Raspoloživost socijalnog kapitala u privredama koje se transformišu
The Availability Of Social Capital In Transforming Economies

Summary/Abstract: Today there is not a single country in the Balkans left that did not express the willingness to approach the western world, by accepting its economy, politics and society coordination principles. However, some of the transformation actors cannot claim any enviable success neither in economic performance nor visible progress in other areas of social life. Also, there is a fascinating variety in the accomplished transformation achievements, although the reformers have followed almost identical reform recommendations. This fact has lead to a thought that policy is not crucial for transformation success, but that social, political and cultural environment is equally important. Considering that the process of economic and political reforms is going on in a particular environment of specific societies, with their inherited habits, customs, traditions and systems of moral values, the final result is different in each particular country, according to its preconditions for a political-economic liberalization. These preconditions can be expressed in the form of social capital – a resource that encompasses society's norms of cooperation, reciprocity and trust, as well as social structures, like social networks, groups and associations which enable individuals to access social recourses. This paper deals with the problem of lacking social capital in transforming countries, and how it affects economic progress and the institutionalization of a new coordination system.

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