Social Capital and the Identification of Entrepreneurial Opportunities: A Qualitative Study of Project Leaders Supported by the NESDA Program in Algeria

Abstract

This article analyzes the role of human and social capital in the opportunity identification process among project holders registered in the NESDA device in Algeria. Based on a subjective and constructivist double perspective, this research uses a qualitative multiple case study approach with four project holders. The results reveal that human capital constitutes a universal lever for opportunity identification in all cases studied. However, two distinct configurations coexist: a subjectivist configuration in which human capital alone is sufficient to identify and evaluate the opportunity autonomously, and a constructivist configuration in which human and social capital — through strong and weak ties — combine to build and validate the opportunity. These results suggest that human and social capital maintain a contingent complementarity relationship. Furthermore, opportunity validation operates exclusively informally in all cases, constituting a specificity of the Algerian context. These results enrich Nkakleu's (2008) work and open research avenues on the entrepreneurial process in the Maghreb context.