A model of dynamic balance among the three spheres of society - markets, governments, and communities Applied to understanding the relative importance of social capital and social goods

摘要

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to revisit old questions of the proper subject and bounds ofrneconomics: does economics study "provisioning"? or markets? or a method of reasoning, self-interestedrnrational optimization?rnDesign/methodology/approach - A variety of scholars and others in many fields make use of arntaxonomy of society consisting of three "spheres": markets, governments, and communities. It isrnargued here that this tripartite taxonomy of society is fundamental and exhaustive. A variety of waysrnof understanding this taxonomy are explored, especially Fiske's "Relational models theory." Then -rnafter communities and their products, social goods, are defined more thoroughly - a visual model ofrninteractions among the three spheres is presented.rnFindings - The model is first used briefly to understand the historical development of markets. Thernmodel is then applied to understanding how economic thinking and market ideology, including thernnotion of social capital, can be destructive of communities and their production of social goods (andrntheir production of social capital as well).rnResearch limitations/implications - It is not possible to measure these effects monetarily, sorncalculating precisely "how this affects results" in a standard economic model is impossible.rnPractical implications - Nevertheless, better preparation of students for real-world analysis, andrnbetter serving the clients, including the public, if - whenever relevant, such as in textbookrnintroductions and in benefit/cost analyses - awareness of the limitations of economic analysis withrnrespect to communities and social goods was made.rnOriginality/value - The three-spheres model offered here, based on Fiske's "Relational modelsrntheory," facilitates this awareness.