也与中国建立起较密切的经济联系。对阿联酋经贸发展状况的深入了解,将对两国的经贸合作具有一定的现实意义。     

For better,for worse? Public support for the capitalist model of the economy

A capitalist market economy is based on several institutional elements, such as private ownership and competition. Does public support for this economic model rise if the economy prospers, and fall during a downturn? Or is public support largely independent of the ups and downs of economic cycles? We hypothesize that positive economic performance increases support and that persons profiting personally are more supportive of the economic system's constitutive institutional elements. Using multilevel regression we study the determinants of individual-level support for the economic system. We also test for differences in the perception of economic performance due to political attitudes and personal properties. The findings partly support the hypotheses, indicating that macro-economic factors matter for individual-level attitudes towards the economy. Attitudes towards different institutional elements of the economic system also differ in the degree to which they are political or economic, and influenced by economic performance. Individual features – education and personal economic stakes – affect attitudes towards the economy, but a substantial share of the individual-level variation in economic attitudes remains unexplained.     

Economic perspectives on public relations

This paper explores the relationship between economic theory and public relations, in order to explain how public relations management contributes to companies’ overall economic gains. It uses a “blend” of economic theories to explain the role and contribution of public relations from the economic point of view. The paper sees a link between the strategic management of public relations as a function, and portions of neoclassical theory, as well as to alternative economic approaches relating to investments and transaction costs.     

对我国当前宏观经济形势的思考

2012年以来,我国经济增长面临较大下行压力。正确认识和把握当前经济形势,需要将经济发展的新变化放到中长期经济发展趋势中分析。近年来的经济形势变化以及宏观政策方向的短周期调整反映了政策在增长、结构和物价3个重要调控目标之间的困难选择。从更深层次看,这实质上表明我国经济发展已经度过了规模快速扩张的阶段,必须摆脱传统路径依赖,走新型工业化道路。现在,经济转型的长期性问题正以周期波动的短期性现象表现出来,即短期内宏观经济总供求矛盾的变化和相应的宏观政策调控方向的变换,实际上反映的是我国经济发展阶段和发展方式正在和必须发生重大变化。     

Economic liberalization and social values: Spain in the decade of the 1980s

Spain has experienced dramatic political and economic changes in the last several decades. In particular, joining the European Community in 1985 marked a point of economic policy change and acceleration of economic growth for Spain. Based primarily on the results of two national social surveys in 1981 and 1990, this paper examines changes in Spanish social values that corresponded to this period of economic liberalization. While necessarily speculative, the paper concludes that economic reform may have had both integrative and disintegrative influences on social values and that the extent of the country's economic growth in the last half of the decade was probably insufficient to capture additional social benefits of economic advancement.     

Vom Experiment zur Praxis: Wie moralische Argumente wirtschaftliche Selbstinteressen beeinflussen

How do moral arguments influence economic self-interests? Behavioral economists try to answer this question using experiments, but their central results have not yet been tested in real economic life. A research project therefore reconstructed how moral arguments influenced economic self-interests in case studies of discussions about relocation. The results indicate that an orientation towards morality, as in the dictator- ultimatum- and collective goods game, also seems to influence how interests are defined and pursued in real economic life. Instead of maximizing economic self-interest, actors behave reciprocally. Results of behavioral experiments as well as the observation of case studies of economic behavior therefore hint towards economic actors that are influenced by reciprocity and social roles. This allows for a more precise understanding of economic behavior in many situations. Testing this in experiments of behavioral economics is in turn advocated based on the results of this article.     

The Relationship between Economics and Sociology: The Contribution of Economic Sociology,Setting out from the Problem of Embeddedness

This essay aims to analyse the most recent acquisitions in economic sociology, setting out from the problem of embeddedness. Firstly, the contribution offered by Mark Granovetter shall be illustrated, demonstrating how the interpretation proposed by this scholar is concentrated on a structural–relational perspective that tends to trace the explanation of economic phenomena to a theory of social networks. In order to enrich and integrate this approach, the contribution offered by the new-institutionalist perspective in contemporary economic sociology will be emphasised, which has focused on the social construction of economic institutions. This current has underlined, on the one hand, the cognitive dimension of embeddedness, related to the way in which the uniformities structured by mental processes limit economic reasoning, and, on the other, the cultural dimension of embeddedness, concerning the role of collectively shared representations in the formation of economic goals. It will be concluded by illustrating the acquisitions of some theoretical perspectives linked to the polanyian tradition that have developed a ‘plural’ conception of economy, founded on the emphasis of socio-regulative principles, such as those of exchange, redistribution and reciprocity, which, in becoming hybrid, give shape to variable and historically anchored economic worlds. The concept of embeddedness roots historically and transmits a vision of economic processes as inseparable from non-economic institutions.     

Yugoslavian children in a situation of rapid economic changes

The object of this research was to examine the economic socialization of Yugoslavian children in a time of rapid economic and political changes. The analysis of the interviews showed that the level of knowledge of complex economic problems was rather limited, perhaps because the interview was oriented toward aspects of the economy which are not common in the Yugoslavian economic system.The level of economic understanding increased with age. While the knowledge of the youngest group was at a very concrete level, the older children gave a greater variety of more complex answers. Answers of all groups, especially those of the older ones, clearly reflect certain aspects, such as inflation, of the current economic conditions. In principle, the answers reveal the same characteristics of the economic socialization as reported by other authors.     

Psychosocial Consequences of Agricultural Transformation: The Farm Crisis and Depression1

Abstract The recent farm financial crisis has resulted in a rapid and dramatic economic decline for many farmers. Although researchers have long observed that economic crisis and vulnerability contribute to social-psychological depression, few studies have examined the links between farm restructuring and the depression process. We address this issue using a sample of 503 Ohio farmers from 1987. We hypothesize 1) that sociodemographic and farm structural characteristics are related to economic vulnerability, 2) that economic vulnerability is related to feelings of economic hardship and perceived stress, and 3) that these, in turn, are related to depression. The findings generally support the hypotheses and help clarify the depression process: beyond economic vulnerability, a negative cognitive appraisal of one's situation and ineffective coping mechanisms are related to more severe depression.     

On the state of the economic in sociology: A content analysis

This article explores contemporary economic sociology by means of a content analysis of the anthologies published in the field between 1993 and 2005, with attention given to four dimensions: the economic topics covered; the relative focus on economic conflict vs. cooperation; the methodologies employed; and the relationship to the field of economics. The content analysis reveals that economic sociology (1) most commonly studies markets and national institutions (2) tends to ignore issues of class conflict (3) relies primarily on interview-based and historical methodologies, and (4) only superficially incorporates a small number of concepts from economic theory. Of particular importance is the absence of sociological investions of important macroeconomic outcomes like unemployment and economic growth. It is suggested that the field can be strengthened by following Weber's (and Schumpeter's) formulation ofSozialökonomie a multidisciplinary approach that would conjoin economic theory and history to economic sociology.     

《古兰经》和圣训中的伊斯兰经济思想

伊斯兰经济思想是关于阿拉伯-伊斯兰社会经济问题理论和观点的统称。其渊源主要依据《古兰经》和圣训,以伊斯兰信仰和道德伦理为基本特点。伊斯兰积极入世的思想,对社会、经济、生活均有指导和干预作用,因此,其经济思想、理论、实践都受《古兰经》和圣训教诲的制约。无论是过去还是现在,以《古兰经》和圣训为核心的伊斯兰经济思想对阿拉伯-伊斯兰世界经济理论及其实践都有着直接的影响。     

Salvadoran economic transnationalism: embedded strategies for household maintenance,immigrant incorporation,and entrepreneurial expansion

This article presents a case study of the transnational economic practices linking two Salvadoran settlements in the United States and El Salvador. It considers the relationship between economic transnationalism, immigrant settlement and economic development in the country of origin. Four processes are examined including: (1) the creation of border‐spanning social networks by migrants and their home country counterparts; (2) the construction of transnational economic activities and institutions; (3) the broader transnational social formations in which these are embedded; and, (4) the cumulative and unintended consequences of economic transnationalism for migrant households, the immigrant community, and El Salvador. The article applies the concepts of social network, social capital, and embeddedness, to explain the sources and determinants of individual‐ and community‐level variation in types of transnational economic practices. The conclusions drawn are that economic transnationalism is both part of a transnational settlement strategy and holds potential for economic development in the country of origin.     

Financial Literacy: Building Economic Empowerment with Survivors of Violence

The purpose of this paper is to outline key constructs including financial literacy, economic self-efficacy, economic self-sufficiency, and economic empowerment, and then present findings from an exploratory study that sought to understand the relationship among these variables in a sample of abused women. The results revealed positive and significant relationships between financial literacy with economic empowerment, economic self-efficacy and economic-self sufficiency. Results also indicated that financial literacy, race, and economic self-sufficiency were significant predictors of economic empowerment. By focusing this research on abused women, it is our intention to raise awareness about the importance of financial literacy curricula with advocates, policy-makers and researchers, so more focus can be given to economically empowering IPV survivors.