Authors: Geoff Easton; James Bowey
In a previous paper we set out an approach towards network analysis and explanation that used social capital as a key concept. In the research reported here the focal social actors are entrepreneurs and the social capital is that which is involved in the relationships they have with other actors on whom they rely for resources. One unusual aspect of the research was that it focused upon changes in social capital. In this way it was possible to relate social capital to the processes that create, maintain and destroy it. The major innovation offered in this paper is an attempt to use a form of critical realist explanation. A number of entities were induced from the data and deduced from theory and related to one another in a causal mechanism framework in an attempt to explain why social capital changed in the case of two relationships entered into by a single Canadian entrepreneur. The paper concludes by emphasising the opportunities that arise in using a critical realist approach and being able to use a variety of different mechanisms in causal explanation.
Journal: ( – )
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Publish Year: 2003
Conference: Lugano, Switzerland (2003)