Datasets of social capital and business performance in the Nigerian informal sector

This research aimed to present data on the effect of social capital on business performance in the Nigerian informal economy. Primary data collection was carried out through a cross-sectional survey of 600 informal business owners within Ikeja Local Government Area (LGA), Lagos State, Nigeria. A simple sampling technique was further adopted in selecting the sample size of the study, and a close-ended questionnaire was adopted for the data collection process. Descriptive statistical analysis was performed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 23. This data has the potential to be reused for full empirical research relating to social capital and business performance in emerging economies.


Specifications
Business, Management and Decision Sciences Specific subject area Entrepreneurship; Marketing Type of data Table  Figure How data were acquired Cross-sectional survey; Self-administered questionnaire Data format Raw Analyzed Parameters for data collection The adoption of a cross-sectional survey method in collecting primary data from informal business owners in Lagos State, Nigeria, through the usage of self-administered close-ended questionnaires Description of data collection Data collection was done through a simple random sample of 600 informal business owners Data

Value of the Data
• This dataset is important to the research community in understanding the effect of internal and external social capital resources on the financial and non-financial performance of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in the Nigerian informal sector. To the best of our knowledge, this is a complete dataset available for measuring the effect of social capital resources on the business performance of SMEs in the informal sector of an emerging economy. • This dataset is valuable for researchers who want to conduct comparative studies related to social capital and its effect on business performance in other emerging or developed economies around the world, especially among informal entrepreneurs, or to make metaanalytic contributions in the future. • This dataset is useful for researchers who intend to reuse or reanalyze it to investigate the possible relationships between social capital resources and business performance in the informal sector of an emerging economy [1] . For instance; to examine the comparative effect of internal or external social capital resources on the financial or non-financial performance (or both) of male and female-owned enterprises [2] ; to examine the comparative effect of internal or external social capital resources on the business performance of family-owned and non-family-owned enterprises; or to examine the comparative effect of internal or external social capital resources on the financial or non-financial performance of sole proprietorshipbased or partnership-based enterprises. • The potentials of this dataset when analyzed through inferential statistical analysis, are valuable to enhancing entrepreneurs' and policymakers' awareness level regarding the importance of internal and external social capital resources in enhancing the financial and nonfinancial performance of SMEs in the informal sector of an emerging economy. • This dataset is important to the research community (comprising researchers, entrepreneurs, policymakers and entrepreneurship students) because it has the potential to contribute to existing knowledge on the subject of social capital and SME performance in an emerging economy.

Data Description
This dataset provides insightful information based on survey data on internal and external social capital resources and their effect on the financial and non-financial performance of SMEs in the Nigerian informal sector. The survey involved 600 entrepreneurs within Ikeja Local Government Area (LGA), Lagos State, Nigeria. The data include six major variable groups, represented from Tables 1 -6 , thus: (A) Individual demographics: including age, gender, duration of firm existence, firm industry, firm ownership structure, firm ownership type, business engagement level and firm employee size; (B) 9 items measuring internal social capital, comprising family and friends. A five-point Likert scale was utilized in measuring these items (where 1 = strongly disagree; 3 = neutral, and 5 = strongly agree); (C) 3 items measuring internal social capital, comprising business partners and employees. A five-point Likert scale was utilized in measuring these items (where 1 = strongly disagree; 3 = neutral; and 5 = strongly agree); (D) 8 items measuring external social capital. A five-point Likert scale was utilized in measuring these items (where 1 = strongly disagree; 3 = neutral, and 5 = strongly agree); (E) 4 items measuring financial performance. A five-point Likert scale was utilized in measuring these items (where 1 = much worse; 3 = about the same; and 5 = much better); (F) 7 items measuring non-financial performance. A five-point Likert scale was utilized in measuring these items (where 1 = much worse; 3 = about the same; and 5 = much better). Demographic features of the respondents are presented in Table 1 , while the comprehensive assessment of responses on internal social capital (comprising family and friends), internal social capital (comprising business partners and employees), external social capital, financial performance and non-financial performance by the respondents are presented in Tables 2 -6 . This dataset has already been used to publish a full research article [1] , while the raw dataset is provided as a supplementary file and can also be found in the Mendeley data repository [3] .

Experimental Design, Materials and Methods
The researchers adopted a cross-sectional survey design in obtaining primary data from 650 informal business owners in the Nigerian informal sector. Data was gathered using a close-ended research questionnaire and distributed across these informal enterprises within the Ikeja LGA, Lagos State, Nigeria, within a six-week time frame, using the sample random sampling technique. Out of these 650 questionnaires administered, 50 were discarded due to non-completion or incorrect completion by the respondents. The final 600 responses were analyzed through descriptive statistical analysis, using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 23 [1] . The questionnaire used in data collection was divided into two sections: Section A and Section B. Section A was used to obtain demographic information from the study respondents. In contrast, Section B was used to assess the subjective contributions of internal and external social capital resources to the financial and non-financial performance of SMEs in the Nigerian informal sector.

Ethics Statement
Ethical approval was obtained from the Landmark University Centre for Research, Innovation and DiscoverEthical Committee. Also, informed consent was obtained from the research participants and their participation was totally consensual, anonymous and voluntary.

Data Availability
Datasets of social capital and business performance in the Nigerian informal sector (Original data) (Mendeley Data).

Declaration of Competing Interest
The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal associations which have, or could be perceived to have, influenced the work described in this article.