An study of family social capital and innovation: examining the «family effect» on social capital

Abstract

This paper investigates the internal social capital of family firms by studying the relationship between a family social capital and organizational innovation. Building on the structural, relational, and cognitive view, and on ‘groups’ theory, we predict that the social capital of family members will has a positive effect on firm innovation. We test our hypothesis by sampling respondents serving management functions in family firms. In addition, our results extend the understanding of social capital beyond family firms in a context where organisations are characterised by the presence of a dominant social group.