Social capital refers to the resources originated from social relationships (Payne et al., 2011). More specifically, social capital is a product of relationships that have developed through interactions and networks of relationships, both personal and firmlevel (Adler and Kwon, 2002; Stevenson and Radin, 2009). Social capital exists within relationships that are both internal and external to a
... [Show full abstract] firm. External social capital, which exists in the context of inter-organizational relationships, can be thought of as a combination of a firm's relationships and the resources available to the firm as a result of its relationships with other companies. Research has shown repeatedly that external social capital plays an important role in firm-level outcomes including firm performance (Bell, 2005; Florin et al., 2003), innovation (Tsai, 2001), and a firm's ability to attract necessary resources (Florin et al., 2003).