IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/jbrese/v86y2018icp153-165.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Ties of survival: Specialization, inter-firm ties, and firm failure in the U.S. venture capital industry

Author

Listed:
  • Makarevich, Alex

Abstract

This study examines how firms' network ties interact with their level of specialization in affecting the risk of failure in the U.S. venture capital (VC) industry. Testing my hypotheses on data spanning 41 years, I find that there is an inverted J-shaped relationship between the degree of VC firms' specialization and the risk of failure and that this pattern is moderated by firms' portfolio homogeneity. I further find that VC firms depend on their network ties in avoiding failure, that this effect is stronger for generalist VC firms than specialist firms, and that ties to specialist VC firms reduce the risk of failure of generalist firms with heterogeneous portfolios the most. These results advance our understanding of the joint effects of specialization and network connections on firm survival and, more broadly, of the interdependence of generalist and specialist organizations.

Suggested Citation

  • Makarevich, Alex, 2018. "Ties of survival: Specialization, inter-firm ties, and firm failure in the U.S. venture capital industry," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 86(C), pages 153-165.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jbrese:v:86:y:2018:i:c:p:153-165
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jbusres.2018.02.001
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0148296318300766
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.jbusres.2018.02.001?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Tim Rowley & Dean Behrens & David Krackhardt, 2000. "Redundant governance structures: an analysis of structural and relational embeddedness in the steel and semiconductor industries," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 21(3), pages 369-386, March.
    2. Robert M. Grant & Charles Baden‐Fuller, 2004. "A Knowledge Accessing Theory of Strategic Alliances," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 41(1), pages 61-84, January.
    3. Arkadiy V. Sakhartov & Timothy B. Folta, 2014. "Resource relatedness, redeployability, and firm value," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 35(12), pages 1781-1797, December.
    4. David J. TEECE, 2008. "Profiting from technological innovation: Implications for integration, collaboration, licensing and public policy," World Scientific Book Chapters, in: The Transfer And Licensing Of Know-How And Intellectual Property Understanding the Multinational Enterprise in the Modern World, chapter 5, pages 67-87, World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd..
    5. Akbar Zaheer & Bill McEvily & Vincenzo Perrone, 1998. "Does Trust Matter? Exploring the Effects of Interorganizational and Interpersonal Trust on Performance," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 9(2), pages 141-159, April.
    6. Dimo Dimov & Pablo Martin de Holan, 2010. "Firm Experience and Market Entry by Venture Capital Firms (1962–2004)," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 47(1), pages 130-161, January.
    7. Kathleen M. Eisenhardt & Claudia Bird Schoonhoven, 1996. "Resource-based View of Strategic Alliance Formation: Strategic and Social Effects in Entrepreneurial Firms," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 7(2), pages 136-150, April.
    8. Paul Ingram & Joel A. C. Baum, 1997. "Opportunity And Constraint: Organizations’ Learning From The Operating And Competitive Experience Of Industries," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 18(S1), pages 75-98, July.
    9. Peter J. Lane & Michael Lubatkin, 1998. "Relative absorptive capacity and interorganizational learning," Post-Print hal-02311860, HAL.
    10. Sharon F. Matusik & Markus A. Fitza, 2012. "Diversification in the venture capital industry: leveraging knowledge under uncertainty," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 33(4), pages 407-426, April.
    11. Joshua Lerner, 1994. "The Syndication of Venture Capital Investments," Financial Management, Financial Management Association, vol. 23(3), Fall.
    12. Li, Yong & Mahoney, Joseph T., 2011. "When are venture capital projects initiated?," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 26(2), pages 239-254, March.
    13. Nitin Nohria & Carlos Garcia‐Pont, 1991. "Global strategic linkages and industry structure," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 12(S1), pages 105-124, June.
    14. Seungwha (Andy) Chung & Harbir Singh & Kyungmook Lee, 2000. "Complementarity, status similarity and social capital as drivers of alliance formation," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 21(1), pages 1-22, January.
    15. Michael T. Hannan & László Pólos & Glenn R. Carroll, 2007. "Language Matters, from Logics of Organization Theory: Audiences, Codes, and Ecologies," Introductory Chapters, in: Logics of Organization Theory: Audiences, Codes, and Ecologies, Princeton University Press.
    16. David J. Teece & Richard Rumelt & Giovanni Dosi & Sidney Winter, 2000. "Understanding Corporate Coherence: Theory and Evidence," Chapters, in: Innovation, Organization and Economic Dynamics, chapter 9, pages 264-293, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    17. Dushnitsky, Gary & Lenox, Michael J., 2006. "When does corporate venture capital investment create firm value?," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 21(6), pages 753-772, November.
    18. Jason Owen-Smith & Walter W. Powell, 2004. "Knowledge Networks as Channels and Conduits: The Effects of Spillovers in the Boston Biotechnology Community," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 15(1), pages 5-21, February.
    19. Balagopal Vissa & Aya S. Chacar, 2009. "Leveraging ties: the contingent value of entrepreneurial teams' external advice networks on Indian software venture performance," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 30(11), pages 1179-1191, November.
    20. William P. Barnett & Henrich R. Greve & Douglas Y. Park, 1994. "An Evolutionary Model of Organizational Performance," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 15(S1), pages 11-28, December.
    21. Peters, Linda D. & Pressey, Andrew D. & Johnston, Wesley J., 2016. "Contingent factors affecting network learning," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 69(7), pages 2507-2515.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Xiao Hu & Jiayi Wang & Banggang Wu & Taiyang Zhao, 2022. "Specialist or new entrant: Who is the ideal investor for a new venture?," Managerial and Decision Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 43(6), pages 2055-2065, September.
    2. Yung-Shuan Chen & Han-Sheng Lei & Wei-Che Hsu, 2019. "A Study on the Sustainable Development Strategy of Firms: Niche and Social Network Theory," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(9), pages 1-25, May.
    3. Yang Song & Leo Paul Dana & Ron Berger, 2021. "The entrepreneurial process and online social networks: forecasting survival rate," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 56(3), pages 1171-1190, February.
    4. Jadwiga Goraczkowska & Marek Tomaszewski, 2019. "Support of innovation activity in small and medium-sized enterprises in the Greater Poland Voivodeship," Ekonomia i Prawo, Uniwersytet Mikolaja Kopernika, vol. 18(2), pages 183-195, June.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Vanhaverbeke, W.P.M. & Beerkens, B.E. & Duysters, G.M., 2003. "Explorative and exploitative learning strategies in technology-based alliance networks," Working Papers 03.22, Eindhoven Center for Innovation Studies.
    2. Joel A. C. Baum & Robin Cowan & Nicolas Jonard, 2010. "Network-Independent Partner Selection and the Evolution of Innovation Networks," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 56(11), pages 2094-2110, November.
    3. Tom Broekel & Matthias Brachert, 2015. "The structure and evolution of inter-sectoral technological complementarity in R&D in Germany from 1990 to 2011," Journal of Evolutionary Economics, Springer, vol. 25(4), pages 755-785, September.
    4. Stienstra, Miranda, 2020. "The determinants and performance implications of alliance partner acquisition," Other publications TiSEM 7fdee0c2-d4d2-4f5b-95e3-2, Tilburg University, School of Economics and Management.
    5. Gilsing, Victor & Nooteboom, Bart & Vanhaverbeke, Wim & Duysters, Geert & van den Oord, Ad, 2008. "Network embeddedness and the exploration of novel technologies: Technological distance, betweenness centrality and density," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 37(10), pages 1717-1731, December.
    6. Park, Gunno & Kim, Marco JinHwan & Kang, Jina, 2015. "Competitive embeddedness: The impact of competitive relations among a firm's current alliance partners on its new alliance formations," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 24(2), pages 196-208.
    7. Maria Di Guardo & Kathryn Harrigan, 2012. "Mapping research on strategic alliances and innovation: a co-citation analysis," The Journal of Technology Transfer, Springer, vol. 37(6), pages 789-811, December.
    8. Hugo Ernesto Martínez Ardila & Julián Eduardo Mora Moreno & Jaime Alberto Camacho Pico, 2020. "Networks of collaborative alliances: the second order interfirm technological distance and innovation performance," The Journal of Technology Transfer, Springer, vol. 45(4), pages 1255-1282, August.
    9. Coombs, Joseph E. & Mudambi, Ram & Deeds, David L., 2006. "An examination of the investments in U.S. biotechnology firms by foreign and domestic corporate partners," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 21(4), pages 405-428, July.
    10. Ashton Hawk & Jeffrey J. Reuer & Andrew Garofolo, 2021. "The Impact of Firm Speed Capabilities on the Decision to Partner or Go It Alone," Strategy Science, INFORMS, vol. 6(3), pages 191-208, September.
    11. Scaringella, Laurent & Burtschell, François, 2017. "The challenges of radical innovation in Iran: Knowledge transfer and absorptive capacity highlights — Evidence from a joint venture in the construction sector," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 122(C), pages 151-169.
    12. Lee, Ruby P. & Johnson, Jean L. & Grewal, Rajdeep, 2008. "Understanding the antecedents of collateral learning in new product alliances," International Journal of Research in Marketing, Elsevier, vol. 25(3), pages 192-200.
    13. Zhang, Jing & Baden-Fuller, Charles & Mangematin, Vincent, 2007. "Technological knowledge base, R&D organization structure and alliance formation: Evidence from the biopharmaceutical industry," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 36(4), pages 515-528, May.
    14. Choi, Sukwoong & Kim, Wonjoon & Kim, Namil, 2022. "International alliance formations: The role of brokerage in technology competition networks," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 144(C), pages 440-449.
    15. Haeussler, Carolin & Patzelt, Holger & Zahra, Shaker A., 2012. "Strategic alliances and product development in high technology new firms: The moderating effect of technological capabilities," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 27(2), pages 217-233.
    16. Kim, Jerry W. & Higgins, Monica C., 2007. "Where do alliances come from?: The effects of upper echelons on alliance formation," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 36(4), pages 499-514, May.
    17. Duysters, Geert & Lemmens, Charmianne & Letterie, Wilko & Vanhaverbeke, Wim, 2008. "The Innovative Performance of Alliance Block Members: Evidence from the Microelectronics Industry," MERIT Working Papers 2008-064, United Nations University - Maastricht Economic and Social Research Institute on Innovation and Technology (MERIT).
    18. Cobeña, Mar & Gallego, Ángeles & Casanueva, Cristóbal, 2017. "Heterogeneity, diversity and complementarity in alliance portfolios," European Management Journal, Elsevier, vol. 35(4), pages 464-476.
    19. Andrew V. Shipilov, 2009. "Firm Scope Experience, Historic Multimarket Contact with Partners, Centrality, and the Relationship Between Structural Holes and Performance," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 20(1), pages 85-106, February.
    20. Wim Vanhaverbeke & Victor Gilsing & Bonnie Beerkens & Geert Duysters, 2009. "The Role of Alliance Network Redundancy in the Creation of Core and Non‐core Technologies," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 46(2), pages 215-244, March.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:jbrese:v:86:y:2018:i:c:p:153-165. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/jbusres .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.