Weaving social networks: Performance of small rural firms in India as an outcome of entrepreneurs' social and human capital

Abstract

In the past decade or so, an increasing number of individuals have chosen to set up their own enterprise but statistics show only about 40% of them survive beyond the first year (Bhide, 2000). The study of entrepreneurship attempts to understand the phenomenon of why and how people discover opportunities; and why only a few who pursue these opportunities attain success (Shane and Venkataraman, 2000). While entrepreneurship exists all over the world, most of the academic insights have come primarily from developed economies. The focus of such studies has typically been the industrial and high technology domains. Relatively little research has gone into how individuals set up and manage their firms in low technological domains1 .........................