The contribution of this paper to the social capital literature is threefold. It first develops an innovative framework for measuring social capital, which allows for quantification of five different components of the multidimensional concept of social capital. Secondly, it provides a single,...

Narratives simplify conceptual thinking about complex phenomena by providing interpretations and backgrounds based on standard linguistic schemes. As such, they offer an apt form for suggestive evocation of the many controversies on the impact of technology and science on world agriculture....

Why are certain movies more successful in some markets than others? Are the entertainment products we consume reflective of our core values and beliefs? These questions drive our investigation into the relationship between a society's oral tradition and the financial success of films. We combine...

Internet development holds the promise of transmitting economic value across physical space at zero marginal cost. In such a 'weightless economy', what factors matter for the location of economic activity and thus for economic development? This paper sketches a model of spatial dynamics over a...

As the pluralisation of spheres of life emerged, qualitative research became more relevant to study social relations. In an attempt to recognise the potential of the documentary method and of participatory research for the study of issues concerning the social and educational experiences of...

The article discusses the systematisation of the practice of political and trade union training of the Enfoc: Escola Nacional de Formação Político Sindical; of the Contag: Confederação Nacional dos Trabalhadores na Agricultura [National School for Political and Trade Union Training of the...

Are developing-world cities engines of opportunities for low-wage earners? In this study, we track a cohort of young low-income workers in Brazil for thirteen years to explore the contribution of factors such as industrial structure and skill segregation on upward income mobility. We find that...

This paper characterizes economically optimal investments into Africa's road network in partial and general equilibrium - based on a detailed topography of the network, road construction costs, frictions in cross-border trading, and economic geography. Drawing from data on 144 million...

This paper presents a dynamic, two-region general equilibrium model in which inter-regional production and trade patterns are endogenously determined. Localized growth stems from geographical concentration of an industrial sector exhibiting permanent productivity increases. Geographical...

The matters concerning the identification and regulation of a cluster are complex, contradictory and not much studied. One of the main problems in the cluster analysis is the study of the mechanism of its functioning. In this connection there is a need for a study of the specifics concerning the...