Social Embeddedness of the Entrepreneur: Theoretical Foundations

Abstract

Entrepreneurship is often perceived as an individual and autonomous activity, but it is deeply rooted in social, cultural and economic contexts. While the management literature acknowledges the importance of the entrepreneur's social environment, it remains fragmented across disciplinary silos without a synthesis articulating the mechanisms of social embeddedness to the phases of the entrepreneurial process. This article aims to analyse the main theoretical foundations of the entrepreneur's social embeddedness and to identify approaches that explain the influence of the social network on entrepreneurial intention and the act of creation. This is a theoretical and narrative literature review drawing on foundational works and recent contributions (post-2010) on social networks, social capital and embeddedness theory. The analysis shows that social embeddedness acts as a multidimensional mechanism (structural, normative, cognitive and actional) that shapes entrepreneurial opportunities, resource access and decisions. The article proposes an original comparative synthesis of six entrepreneurial approaches through the lens of social embeddedness, opening empirical research avenues and recommendations for entrepreneurial support policies.

JEL Classification: L26; Z13

Paper Type: Theoretical Literature Review