This study investigated antecedents of volunteering from a socialization perspective. Although earlier research on determinants of volunteering among the Japanese people has focused on the relationship between individual attributes and participation, it has not considered the influence of the social environment in the past on volunteering which it is done today. Therefore, the author studied the influence of socialization factors such as role models of children and schooling, on present-day volunteering and the attitude and behavior of respondents towards mediation, by using survey data from a representative sample of Japanese nationals. The main results of the study are: 1) those who have been in touch with neighbors who helped others in their childhood are likely to trust and empathize with people in their present-day lives, and thereby tend to participate in volunteering activities; 2) people whose mothers have participated in religious functions during their infancy are currently likely to attend religious services, and consequently tend to volunteer. The above suggests that the volunteering behavior of the Japanese people is linked to what they have learned from “a kind neighbor” and “a religious mother” in their childhood.

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The recent, practice of Creative Commons has been attracting attention as an international project to promote the management and distribution of knowledge capital. Through the use of a license system of their own, they are aiming to solve the problem of legal framework and existing institutions. Therefore this study reveals the roles of NPOs in the management and circulation of knowledge capital through practice of the Creative Commons Japan.

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The purpose of this paper is to examine the formation and development of network building for social enterprises. It will be considered from the perspective of network rent using a case of Cooperative Del Sole in Goshogawara-shi, Aomori prefecture. The study was carried out with a complex combination of action research, participant observation and literature review, detailing the process by which these organizations were formed and developed, with an overview of the organization, the reason for launching the organization, the situation prior to launch, and an overview of current business and their progress organized into a time series. As a result of the case study, 1) network rent clearly contributes to ensuring the continuity of the business, 2) the rent of social embeddedness becomes the basis of creation of other rents, 3) social enterprises not only accept rents but also create them, and distribute their rents to the participants of networks in order to manage to make them more involved in networks, 4) social enterprises were supported by intermediaries, and 5) the building and application of a network evolve through the accumulation of small successful experience.

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