Exploring how social capital and learning are related to the resilience of Dutch arable farmers

The importance of proximity dimensions in agricultural knowledge and innovation systems: The case of banana disease management in Rwanda

This paper is a comparative study of formal and informal social networks and their effects on subjective well-being in Australia, Britain, and China. Formal social networks are measured by group affiliations, and informal social networks are measured by personal connections with kin, friends, and acquaintances. An analysis of the national representative sample surveys from the three countries shows that the formal networks are of notable importance in increasing people’s subjective well-being in Britain and urban China, but the informal networks have much greater impacts in all three countries, particularly in rural China. We propose a cultural–structural interaction framework to explain the observed differences in the network influence on subjective well-being in the three countries.

The Agricultural Knowledge and Innovation Systems (AKIS) are responsible for the flow of information, knowledge, and innovation between the actors of the agricultural and food sector, as well as between those engaged in education, research, and extension.Strengthening cooperation and interaction between actors has become a cross-cutting objective of the European Union's Common Agricultural Policy (CAP).The CAP Strategic Plans in the Member States aim to develop agriculture through two interventions (support of EIP operational groups and the provision of knowledge exchange and dissemination actions).However, the AKIS goes beyond the CAP support, as several additional actions and incentives under national competence are needed for a modern, knowledge-based agricultural economy and well-functioning AKIS.Each EU Member State has developed its own AKIS, according to its specific conditions and needs.Previous studies on the comparison of AKIS across Member States have attempted to collect and analyse the specificities of each Member State, mainly through primary data collection.These studies are less capable of providing an objective comparison of AKIS systems in the Member States based on a common methodology.Although there are several indicator systems available to measure innovation performance, these indicator systems address the national/regional innovation performance but do not provide an adequate picture of the innovation performance of the agricultural economy.The aim of this study is to develop a framework for objective benchmarking of the Agricultural Knowledge and Innovation Systems supporting the agricultural economy of each EU Member State.To this end, the authors have created the AKIS index.

How did the economic crisis impact social capital in European societies? The empirical studies conducted so far provide contradictory conclusions about the strength and direction of its influence. We argue that to better understand the effects of the economic crisis on social capital (social trust, formal and informal networks) it is crucial to examine both its impact on people’s economic situation and the way it reshaped the relationship between individuals and political institutions and altered key political factors (political trust, the welfare state, political activism). Our analysis of European Social Survey data between 2006 and 2012 shows that changes in social trust were smaller than in formal and informal social networks. It also confirms that political factors played an important mediating role in producing these changes: changes in social trust and formal networks can especially be explained by the impact of the political factors, while variations in informal networks are mainly due to the changing economy. Moreover, the analyses show that while the economic crisis generally lowered social capital, some mechanisms such as a sense of togetherness and left-wing political activism, enhanced social capital.

Chinese city governments have collaborated increasingly to address regional environmental issues by participating in informal and formal collaborative networks. However, collaboration among cities involves collaboration risks. This study investigates how cities strategically select collaborative partners in informal and formal networks in the context of the Yangtze River Delta in China. This study addresses this question by assessing the nature of collaborative problems in the informal and formal networks, the extent of homophily in actors’ preferences, and their relationship multiplexity. Findings from Exponential Random Graph Analysis demonstrate: (1) city governments tend to connect to the popular actor and create relationship closure in the informal network, while only forging relationship closure in the formal network; (2) homophily (in water pollution) and heterogeneity (in air pollution) jointly affect city governments’ choices of collaborative partners in the formal network; and (3) the presence of relationship multiplexity wherein the formation of formal ties is built between city governments with pre-existing informal interactions. The findings advance our knowledge of collaborative partner selection and local collaborative governance in China.

With the recent trend toward collaborative governance, governmental and nongovernmental actors are actively engaged in the environmental governance in China, forming formal and informal networks in this process. While existing research has mostly examined the formation of either formal or informal networks, few studies have examined the influence of formal networks on the formation of informal networks. This article examines the collaborative environmental governance network in China by studying the relationship between formal networks and informal networks. We conduct the research in the empirical context of local water governance in Dongguan city of Guangdong province, China. With survey data collected from 31 municipal departments, 32 town governments, 9 water-related private business and 5 NGOs, we test the hypothesis with Quadratic Assignment Procedure (QAP) regression analysis. The results indicate that formal network does affect and contribute to the formation of informal network, and actors within the formal network are more likely to build informal relationships in environmental governance.

Poverty, social networks, and clientelism

Why are the poor susceptible to clientelism, and what factors shield them from the influence of vote buying? We explore the role of both formal and informal social networks in shaping the likelihood of being targeted with private inducements. We argue that when the poor lack access to formal social networks, they become increasingly reliant on vote buying channelled through informal networks. To test our theory, we build the informal, family-based network linkages between voters and local politicians spanning a city in the Philippines. We then collect survey data on formal network connections, electoral handouts, and voting behaviour of 900 voters randomly drawn from these family networks. We show first that campaigns disproportionately target poorer voters. We then show that familial ties further influence targeting among poor voters. Finally, we show that access to formal networks such as workers’ associations mitigate voter fears of punishment for failing to reciprocate.

Infant crying influences the caregiver and the broader caregiving environment. In this study, cry acoustics were recorded and acoustically analyzed from a sample of fullterm and preterm infants at 40 weeks gestational age, along with the medical risk and socioeconomic status (SES) of the family. Following factor analysis of the cry acoustics, cry factors, along with medical risk and SES were used to predict patterns of social support in the informal (family, friends) and formal (health care providers) social support networks at 44 weeks gestational age. One cry factor, temporal patterning, indicative of the influence of respiratory factors on the infant's cry, predicted a significant amount of variance in the amount of support from the informal network, beyond that predicted from medical risk and SES. Medical risk alone predicted the amount of contact with the formal network, and SES predicted satisfaction with help from the formal network. There were different patterns of relationship between cry acoustics and social support for families with term and preterm infants, indicating that caregivers may interpret and respond to different information in the acoustics of their infants' cries. These findings have implications for understanding how infant crying and behavior influence the caregiving environment and for the clinical management of early cry problems in families with infants differing in risk status. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

The European Commission initiated the preparation of a new long-term vision for rural areas. First step of this process was the launch of a public consultation to which also the Horizon 2020 SHERPA (Sustainable Hub to Engage into Rural Policies with Actors) project is making a contribution on behalf of 20 different Multi-Actor Platforms (MAPs). The Hungarian MAP - a group of science-society-policy actors - focuses on the Agricultural Knowledge and Innovation System (AKIS), more precisely digitalization. The topic of Agricultural Knowledge and Innovation System - is a horizontal issue and it is embedded even into the Common Agricultural Policy’s (CAP) strategic planning process. Being part of it, the development of AKIS requires close and intensive cooperation of policy makers, researchers and farmers or in broader context the society with various stakeholders. The aim of the Hungarian research was to identify the current and likely trends for the Hungarian rural areas and to point out key challenges, opportunities, enablers and hinderers in rural development in terms of the Agricultural Knowledge and Innovation System (AKIS) up until 2040. The methodology used was the Delphi technique. In the first phase, a review of key trends, main challenges and opportunities and a summary of existing foresight regarding digital agriculture was written. Then AKIS experts were asked to talk about their experiences and opinions in the framework of interviews, a focus group meeting and a survey. In the end, results of the survey were discussed in a consensus meeting. Among the results, it is worth mentioning that digitization and digitalization will fundamentally change the way rural areas operate including economic, environmental and social dimensions. The main enablers of a promising future vision are capacity building for knowledge transfer, adaptation for job creation and offering better quality of life, stronger community building for collaborations, deeper government involvement, and last but not least, strengthening the local identity in rural areas.

European Integration of Ukraine in the Ukrainian aspiration to join the European Union (EU) entails rapprochement with the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) of the EU. One important element for the attainment of CAP objectives is a strong Agricultural Knowledge and Innovation System (AKIS). This article analyses the describable potential of the AKIS framework in the pre-accession phase of Ukraine. We review current AKIS components, their key issues identified, and strategies to reinforce them. Using a literature review, policy document analysis and expert interviews with key stakeholders that shape the current landscape of Ukrainian agriculture, the analysis was constructed. The results revealed that while UE is well placed as far as AKIS functionality is concerned, there are considerable areas that require improvements. Enhancing synergies between research, extension and farmers, encouraging co-creation of knowledge and harnessing digital technologies are some key steps. An effective AKIS standing behind the Ukrainian agriculture can make the country more productive, sustainable, and competitive improving its compatibility with the EU's CAP mechanisms.

Healthy dietary profiles contribute to successful aging, and dietary intake is dependent upon food procurement capabilities. Both formal and informal social networks can contribute to grocery shopping capabilities and methods of food procurement. This investigation explores the role of informal networks in food procurement methods among adults aged 65 years and older, and compares differences across eight European countries. Food shopping ways (FSW), identified by quantitative analysis (cluster analysis and correspondence analysis), guided the content qualitative analysis which was carried out addressing three main research questions addressing food shopping routines, feelings of dependency and needs of informal support for shopping, and differences between past and present food shopping behaviours. Living circumstances influence food shopping habits. Informal networks differed between two groups of individuals: those living alone and those living with others. Gender differences emerged in shopping pleasure. Geographical factors were associated with preference for shopping companions, attitudes toward receiving support, and availability of a car for shopping. The importance of living circumstances (i.e., alone vs. with others) in FSW was revealed. Informal social networks may play an important role in public health and welfare policies, particularly given the increase in this demographic group. Assistance with grocery shopping and the availability of trained personnel could widen informal networks, and effective informal networks may be an important supportive service for older adults. The comparison across countries highlighted relationships between food procurement capabilities and social networks. These findings may be used to develop resources to better meet the nutritional needs of older adults.

Use of mammography screening among older Samoan women in Los Angeles county: a diffusion network approach

Organizing large R&D collaborations in such a way as to maximize time and budget efficiency often seems to be an impossible proposition. Our study addresses this phenomenon by investigating two large R&D collaborations in the aerospace industry, whereas previous studies have typically investigated the formally ascribed design interfaces and the informal communication networks from separate viewpoints, we integrate these two perspectives and examine the structure and alignment of both. In our study, two large R&D collaborations were examined involved in the development of telescopes for the space industry. Our empirical analyses result in three important findings. First, the informal networks in both large R&D collaborations are far more dense than the formal networks and the alignment between formal and informal networks in large R&D collaborations is rather small. Second, network efficiency is far higher in the formal network than in the informal network, and third, investigating the effect of the units' network efficiency on time and budget efficiency, we find that both are positively impacted by the network efficiency of units in large R&D collaborations. Our findings also indicate that informal networks can be managed toward higher time and budget efficiency by way of various team sizes, and especially, the formal positioning of units.

Purpose Given the increasing political relevance of the Agricultural Knowledge and Innovation System (AKIS) approach in EU policies, there is a need for more knowledge to strengthen the AKIS's functioning. This article aims to generate insights that inform policy and practice to understand and appreciate an AKIS situation in multiple contexts. Methodology The article compares AKIS features in eleven European countries based on AKIS country reports developed in the i2connect project. We used purposive sampling to analyse reports from selected EU Member States and Switzerland. The analysis drew on infrastructural perspective of the AKIS using content analysis to identify and compare key features. Findings A well-performing AKIS emerges when diverse actors in the AKIS interact effectively, when knowledge infrastructures and finances are available, and when coordination mechanisms supporting knowledge exchange, innovation and cooperation are in place. Practical Implications The article identifies a set of key features that can be used to assess AKIS functioning from the infrastructural perspective and thus allows for a comparative situational diagnosis of systems under consideration. Theoretical Implications The findings support a systematised and conceptually grounded analysis of the AKIS by linking the infrastructural AKIS perspective to conceptual bases from organisational sociology. Furthermore, the article confirms the appropriateness of considering actor diversity, coordination mechanisms, and knowledge and financial infrastructures. Originality/Value The study unravels infrastructural commonalities and heterogeneities across the AKIS in selected EU Member States and Switzerland and highlights the implications for AKIS governance.