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Home  >  All Issues  >  2021  >  No.06  >  Article Details
The Impact of Entrepreneurial Network on New Venture Performance: A Research Based on Meta-analysis
Zhu Xiumei, Li Yue, Xiao Bin, Miao Shujuan
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Foreign Economics & Management Vol. 43, Issue 06, pp. 120 - 137 (2021)  DOI:10.16538/j.cnki.fem.20201201.403
First published at:Jun 20, 2021
Summary
References
Summary

Entrepreneurial network（EN）is an important concept in the cross study of sociology and management. EN is an important source and channel for start-ups to break through resource bottleneck and obtain heterogeneous resources, and is significant for improving new venture performance（NVP）. Scholars have done lots of research on it based on different purposes and perspectives, but there are still differences. To address this problem, we adopt meta-analysis to explore the impact of EN on NVP and its boundary conditions, based on 67 studies covering 24 different countries and regions from 2002 to 2019.

The conclusions are that:（1）EN can promote NVP.（2）Culture is an important moderator. The higher the degree of uncertainty avoidance, collectivism and masculinity, the more significant the impact of EN on NVP; while the higher the power distance, the lower the impact.（3）Compared with developed countries, the role of EN is more significant in developing countries.（4）With the growth of enterprise age, the role of EN will be enhanced. The results show that the relationship between EN and NVP is affected by time and space to varying degrees.

Compared with the existing literature, our contributions are that:（1）We present the overall picture of the impact of EN on NVP to a certain extent. Based on clarifying EN, and analyzing the mechanism of each type on NVP, meta-analysis overcomes the errors caused by research design, sample selection and evaluation emphasis. According to 67 empirical studies, we evaluate the impact of EN on NVP roundly for the first time.（2）Based on the contingency theory, we reveal the contingency effect of environmental factors（culture, national development degree）and organizational characteristics（enterprise age）.（3）Our results also have practical value. Entrepreneurs and teams must clarify the mechanism of EN and seek for development. For start-ups, especially those starting across countries or regions, it is necessary to consciously construct, utilize and manage EN according to culture, economy and its own characteristics.

Future research directions are that:（1）Explore the potential moderators and the synergistic effect among multi-factors or multi-dimensions.（2）Strengthen the research on the dynamic evolution of EN by paying attention to longitudinal data and strengthening case studies and follow-up survey.（3）Carry out localization and contextualization research. In particular, it is suggested to study the uniqueness of EN and its impact on NVP under the joint action of Chinese entrepreneurial context and Confucian culture.

Keywords
entrepreneurial network; new venture performance; meta-analysis; national culture
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Cite this article
Zhu Xiumei, Li Yue, Xiao Bin, et al. The Impact of Entrepreneurial Network on New Venture Performance: A Research Based on Meta-analysis[J]. Foreign Economics & Management, 2021, 43(6): 120-137. 
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