The Social Economy as a Factor of Economic Development and Resilience of Population in Rural Areas. A Study of Mediating Effects in Castilla-La Mancha (Spain)
, Inmaculada Carrasco 1,2, Sebastián Castillo 2 and M. Carmen García-Cortijo 2Round 1
Reviewer 1 Report
This is an interesting article that addresses an issue that has not been studied much: the capacity of the Social Economy to stimulate the economic development of rural areas which are subject to intense depopulation processes. To this end, an extensive review of the literature is carried out and a model is constructed, which is then contrasted with the provinces of Albacete, Cuenca and Guadalajara (Castilla-La Mancha, Spain). The article addresses an important issue in an original way. The hypotheses are rigorously extracted from a very exhaustive review of the literature. The testing of the hypotheses through a quantitative econometric method is one of the possible ways to corroborate the hypotheses and everything seems to be correct. For all these reasons, in general terms I believe that the article is publishable and only some specific aspects need to be improved.
- Formal aspects
There are some problems with some bibliographical references.
On page 6 (line 275) there is a problem with the reference to Bauer et al., 2012.
In the References, on page 18 (line 661) the reference to Alburquerque [80] needs to be completed.
- Results and discussion
On page 14 (lines 435 and 436) the authors state the following: "The analysis conducted confirms all the hypotheses proposed in the theoretical model, except H4, H5 and H6". However, there is a lack of any interpretation, albeit brief and even tentative, as to why the level of health and education services does not seem to have an impact on the level of population by the arrival of immigrants.
- Conclusions
Either as a limitation of the article and/or as a future line of development, one could suggest the need to complement the quantitative and essentially static methodology of the article with a qualitative methodology and a dynamic approach. A dynamic approach that should also pay more attention to the innovation processes associated with the Social Economy.
Author Response
Dear reviewer,
First, we would like to express our gratitude for the effort made in reviewing our paper; your comments have helped us to pay attention to some weaknesses not identified by us and to introduce improvements in order to make the article suitable for been considered in this monographic of Sustainability. Following your suggestions, we have made a deep revision; below we detail the changes that respond to them:
Point 1: Formal aspects: There are some problems with some bibliographical references.
On page 6 (line 275) there is a problem with the reference to Bauer et al., 2012. In the References, on page 18 (line 661) the reference to Alburquerque [80] needs to be completed.
Response 1: Thank you very much for your indication. The references have been finished.
Point 2: Results and discusión: On page 14 (lines 435 and 436) the authors state the following: "The analysis conducted confirms all the hypotheses proposed in the theoretical model, except H4, H5 and H6". However, there is a lack of any interpretation, albeit brief and even tentative, as to why the level of health and education services does not seem to have an impact on the level of population by the arrival of immigrants.
Response 2: The fact that the model does not allow to contrast these hypotheses does not mean that the hypotheses are not true, but that we cannot test them with our model. In the case of the first two they had to be extracted from the model because the construct designed did not meet the minimum requirements of the first step of analysis and in the case of the third one, because the resulting coefficient is not significant.
No interpretation has been advanced because literature already justifies these relationships: of all references included in the article, we highlight that of CES (2018). The explanation of this aspect in the exploitation of results has been improved (p. 14)
Point 3: Conclusions: Either as a limitation of the article and/or as a future line of development, one could suggest the need to complement the quantitative and essentially static methodology of the article with a qualitative methodology and a dynamic approach. A dynamic approach that should also pay more attention to the innovation processes associated with the Social Economy.
Response 3: Indeed, one of the main limitations of the study is its static character. However, the results open up new avenues of research to complete and expand them, for example, territorial synergies between innovation and social economy, linked to environmental and/or institutional aspects.
In this sense, to explain the importance of social economy enterprises in the local development process and consequently in population fixation, on the one hand, we propose the so-called hedonic models that would explain the characteristics of companies in terms of their structure, economic activity and location; on the other hand, territorial gravitational models would be detailed to identify the size of the attraction that these companies exert in the population, either withholding it or making a called effect. All this would be specified with the technique of Panel Data Models that allows us to treat at the same time, temporary relationships and between economic, territorial and / or business units, which would be estimated by the Stata econometric package. We have introduced these suggestions in the conclusions section.
Author Response File: 
Author Response.docx
Reviewer 2 Report
This is a very interesting manuscript dealing with an important problem in rural areas. Overall, I enjoyed reading the paper.
- Personally I would reduce the number of hypotheses. Having twelve hypotheses is a lot, why not focus on the core contribution of your paper and use the other relationships as controls?
- My major concern is the complexity of the model. Figure 1 is a nice summary of the model and all relationship. I understand SEM is a possible tool to address such a model, but I am always skeptical when all relationships turn out to be significant and confirm all hypotheses. How can we make such relationships are the way the model shows?
For instance, why does the presence of social enterprises leads to more economic activity or a larger labor market. One could also reverse the logic that a larger labor market is a condition for econ. activity or social enterprises.
Why is there not connection from education to labor market? Better education might lead to more job opportunities, irrespective of net migration.
Why health care does not go through labor market and next to econ. activity?
- Can you make the role of social enterprises more tangible and provide concrete examples. Why this can not be achieved through regular enterprises. What is the complementary role of social enterprises next to other institutions such as health care and education? Or next to regular firms?
- Education: why is the presence of schools necessary? What are opportunities for online distance learning?
Good luck with finalizing the paper.
Author Response
Dear reviewer,
First, we would like to express our gratitude for the effort made in reviewing our paper; your comments have helped us to pay attention to some weaknesses not identified by us and to introduce improvements in order to make the article suitable for been considered in this monographic of Sustainability. Following your suggestions, we have made a deep revision; below we detail the changes that respond to them:
Point 1: Personally I would reduce the number of hypotheses. Having twelve hypotheses is a lot, why not focus on the core contribution of your paper and use the other relationships as controls?
Response 1: The objective of the work is to ratify the two assumptions related to the contribution of social economy enterprises. However, in order to seek moderating effects and according to the literature on population, the remaining ten hypotheses are introduced. In this sense, the SEM PLS methodology adapts to the objective pursued, as it is a causal and complex model.
Point 2: My major concern is the complexity of the model. Figure 1 is a nice summary of the model and all relationship. I understand SEM is a possible tool to address such a model, but I am always skeptical when all relationships turn out to be significant and confirm all hypotheses. How can we make such relationships are the way the model shows?
Response 2: As specified in the methodology section, structural equations models have the advantage that they allow to establish causal-predictive analysis when there is insufficient theoretical information. It enables latent variables to be estimated and multiple regressions to be conducted, determining the paths between the exogenous and endogenous constructs. In other words, it permits dependence relationships to be established between constructs or variables that are not directly measurable. Existing literature does not allow us to establish direct relationships between the existence of a greater number of cooperatives and the population, so indirect (mediating) relationships between the two have been sought. Also, it can be used to simultaneously estimate mediator and moderator effects with multiple constructs. The incorporation of the study of moderating effects along with the mediating effects is a breakthrough for the literature that is achieved with this work.
The relationships established between the mediating variables, as established by the way of working with models of structural equations when they are raised on a confirmatory basis, as is our case, must respond to existing literature, as is the case.
Unfortunately, three of the proposed relationships have not been able to be verified. This does not imply that the relationships are not correct (as they are well supported by the literature) but that our model is not perfect. For this reason, this work must be understood as a starting point on which to develop new works, as we have proposed in the conclusions section. Thanks to this comment, we have improved it.
Point 3: For instance, why does the presence of social enterprises leads to more economic activity or a larger labor market. One could also reverse the logic that a larger labor market is a condition for econ. activity or social enterprises.
Response 3: In effect, the relationships between economic activity and the size / quality of the labor market are bidirectional, with causation (and not only correlation) in both directions. Unfortunately, PLS does not allow us to design these types of relationships. As the objective of the article is not to analyze the labor market but to establish the relationships between Social Economy and Population, we have specified causality in a single direction, according to the main hypotheses that we wanted to demonstrate. Failure to consider the causal relationships between the labor market and economic activity or social economy implies underestimating the mediating effects between the variables. This caveat has been added to the text in the discussion section (P. 14)
Point 4: Why is there not connection from education to labor market? Better education might lead to more job opportunities, irrespective of net migration. Why health care does not go through labor market and next to econ. activity?
Response 4: As theory shows, improving the provision of educational services has a positive effect on economic growth and the generation of job opportunities. However, the relationships between economic activity and employment are a deep and complex field of study that we cannot address in this paper. Rather, our objective is focused on looking for possible mediation relationships through the variables (constructs) that affect the size of the population, which are, according to the theory, vegetative growth and migratory movements. That is why the constructs have been defined in this way: what retains and attracts population to a territory is the existence of job opportunities, which are the consequence of a vibrant economic activity. The theory of population also shows that the retention and attraction of the population will depend on the provision of basic services (educational, health). Hence the proposed relationships that, as indicated in the text, have a confirmatory character, since the literature has already adequately demonstrated them. Furthermore, these relationships, as mentioned above, help us to find mediating and moderating effects between the Social Economy and the population. We have improved the explanation of this aspects in the discussion section (P. 14)
Point 5: Can you make the role of social enterprises more tangible and provide concrete examples. Why this can not be achieved through regular enterprises. What is the complementary role of social enterprises next to other institutions such as health care and education? Or next to regular firms?
Response 5: Previous theoretical or case studies, have shown the leading role that social economy companies have in the local development of rural areas, especially in the case of the cooperative form, which is identified with the local fabric, promotes the participation of its partners, and tends to integrate into new networks.
The capitalist logic directs the installation of economic activity towards the places where the greatest benefit is expected to be obtained. For this reason, economic growth is not homogeneous and some spaces grow (economically and in population) while others are depopulated due to lack of job opportunities. Social economy companies, due to their particular characteristics, serve better local and endogenous development, as shown in the literature (Bel & Cabaleiro, 2002; Mhembwe and Dube, 2017; Coque, 2005; Chaves & Monzón, 2012; Castro et al., 2013; Lukic et al., 2012; Herrero-Blasco, 2014; Gómez et al, 2010; Buendía & Coté, 2014; Melián y Campos, 2010; Mozas & Bernal, 2006; Birchall, 2010; Valiente, 2019) and therefore, they help to fix the population in spaces that, otherwise, would be good candidates to expel forces, due to the lack of job opportunities.
This conclusion has been improved in the text (P. 15)
Point 6: Education: why is the presence of schools necessary? What are opportunities for online distance learning?
Response 6: The literature reviewed reveals that the provision of social services, as education, is an instrument of attraction and fixation of the population, while the opposite occurs when these services deteriorate (Bachiller & Molina de la Torre, 2014; Nechyba & Strauss , 1997; Brereton et al., 2011; Farmer et al., 2012; van Lenthe, Brug, & Mackenbach, 2005; Neumeier, 2016; Christiaanse, 2020). They are, as well, an instrument for local development, especially in the less populated municipalities where there are other added difficulties such as the greater isolation of rural areas, both from the point of view of new technologies, such as broadband internet, as well as physical transport infrastructures. These facts hinder the population's mobility and access to information, so the role of rural schools is more than justified.
Distance training opens up a world of possibilities hitherto unknown, which, however, cannot be analyzed in our model because there is no information in this regard. In addition, it would need the provision of services and communication infrastructures that the most remote spaces suffer from. It will be interesting to study the consequences for education of the actions to digitize the rural world that are intended to be promoted with the new "Next Generation" cohesion fund package and programs such as the Recovery and Resilience Plan of Spain. This new line of future work has been added to the text (P. 14)
Author Response File: Author Response.docx
