Title: National cultural values, social capital and micro-enterprise success

Authors: Jasmine Tata, Sameer Prasad

Addresses: School of Business Administration, Loyola University Chicago, 820 North Michigan Avenue, 60611, Chicago, IL, USA. ' Department of Management, College of Business and Economics, University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, 53190, Whitewater, WI, USA

Abstract: The success or failure of a micro-enterprise can be influenced by the social capital of the micro-entrepreneur, as well as by the societal and cultural milieu. Social capital refers to the aggregate sum of actual and potential resources derived from the micro-entrepreneur|s networks of relationships. Because variations in cultural values across societies can result in configurations of social capital and networking styles that differ from each other, socio-cultural differences can differentially influence micro-enterprise success. This paper presents a conceptual model that examines the influence of a macro-level environmental variable (national cultural values) and a micro-level individual variable (social capital) on the collaborative exchange process and on micro-enterprise success. The model proposes that there may be differences in the way that micro-entrepreneurs across countries accumulate social capital, and in their motivation and opportunity to engage in collaborative exchange.

Keywords: micro-enterprises; social capital; national culture; network diversity; network size; cultural values; micro-entrepreneurs; entrepreneurship; collaboration.

DOI: 10.1504/IJBE.2010.031276

International Journal of Business Environment, 2010 Vol.3 No.1, pp.95 - 119

Published online: 27 Jan 2010 *

Full-text access for editors Full-text access for subscribers Purchase this article Comment on this article