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Abstract

The main objective of this paper is to propose a theoretical framework to promote global or expanded good corporate governance of non-profit organizations (NPOs) by enhancing the effective participation of important stakeholders in decision-making and transparent accountability. From the comprehensive stakeholder theory viewpoint, we will be focusing on the specific principles of corporate governance, the elements which achieve effective commitment of the NPO to its stakeholders and the resulting transparent accountability. The latter represents an inescapable commitment which, in turn, will strengthen an expanded, pluralist and participatory corporate governance. The result is to strengthen the NPOs’ legitimacy to act and favour their provision of a better service, since both factors have a decisive impact on the performance and image of these organizations.

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Abstract

This paper presents some data-based evidence of the importance of health and social care cooperativism in Andalusia. It then compares this situation with occurrences in a different sector in Andalusia that were hailed as an opportunity for worker cooperative growth but in the end came to nothing of the sort. Despite the differences in the sectors involved, this retrospective sector-centred perspective may be helpful for understanding the system that shapes key strategic elements which explain how certain cooperative players can make a space for themselves in a tumultuous emerging sector such as health and social care. Lastly, the paper analyzes the strategies of cooperatives working in today’s health and social care sector that have not just maintained but actually increased their presence in this area and, in the light of the data examined, ends with a number of remarks and reflections.

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Abstract

The Dependant Care Act (Ley de Dependencia) offers great job creation opportunities that can contribute to local economic and social development. The economic dividends and employment generation have been estimated at 130,000 jobs in the dependant care system, showing that despite the recession this is a sector that creates employment. The uneven application of the system in different areas of Spain evidently affects the number of jobs it creates. The autonomous regions that manage a very small volume and those that have opted to apply the financial assistance mainly to family-member carers do not contribute to the system’s generating the desired dividends.Over half the dependent persons who receive benefits or a service have chosen the option of financial assistance for care in the family environment provided by non-professional carers, and only 39% of these carers (150,000 people) are registered with the carers’ Social Security system. The percentage of financial benefits in relation to the total number of people cared for needs to be reversed and the network of centres and services that create stable employment and ensure quality care for dependants needs to be strengthened.

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Abstract

Increased longevity accompanied by a significant decline in fertility during the past 25 years is generating a rapid demographic transition to an aging population. This is a clear sign of the improved health and welfare situation of both the European and the Spanish population, but there is even talk of

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Abstract

This paper proposes a theoretical framework for analyzing the relationship between the social economy and the welfare state in order, from this perspective, to approach the social economy’s involvement in the area of dependant care and relate it to current debates on the social economy concept. The first part reviews the main theoretical proposals that have addressed the study of this relationship through international comparative studies. The second part traces the main lines of change that welfare states are adopting and the consequent rebalancing between the social economy and the public sector in each system, with a view to setting out the main coordinates where the new conceptual challenges of the Social Economy present themselves. The article ends with a number of conclusions and considerations.

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Abstract

The article presents an assessment of the impact of citizen participation mechanisms in the design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of social welfare policies at the municipal level in the Region of Murcia and their impact on the actors involved and on the network of cooperation between associations. The results of this investigation, conducted from 2004 to 2010, are compared with research, facts and trends reported in other studies and experiences in Spain and abroad. This study has made it possible to systematize the types of participation mechanism found at the regional level and then to identify contributions, limitations and significant trends in the local councils’ capacity to influence the democratization and efficiency of social welfare policies at the local level.

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Abstract

The aim of this study was to analyze the potential impact of demographic aging on the demand for social services provided by the Autonomy and Dependant Care System (Sistema para la Autonomía y Atención a la Dependencia – SAAD) and the implications that implementing this system may have for the social economy organizations which are most actively involved in dependant care. The Autonomous Community of Castile and Leon is one of the most aged regions of Spain. We projected its dependent elderly population for the period 2007-2015 and estimated the possible effects in terms of costs and jobs of the expected evolution of demand. We also carried out a strategic analysis of the implementation of SAAD in that region, based on the results of a survey of non-profit social action sector organizations.

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Abstract

In Spain, the social services are one of the few branches of activity that have managed to maintain positive employment growth since the crisis broke out in 2008, demonstrating the important job creation potential of the care system. To allow all this potential to be harnessed, no effort must be spared to allocate the necessary resources and act with determination to redirect deviations that threaten to undermine the approaches, principles and values behind the Personal Autonomy and Dependant Care Act (Ley de autonomía personal y atención a la dependencia – LAPAD). At a time when employment should be the top priority, devoting resources to developing and implementing the infrastructure and services that the LAPAD guarantees is one of the best ways to help achieve a more balanced pattern of growth and a more sustainable and intensive creation of stable skilled jobs.

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Abstract

The law known as the Long-Term Care Act or Dependant Care Act expressly recognizes some of the agents that make up the Social Economy, underlines its importance and introduces preferential treatment for this group in core aspects of the system. This article is an attempt to reflect the importance of the Third Sector in long-term care by reference to long-stay non-profit private hospitals. It describes the third sector group and compares it with other agents using three basic parameters: cost, revenue and staff. This analysis highlights the need for the long-term care information system to incorporate data that identify the activities performed by each of the actors who make up the Social Economy. The aim is to give it visibility and identify their strengths / weaknesses in a sector with a future such as long-term care.

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Abstract

Organizational culture and corporate image are the crucial two sides of the coin for the reputation of any organization. In-depth studies have been made of the concept of image and identity in different areas of the economy and society but the literature contains practically no research on residential care homes for the elderly in Spain from the point of view of organizational culture, still less on homes in the solidarity sector. The main objective of this national study is to describe the effect of these factors on citizens’ decision-making, their perception of the services provided by these organizations and the contribution these make to society. This research has led to interesting conclusions on differences in the perception of solidarity sector residences compared to public and for-profit private residences.

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Abstract

The purpose of this article is to analyse the degree of control to which public sector foundations are subjected through external auditing, in order to determine whether monitoring of public management in these institutions is being conducted that will prevent the mistrust being generated by the administration’s increasing use of this legal concept. The study carried out for the period 2001/2007 reveals, on the one hand, that these institutions are audited annually, as Spain’s National Audit Office (Intervención General de la Administración del Estado) complies with its obligation to audit all the large-scale foundations, and, on the other hand, that most foundations obtain an unqualified audit opinion. However, it would be appropriate to extend the auditing to those which are not currently audited and improve the management of audited ones which have been given a qualified audit opinion.