Knowledge capital in social and commercial entrepreneurship: Investigating the role of informal institutions

Abstract This paper utilizes the lenses of knowledge capital and institutional theories to examine the role knowledge capital plays in the context of entry into social versus commercial entrepreneurship. We also investigate the moderating role of national culture in the relationship between knowledge capital and entrepreneurship. Using data from the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor, we find that social capital is relatively more important in social entrepreneurship than commercial entrepreneurship. We also find that national culture moderates this relationship such that in high individualism cultures, specific human capital is directed towards commercial entrepreneurship compared to social entrepreneurship. However, in high uncertainty avoidance cultures, social capital is directed towards social entrepreneurship rather than commercial entrepreneurship. Our findings uncover the nature of the contingent effects of informal institutions on the relationship between knowledge capital and entrepreneurship, leading to important implications for theory and development policy.