Andrew Passey, Senior Research Fellow, ACCORD, comments on the Productivity Commission’s Research Paper, July 2003.

This paper is a cautious but welcome addition to debates over social capital that have been taking place over the past 10 years in academia, the third sector and increasingly in government. Download the PDF from the Productivity Commision website.

While it does not make any major policy recommendations, the report does highlight some Australian and international examples of policy ideas that might add to the stock of social capital. Perhaps as important, the report also admits that government policies, including some that are currently in place in Australia, can have a detrimental impact on social capital. These conclusions stem from a relatively thorough review of the literature on social capital, especially the contested issues of definition, measurement, and policy impact.

Among the key points highlighted in the report are two recommendations. The first is that ‘governments should at least consider the scope for modifying policies that are found to damage social capital, and ways of harnessing existing social capital to deliver programs more effectively’. ACCORD endorses this recommendation, although we would argue that the first element – first do no harm – is more straightforward than the second – fostering social capital for government ends. This is partly because the second is open to broad interpretation from across the political spectrum, especially the seductive notion that social capital might be a means of reducing public expenditure, as highlighted in the report’s overview.

The second recommendation does not go far enough in arguing that ‘further research, coupled with small-scale policy experimentation, may be warranted to provide better knowledge and tools for incorporating social capital considerations in policy analysis’. We would call for the substitution of ‘is’ for ‘may be’, since with such a slippery concept as social capital there remains a need for improved evidence, especially in relation to policy analysis and development.

These concerns aside, we welcome the Commission’s tentative dip of the toes in this area. Recent statements by Treasurer Peter Costello hint that there is an audience in government for ideas that might contribute to social capital. ACCORD hopes that social economy organisations will be among those trying to tap into this audience, as well as into work in government and elsewhere to measure and assess social capital.