Testing Lin's Social Capital Theory in an Informal African Urban Economy

Abstract  In order to test Lin's social capital theory in an informal African urban economy, this article outlines an approach articulated around the notion of ‘ego-centred network’. We used an original dataset collected in Bobo-Dioulasso (Burkina Faso) to evaluate how member attributes in entrepreneurs' networks tend to influence their economic outcomes. The instrument of multiple name generators provides a vast amount of information that can be used to compute quantitative measures of the composition of networks. We show that the proportion of members with a high social status have no significant positive impact on economic outcomes, contrary to more approachable individuals.

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