.... Originality/value To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is one of the few studies to explicitly differentiate between state-led and private Chinese agricultural investments in Africa. It offers novel empirical evidence on how investment type shapes social capital formation and community outcomes...

.../approach The empirical analysis is based on document analyses, 47 expert interviews and on field observations in Ghana, Africa. Findings Based on an in-depth analysis of a US firm operating a fair trade value chain in an intercultural environment, the authors show that universalistic value chain...