Abstract: Social capital is a key factor for enterprises to gain competitive advantages. Based on the social capital theory and a questionnaire， this paper empirically studies the ways how corporate social capital impacts innovation performance through knowledge transfer. The findings indicate that the structure dimension， the relation dimension and the cognitive dimension of corporate social capital have a significant impact on enterprise knowledge transfer and innovation performance， with knowledge transfer playing an intermediary role in the relationship between corporate social capital and innovation performance. Therefore， enterprises should establish， maintain and make use of social capital in order to promote the mutual transfer of knowledge and technological resources thereby enhancing innovation and performance.

Key words: social capital, knowledge transfer, innovation performance