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Social capital has been widely discussed as an aid to economic exchange. On the basis of an analysis of systematic data on 447 small and medium-sized businesses located in urban and rural areas in the North and South of Vietnam, we compare the predictions of three, sometimes contradictory, network theories of social embedding: the search and selection hypothesis, the enforceable trust hypothesis, and the insurance hypothesis to our detailed data on the potential resources and actual practices of firms. We find partial support for each theory but also evidence that contradicts each. Social capital is sometimes left unused while other avenues are found to deal with the problems embeddedness is said to address. In an environment where social capital should be of most use, it appears to be neither necessary nor sufficient to conducting a small business bu rather one of several mechanisms for solving a control problem. DRAFT – COMMENTS AND CRITICISMS ARE WELCOME – DRAFT 1 The literature discussing this possibility has become quite large. DasGupta and Serageldin (2000), Lin (2001), and Portes (1998) provide good overviews. The possibility that social factors impinge upon economic outcomes runs through almost all research on social action including status attainment research (Blau and Duncan, 1967), the socialization of elites (Domhoff, 1970), job searc