Social capital and its dimensions are highly interrelated, and the outcome of social capital provides entrepreneurs with resources and knowledge that are not available in the first place. The objective of this study is to examine the effect of relational and cognitive social capital on structural social capital and the effect of structural social capital on the performance of micro-enterprises owned and managed by women in Peninsular Malaysia. This study uses a cross-sectional approach, and quantitative data are collected through structured interviews. It was found that cognitive social capital has a significant positive effect on structural social capital, and structural social capital has a significant positive effect on micro-enterprise performance. It was found that relational social capital has a positive but insignificant effect on structural social capital. Therefore, women entrepreneurs should emphasize on making the communication process easier and on ensuring that their business values, norms, interpretation, and meaning are shared and communicated to relevant parties to improve network ties and to build a dense network, which is essential in providing access to resources and knowledge. This, in return, is expected to improve the micro-enterprise performance in Malaysia.

Women entrepreneurship as one of the key contributors of economic development through a rapid development process reduces poverty, unemployment, and inequalities, and improves the overall well being of children. Social capital is the most underrated influential factor, which may have a strong influence on entrepreneurial competencies and enterprise performance. This study aims to examine the effect of social capital (i.e., structural, cognitive, and relational) on entrepreneurial competencies (i.e., conceptual, commitment, and organizing) among women micro-entrepreneurs in Peninsular Malaysia. This study employs a cross-sectional approach and quantitative data are collected through structured interviews. It was found that social capital has a significant positive effect on entrepreneurial competencies. Development policies and programs in Malaysia should therefore focus on building social capital among micro-entrepreneurs to foster the national development process that reduces poverty, unemployment rate, and inequalities.

The objective of this study is to determine the distribution of social capital across industries and states in Peninsular Malaysia

This study examined the impact of access to working capital and microenterprise development training programmes on microenterprise income and assets among participants from various development initiatives in the eKasih (National Poverty Data Bank) in Peninsular Malaysia. Adopting a cross-sectional design, we collected data from randomly selected 300 micro-entrepreneurs from the list of development organizations available in the eKasih (National Poverty Data Bank), located in four states in Peninsular Malaysia. Quantitative data were collected through structured interviews from October to November 2017. Findings revealed that the ‘length of participation in development programs’ increased microenterprise income and assets among low-income participants in Peninsular Malaysia. The total amount of economic loan received was also found to increase microenterprise assets. However, the effect on microenterprise income was not clear. In addition, development training programmes were found to have no substantial effect on both microenterprise income and assets. This article ascertained a mixed result of participation in development programmes on microenterprise income and assets among low-income households in Peninsular Malaysia. Development policymakers and organizations should review the effectiveness of the programmes and redesign their products and services to achieve their objectives.