A Conceptual Paper on Supplier Unilateral Specific Investment Antecedent: Social Capital Perspectives

This conceptual paper proposes to examine why and under what conditions suppliers will make unilateral specific investments for their buyers. We propose that suppliers are more likely to make such investments when the level of relational social capital is high. We also proposes that environmental uncertainty will amplify the formation of specific investment from relational social capital. Supplier unilateral specific investment is expected to have a direct effect on relationship performance. In the first part, the paper will describe the development of the theories, and then review previous literature that provides empirical evidence on antecedents of supplier unilateral specific investment. © 2021 IEEE.