WORKING WITH UNFAMILIAR PARTNERS: RELATIONAL EMBEDDEDNESS AND PARTNER SELECTION IN INTER-FIRM COLLABORATIONS

Miguel Meuleman, Sophie Manigart, A. Lockett and Mike Wright

Working Papers of Faculty of Economics and Business Administration, Ghent University, Belgium from Ghent University, Faculty of Economics and Business Administration

Abstract: While one stream of research in partner selection has emphasized stability in a firm’s social network, another stream has emphasized the need to expand a firm’s network. In order to reconcile these two perspectives, we explore transaction, partner and macro conditions that lead firms to work with unfamiliar partners. Using a unique hand-collected dataset, results from the formation of private equity investment syndicates demonstrate that firms are more likely to select unfamiliar partners for lower levels of primary and behavioral uncertainty and higher levels of competition. Our findings provide insights in conditions that lead firms to expand their social network.

Pages: 41 pages
Date: 2006-03
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-bec, nep-com, nep-cse, nep-ent, nep-net and nep-soc
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:rug:rugwps:06/371

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