When Innovations Are Possible: Social Embeddedness and Trust in a Community of Technological Entrepreneurs

Abstract

The article draws on interviews with founders of technological projects and the data of participant observation conducted by the author in a St. Petersburg business incubator in 2010-2011. The business incubator is an organization which generates auspicious conditions for the growth of new enterprises by rendering them support in the early stages of their development. The author simultaneously studied and reproduced routine work practices of a developing enterprise of the type. The study aimed at an analysis of social factors conducive to the success of a state business incubator and consequently of the technological business of its residents. The author argues that the social rootedness of incubators residents in professional networks, as well as the shared cultural norms and values within the incubator, have a positive impact on the growth of young companies and the development of the incubator itself.