Dimensional Effects of Social Capital on the Performance of Manufacturing SMEs in Lagos and Oyo States, Nigeria

This study analyses the dimensional effects of the three basic dimensions (structural, relational, and cognitive) of social capital on the performance of manufacturing Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in Lagos and Oyo states, Nigeria. The study adopted survey research design, and data was collected with the aid of structured questionnaire, copies of which were administered to 914 purposively selected out 3200 manufacturing SMEs in Lagos and Oyo States, Nigeria.  The result of the multi-linear regression analysis showed that there is a positive relationship between the three dimensions of social capital and manufacturing SMEs performance. The result also showed that structural dimension of social capital (p<0.05), relational dimension (p<0.05) and, cognitive dimension (p<0.05) have statistically significant effect on manufacturing SMEs performance. It was concluded that structural, cognitive and relational social capitals significantly predict manufacturing SMEs performance. Therefore, it was recommended that manufacturing SME owners should strive to use these dimensions of social capital to improve their performances.