Intellectual capital as a source of growth in subsistence small businesses in Latin America

Carlos Jardon and Nilda Catalina

International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Small Business, 2015, vol. 26, issue 1, 96-115

Abstract: Subsistence small businesses (SSBs) are highly important in developing countries as they are one of the main sources of poverty reduction. The growth of SSBs is different from the growth of larger firms as they present different resources and capabilities, and in particular, different intellectual capital. This paper determines the growth process of timber SSBs in Latin America from an intellectual capital-based view. The findings show that SSBs can grow using intellectual capital dimensions. However, this effect is not direct. Organisational capabilities are mediators between intellectual capital dimensions and firm growth. In particular, human capital improves structural capital, which increases relational capital. Relational capital improves organisational capabilities, thus promoting firm growth by means of competitive advantage.

Keywords: subsistence firms; small firms; subsistence businesses; small business; SSB; intellectual capital; firm growth; resources; capabilities; timber industry; Latin America; poverty reduction; organisational capabilities; structural capital; relational capital. (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2015
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
http://www.inderscience.com/link.php?id=71322 (text/html)
Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:ids:ijesbu:v:26:y:2015:i:1:p:96-115

Access Statistics for this article

More articles in International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Small Business from Inderscience Enterprises Ltd
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sarah Parker ().