Social capital, collaborative exchange and microenterprise performance: the role of gender

Jasmine Tata and Sameer Prasad

International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Small Business, 2008, vol. 5, issue 3/4, 373-388

Abstract: The success or failure of microenterprises often depends on social capital, or to the resources and opportunities created through the interactions of people. Because a majority of new microenterprises are created by women, the role of gender needs to be examined in the context of microentrepreneurial social capital. Hence, this paper presents a conceptual model of the relationships between microentrepreneurs' gender, social capital configuration, collaborative exchange and microenterprise performance. The model proposes that the configuration of microentrepreneurs' social capital is defined through three attributes: network diversity, network size and relationship strength. These three attributes influence the collaborative exchange process, or the actions taken by microentrepreneurs to utilise their social capital and gain information and resources. This process, in turn, influences microenterprise performance. In addition, the model also proposes that gender affects the relationships between social capital, collaborative exchange and microenterprise performance.

Keywords: microenterprises; gender; social capital; collaboration; network diversity; network size; relationship strength; firm performance; women entrepreneurs; female entrepreneurs; entrepreneurship; microentrepreneurs. (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2008
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (6)

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