From Resources to Capabilities: How Social Entrepreneurs’ Perceptions of Financing and Social Capital Shape the Scaling of Social Impact

Social entrepreneurship plays a key role in social and environmental challenges, yet organisations’ capacity to scale their impact remains a challenge. This study examines how perceived access to financing, social capital, and dynamic capabilities relate to the scaling of social impact among 100 Chilean social enterprises, using PLS-SEM. Results show that financing and social capital are associated with dynamic capabilities, but have no significant direct effect on scaling; both operate indirectly, through dynamic capabilities, consistent with full mediation. These findings, , question linear resource-based logics and suggest that dynamic capabilities are a mechanism through which resources translate into scaled social impact.