Social capital in a digital age: a focus on bridging and bonding social capital of women entrepreneurs in South Africa

Abstract

Despite increasing interest in women entrepreneurship, not many investigations explain the impact of new digital technologies on networking in African countries, where women face obstacles in terms of entrepreneurial networks, as well restricted access to finance. Consequently this article examines bridging and bonding social capital from a perspective of women entrepreneurship in terms of accessing financial capital from crowdfunding. The study takes place in South Africa, where data is collected via a survey from a sample of women entrepreneurs using crowdfunding platforms. Study measures are subject to psychometric testing and the hypotheses are tested using multiple regression analyses. Crowdfunding platforms were found to be positively and significantly related to both bonding and bridging social capital, but these factors were not significantly related to financial capital. The article represents a novel empirical investigation into associations between digital entrepreneurship, women entrepreneurship and social capital in an African market context.