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Social Capital at the firm level

This section deals with the role of social capital at the firm level. Particular attention is given to the role of social networks of firms in reducing transactions costs and expanding the economic activity. Considered studies address also topics like the influence of social interactions and social capital on total productivity, on labour productivity (with particular regard to motivational factors and to the consequences of human capital's accumulation in the firm's context), on the diffusion of knowledge and innovation.

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Essential Readings

• Bowles, S., Carpenter, J. Gintis, H. (2001), Mutual Monitoring in Teams: Theory and Evidence on the Importance of Residual Claimancy and Reciprocity, University of Massachussets, mimeo.

• Cohen, D., Prusak, L. (2001), In Good Company: How Social Capital Makes Organizations Work, Harvard, Harvard Business School Press.

• Fafchamps, M., Minten, B. (1999), Social Capital and the Firm: Evidence from Agricultural Trade, Social Capital Initiative Working Paper No. 21, World Bank.

• Greve, A., Benassi, C. (2003), Exploring the contribution of human and social capital to productivity, Paper prepared for Hawaii International Conference On System Sciences, HICSS-37, January 5-8, 2004, Big Island, Hawaii.

• Leonard, J.S., Levine, D. (2004), Diversity, Discrimination, and Performance, University of California, Haas School of Business, mimeo.

• Lesser, E. (ed) (2000), Knowledge and Social Capital: Foundations and Applications, Boston, Butterworth Heinemannn.

• Sabatini, Fabio (2006), Does Social Capital Improve Labour Productivity in Small and Medium Enterprises?, Working Paper No. 92, University of Rome La Sapienza, Department of Public Economics.

• Svendsen, G.L.H, Svendsen, G.T. (2005), The Creation and Destruction of Social Capital. Entrepreneurship, Co-operative Movements and Institutions, Cheltenham, UK, Edward Elgar Publishing.

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Further Readings

• Agapitova, N. (2003), The Impact of Social Networks on Innovation and Industrial Development: Social Dimensions of Industrial Dynamics in Russia, Paper presented at the DRUID Summer Conference 2003 on Creating, Sharing and Transferring Knowledge: The Role of Geographical Configurations, Institutional Settings and Organizational Contexts.

• Aldrich, H., Zimmer, C. (1986), Entrepreneurship through social networks, in Sexton, D., Smiler, R. (eds), The Art and Science of Entrepreneurship, 3-23, New York, Ballinger.

• Ahuja, G. (2000), Collaboration networks, structural holes, and innovation: A longitudinal study, Administrative Science Quarterly, 45: 425-455.

• Annen, K. (2003), Incentives for Social Capital Investments: Evidence for The Small-Firm Textile Sector in La Paz and El Alto, Bolivia, Washington University in St. Louis.

• Annen, K. (2004), Social Capital Return in the Urban Informal Sector in Developing Countries: Micro Evidence from Small Textile Producers in Bolivia, Department of Economics, University of Guelph.

• Arrighetti, A., Serravalli, G., Wolleb, G. (2001), Social Capital, Institutions and Collective Action Between Firms, Paper presented at the EURESCO Conference "Social Capital: Interdisciplinary Perspectives", Exeter, 15-20 September 2001.

• Barr, A. (1998), Enterprise Performance and the Functional Diversity of Social Capital, Working Paper Series 98-1, Institute of Economics and Statistics, University of Oxford.

• Batjargal, B. (2000) Social capital and entrepreneurial performance in Russia: a panel study, No 352 in William Davidson Institute Working Papers Series.

• Belussi, F. (2002), Fiducia e capitale sociale nelle reti di impresa, paper preparato per il Convegno "Il valore economico delle relazioni interpersonali", Milano, 2002.

• Beugelsdijk, S., Noorderhaven, N.G., Koen, C.I. (2003), Organizational Culture, Alliance Capabilities and Social Capital, Tilburg University, mimeo.

• Birley, S. (1985), The role of networks in the entrepreneurial process, Journal of Business Venturing, 1:107-117.

• Borgatti, S.P., Cross, R. (2003), A Relational View of Information Seeking and Learning in Social Networks, Management Science, Vol. 49, No. 4, April 2003, 432–445.

• Bosma, N., Van Praag, M., Thurik, R, deWit, G. (2002), The value of human and social capital investments for the business performance of start-ups, No 02-027/3 in Tinbergen Institute Discussion Papers.

• Bottazzi, G, Cefis, E., Dosi, G. (2002), Corporate growth and industrial structures: some evidence from the Italian manufacturing industry, Industrial and Corporate Change, Vol. 11, 705-723.

• Carpenter, J., Seki, E. (2005), Do Social Preferences Increase Productivity? Field Experimental Evidence from Fishermen in Toyama Bay, IZA Discussion Paper No. 1697, Institute for the Study of Labour.

• Carpenter, J., Seki, E. (2005), Competitive Work Environments and Social Preferences: Field Experimental Evidence from a Japanese Fishing Community, IZA Discussion Paper No. 1691, Institute for the Study of Labour.

• Chaminade, C., Roberts, H. (2002), Social Capital as a Mechanism. Connecting Knowledge within and across firms, paper presented at the third European Conference on Organizational Knowledge, Learning and Capabilities, Athens, Greece, April 2002.

• Cohen, S.S., Fields, G. (2000), Social Capital and Capital Gains in Silicon Valley, in Lesser, E. (ed), Knowledge and Social Capital: Foundations and Applications, Boston, Butterworth Heinemannn.

• Cooke, P. (2003), Networks and Hierarchies in Bioscientific Knowledge Management, Paper presented at the DRUID Summer Conference 2003 on Creating, Sharing and Transferring Knowledge: The Role of Geographical Configurations, Institutional Settings and Organizational Contexts.

• Cooke, P., Clifton, N. (2002), Social Capital, and Small and Medium Enterprise Performance in the United Kingdom, Paper Prepared for Workshop on Entrepreneurship in The Modern Space-Economy: Evolutionary and Policy Perspectives, Timbergen Institute, Amsterdam.

• Craig, B., Pencavel, J. (1995), Participation and Productivity: a Comparison of Worker Cooperatives and Conventional firms in the Plywood Industry, Brookings Papers: Microeconomics, 121-160.

• Dakhli, M., De Clercq, D. (2003), Human capital, social capital, and innovation: a multi-country study, Vlerick Leuven Gent Management School Working Paper Series 2003-18.

• Doeringer, P. Terkla, D. (2003), Human Capital Social Capital and Industrial Performance: Comparisons Among New U.S. Manufacturing Plants, Paper presented at the DRUID Summer Conference 2003 on Creating, Sharing and Transferring Knowledge: The Role of Geographical Configurations, Institutional Settings and Organizational Contexts.

• Farrell, H., Knight, J. (2004), Trust, Institutions and Institutional Change: Industrial Districts and the Social Capital Hypotesis, mimeo.

• Fountain, J.E. (1997), Social Capital: A Key Enabler of Innovation in Science and Technology, in Branscomb, L.M., Keller, J. (eds), Investing in Innovation: Toward A Consensus Strategy for Federal Technology Policy,
Cambridge, The MIT Press.

• Fountain, J.E. (2000), Social Capital and Technological Innovation. Chap. 7 in Technology Management Handbook, 340-347, Boca Raton, FL, Chapman and Hall CRC Press.

• Gelauff, G.M.M. (2003), Social Capital: an Indispensable Asset in the Knowledge-based Economy, paper for the Workshop Social Capital and Economic Development at the University of Tilburg, 2003.

• Graber, G., Stark, D. (1997), Organizing Diversity: Evolutionary Theory, Network Analysis and Postsocialism, Regional Studies, Vol. 31, No. 5, 533-544.

• Greve, A., Salaff, J. (2001), The development of corporate social capital in complex innovation processes, Research in the Sociology of Organizations: Social Capital of Organizations. Vol. 18: 107-134, 2001. Editors: S.M. Gabbay and R.Th.A.J. Leenders.

• Healy, T. (2001), Networks and Social Norms Can Be Good for Business: the Role of Social Capital in Organizations, paper presented at the Conference "Social Capital: Interdisciplinary Perspectives", University of Exeter, 2001.

• Isham, J. (2000), The Effect of Social Capital on Technology Adoption: Evidence from Rural Tanzania, IRIS Center Working Paper No. 235.

• Kingsley, G., Malecki, E.J. (2004), Networking for Competitiveness, Small Business Economics, 23 (1): 71-84, August 2004.

• Landry, R., Amara, N., Lamari, M. (2000), Does Social Capital Determine Innovation? To What Extent?, Paper presented at the 4th International Conference on Technology, Policy and Innovation, Curitiba, Brazil, August 28-31 2000.

• Maskell, P. (2000), Social Capital, Innovation and Competitivness, in Baron, S. (ed), Social Capital: Critical Perspectives, Oxford, Oxford University Press.

• McDermott, G.A. (2003), The Political Foundations of Inter-Firm Networks and Social Capital: A Post-Communist Lesson, University of Pennsylvania, Wharton School, Reginald H. Jones Center Working Paper No. 2003-05.

• Nahapiet, J., Ghosal, S. (2000), Social Capital, Intellectual Capital and the Organizational Advantage, in Lesser, E. (ed), Knowledge and Social Capital: Foundations and Applications, Boston, Butterworth Heinemannn.

• Parker, P. (2002), Social Capital and Knowledge Development in Small Firms, Department of Business Administration, Kristianstat University, mimeo.

• Patton, D., Kenney, M. (2003), Innovation and Social Capital in Silicon Valley, BRIE Working Paper 155, University of California, Davis.

• Perrault, C., Brenner, G.A., Menzies, T.V., Filion, L.J., Ramangalahy, C. (2003), Social Capital and Ethnic Business Performance: Entrepreneurs from Four Ethnic Groups in Canada, University of Montreal Business School, Working Paper 2003-05.

• Pencavel, J. (2002), Worker Participation: Lessons from the Worker Co-ops of the Pacific North-West, Russel Sage Foundation.

• Platteau, J.P., Seki, E. (2001), Community Arrangements to Overcome Market Failures: Pooling Groups in Japanese Fisheries, in Hayami, M., Hayamii, Y. (eds), Communities and Markets in Economic Development, Oxford, Oxford University Press.

• Powell, W.W. (1998), Learning from collaboration: Knowledge and networks in the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries, California Management Review, 40: 228-240.

• Powell, W.W., Koput, K.W., Smith-Doerr, L., Owen-Smith, J. (1999), Network Position and Firm Performance: Organizational Returns to Collaboration in Biotechnology Industry.

• Prescott, E.C., Visscher, M. (1980), Organizational Capital, in “Journal of Political Economy”, 88, 3, pp. 446-461.

• Robins, J., Atuahene-Gima, K. (2003), The Effects of External Relationships on Innovative Activity within Firms, City University of Hong Kong, mimeo.

• Ritson, M., Zbaracki, M., Dutta, S., Levy, D., Bergen, M. (2002), The Three Capitals of Pricing – Human, Systems and Social Capital, Unpublished paper.

• Rob, R., Zemsky, P. (2000), Social Capital, Corporate Culture and Incentive Intensity, University of Pennsylvania and INSEAD, Unpublished Paper.

• Robins, J., Atuahene-Gima, H., (2003), The Effects of External Relationships on Innovative Activity within Firms, City University of Hong Kong, Department of Management, Working Paper 2003-002.

• Sausgruber, R. (2005), Testing for Team Spirit - An Experimental Study, University of Innsbruck, Department of Economics, mimeo.

• Schiavone, F. (2004), Division of Labour, Social Networks and Intangible Resources: The Italian Case of Network Business Creation, Paper presented at the Conference High Technology Small Firms, May, 2004, University of Twente.

• Sorenson, O., Stuart, T.E. (2001), Syndication Networks and the Spatial Distribution of Venture Capital Investments, American Journal of Sociology, Vol. 106, No. 6 (May 2001): 1546–88.

• Swart, J., Kinnie, N. (2003), Sharing knowledge in knowledge-intensive firms, Human Resource Management Journal, Vol. 13 No. 2, 2003, 60-75.

• Talmud, I., Mesch, G.S. (1997), Market Embeddedness and Corporate Instability: The Ecology of Inter-industrial Networks, Social Science Research No. 26, 419-441.

• Todeva, E., Knoke, D. (2001), Strategic Alliances and Corporate Social Capital, Kölner Zeitschrift für Soziologie und Sozialpsychologie, Special Issue on Sociology of Organizations.

• Tomer, J.F. (1987), Organizational Capital: The Path to Higher Productivity and Well-Being, New York, Praeger.

• Tomer, J.F. (1999), The Human Firm: A Socio-Economic Analysis of Its Behavior and Potential in a New Economic Age, New York, Routledge Publishing Co.

• Tomer, J.F. (2002), The Firm Is Human: It Is Not a Neoclassical Machine,” Indicators, 1(3), Summer 2002.

• Schuller, T. (2001), The Complementary Roles of Human and Social Capital, in The Contribution of Human and Social Capital to Sustained Economic Growth and Well-Being, International Symposium Report edited by the OECD and HRDC.

• Spence, L.J., Schmidpeter, R. (2003), SMEs, Social Capital and the Common Good, Journal of Business Ethics, Vol. 45, No. 1-2, 93-108.

• Yli-Renko, H., Autio, E., Tontti, V. (2000), Social Capital, Knowledge and the International Growth of Technology-Based New Firms, Helsinki Institute of Technology Institute of Strategy and International Business Working Paper Series 2000/4.

• Van den Bulte, C., Lievens, A., Moenart, R.K. (2001), Market knowledge, social capital and absorptive capacity: An analysis of knowledge spillovers within marketing departments, The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, Unpublished Paper.

• Westlund, H. (2003), Implications of Social Capital for Business in the Knowledge Economy: Theoretical Considerations, Presented for the International Forum on Economic Implication of Social Capital, held by the Economic and Social Research Institute Cabinet Office, Japan, in Tokyo on 24 and 25th March 2003.

• Westlund, H., Nillson, E. (2003), Measuring enterprises' investments in social capital: A pilot study, Paper presented at the 43rd Congress of the European Regional Science Association, Jyväskylä, Finland, 27-30 August 2003.

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