The Impact of Social Capital on Entrepreneurial Activity in Makerspaces, Hackerspaces and Fab labs

Abstract

This thesis is concerned with Makerspaces, Hackerspaces and Fab labs (MHFL) in Norway. The study is based on the fact that the Norwegian government recognized that entrepreneurship is good for economic growth and thus is seeking to initiate measures to promote entrepreneurial culture. MHFL s seems to be one such measure because of how they facilitate access to social capital. But even though they have increased rapidly in recent years, literature have yet to study them with respect to entrepreneurial performance. My aim was therefore to find out what impact access to social capital in Norwegian MHFL s have on entrepreneurial activity. The methodological approach used to answer this question was a quantitative survey with emphasis on five point Likert scales. The survey was sent out to all the active MHFL s in Norway. After analyzing the results I found that social capital in Norwegian MHFL have impact on entrepreneurial activity in that it attracts entrepreneurs, but it does not have a significant impact on triggering entrepreneurial activity. Thus, the contributions from this thesis challenges the theoretical notion that social capital can be an accidental entrepreneurial trigger and proposes that it only works as a facilitator in the context of a MHFL.