Ethnic orientation as a predictive factor in the use of social capital in entrepreneurial practice: a study of Nigerian entrepreneurs

Abstract

This study was conducted in three selected organized associations of entrepreneurs in Lagos, Nigeria. The study covered the interactions between social capital variables, on the one hand, and ethnic group orientation on the other. The main objective of the study was to understand how consideration of social capital variables before embarking on entrepreneurial practice was a function of ethnic orientation among Nigerian entrepreneurs. It also attempted to determine the abilities of the independent variable in predicting the degree to which individuals are motivated by the identified socio-cultural constructs to embark on entrepreneurial event. Cross-sectional survey design was used with questionnaire as the major tool of data collection. Questionnaire was administered to 717 randomly selected respondents. A number of statistical techniques were employed; they include frequency count, simple regression analysis and multiple regression analysis. The result shows that ethnic group of origin has the capacity in predicting variation in how individuals consider social capital for entrepreneurial event formation. It is clear that all the ethnic categories show significant determining explanation for consideration of social capital for engaging in entrepreneurial event. In other words, ethnic group of origin has predictive capacity in explaining variations in consideration of social capital forces for engaging in entrepreneurial event.

Keywords: Ethnicity; entrepreneurship; Nigerian; group; social capital