Community-based social capital, neighbourhood characteristics and SME resilience: a configurational analysis

Source abstract

Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) do not operate in isolation; their resilience is shaped by the ties they build in the neighbourhoods in which they operate, making community-based social capital (CBSC) central to crisis response. Yet the ties that sustain firms during disruption may also limit the strategic reorientation needed for renewal. Drawing on data from 224 SMEs across six neighbourhoods in Isfahan, Iran, alongside interviews and secondary data, we use fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA) to examine how CBSC interacts with neighbourhood deprivation and density to shape resistance and adaptation. Our findings identify place-based configurations through which community ties either strengthen or constrain SME resilience across contexts.