IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/sae/entthe/v43y2019i1p19-50.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Network Disadvantaged Entrepreneurs: Density, Hierarchy, and Success in China and the West

Author

Listed:
  • Ronald S. Burt

Abstract

This article is about the network theory of advantage applied to entrepreneurship and an area-probability sample of 700 Chinese entrepreneurs, using 2,193 American and European managers as a baseline comparison group. The article deals with how certain entrepreneurs are disadvantaged by their networks, the contrasting forms that disadvantage takes in China and the West, the role of family in the Chinese networks, and ultimately the robustness of network theory to the cultural, structural, and content variations discussed.

Suggested Citation

  • Ronald S. Burt, 2019. "Network Disadvantaged Entrepreneurs: Density, Hierarchy, and Success in China and the West," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 43(1), pages 19-50, January.
  • Handle: RePEc:sae:entthe:v:43:y:2019:i:1:p:19-50
    DOI: 10.1177/1042258718783514
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/1042258718783514
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1177/1042258718783514?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
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Aldrich, Howard E. & Cliff, Jennifer E., 2003. "The pervasive effects of family on entrepreneurship: toward a family embeddedness perspective," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 18(5), pages 573-596, September.
    2. Watson, John, 2007. "Modeling the relationship between networking and firm performance," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 22(6), pages 852-874, November.
    3. James G. March, 1991. "Exploration and Exploitation in Organizational Learning," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 2(1), pages 71-87, February.
    4. Ronald S. Burt & Robin M. Hogarth & Claude Michaud, 2000. "The Social Capital of French and American Managers," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 11(2), pages 123-147, April.
    5. Thorsten Semrau & Arndt Werner, 2014. "How Exactly Do Network Relationships Pay Off? The Effects of Network Size and Relationship Quality on Access to Start–Up Resources," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 38(3), pages 501-525, May.
    6. Hoang, Ha & Antoncic, Bostjan, 2003. "Network-based research in entrepreneurship: A critical review," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 18(2), pages 165-187, March.
    7. William D. Bygrave & Charles W. Hofer, 1992. "Theorizing about Entrepreneurship," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 16(2), pages 13-22, January.
    8. DiTomaso, Nancy & Bian, Yanjie, 2018. "The Structure of Labor Markets in the US and China: Social Capital and Guanxi," Management and Organization Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 14(1), pages 5-36, March.
    9. Batjargal, Bat, 2007. "Internet entrepreneurship: Social capital, human capital, and performance of Internet ventures in China," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 36(5), pages 605-618, June.
    10. Ornit Raz & Peter A. Gloor, 2007. "Size Really Matters--New Insights for Start-ups' Survival," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 53(2), pages 169-177, February.
    11. Burt, Ronald S. & Burzynska, Katarzyna, 2017. "Chinese Entrepreneurs, Social Networks, and Guanxi," Management and Organization Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 13(2), pages 221-260, June.
    12. Wadid Lamine & Sarah Jack & Alain Fayolle & Didier Chabaud, 2015. "One step beyond? Towards a process view of social networks in entrepreneurship," Entrepreneurship & Regional Development, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 27(7-8), pages 413-429, September.
    13. Edward Bishop Smith & Tanya Menon & Leigh Thompson, 2012. "Status Differences in the Cognitive Activation of Social Networks," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 23(1), pages 67-82, February.
    14. Arent Greve & Janet W. Salaff, 2003. "Social Networks and Entrepreneurship," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 28(1), pages 1-22, January.
    15. Sorenson, Olav, 2017. "Entrepreneurs and Social Capital in China," Management and Organization Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 13(2), pages 275-280, June.
    16. Goldberg, Amir & Srivastava, Sameer B & Manian, Govind & Monroe, William & Potts, Christopher, 2016. "Fitting In or Standing Out? The Tradeoffs of Structural and Cultural Embeddedness," Institute for Research on Labor and Employment, Working Paper Series qt9bf631rg, Institute of Industrial Relations, UC Berkeley.
    17. Jack, Sarah L., 2010. "Approaches to studying networks: Implications and outcomes," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 25(1), pages 120-137, January.
    18. Bat Batjargal & Michael Hitt & Anne Tsui & Jean-Luc Arregle & Justin Webb & Toyah Miller, 2013. "Institutional Polycentrism, Entrepreneurs' Social Networks, and New Venture Growth," Post-Print hal-02313079, HAL.
    19. Eric L. Hansen, 1995. "Entrepreneurial Networks and New Organization Growth," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 19(4), pages 7-19, July.
    20. Ronald S. Burt & Giuseppe Soda, 2017. "Social Origins of Great Strategies," Strategy Science, INFORMS, vol. 2(4), pages 226-233, December.
    21. Davidsson, Per & Honig, Benson, 2003. "The role of social and human capital among nascent entrepreneurs," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 18(3), pages 301-331, May.
    22. Burt, Ronald S., 2017. "Social network and temporal discounting," Network Science, Cambridge University Press, vol. 5(4), pages 411-440, December.
    23. Burt, Ronald S. & Opper, Sonja, 2017. "Early Network Events in the Later Success of Chinese Entrepreneurs," Management and Organization Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 13(3), pages 497-537, September.
    24. Diana M. Hechavarría & Siri A. Terjesen & Pekka Stenholm & Malin Brännback & Stefan Lång, 2018. "More than Words: Do Gendered Linguistic Structures Widen the Gender Gap in Entrepreneurial Activity?," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 42(5), pages 797-817, September.
    25. Anne Domurath & Holger Patzelt, 2016. "Entrepreneurs’ Assessments of Early International Entry: The Role of Foreign Social Ties, Venture Absorptive Capacity, and Generalized Trust in Others," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 40(5), pages 1149-1177, September.
    26. Bat Batjargal & Michael Hitt & Anne Tsui & Jean-Luc Arregle & Justin Webb & Toyah Miller, 2013. "Institutional Polycentrism, Entrepreneurs' Social Networks, and New Venture Growth," Post-Print hal-02276709, HAL.
    27. Zhao, Chenlin & Burt, Ronald S., 2018. "A Note on Business Survival and Social Network," Management and Organization Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 14(2), pages 377-394, June.
    28. Stefan Wuchty & Brian Uzzi, 2011. "Human Communication Dynamics in Digital Footsteps: A Study of the Agreement between Self-Reported Ties and Email Networks," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 6(11), pages 1-8, November.
    29. Birley, Sue, 1985. "The role of networks in the entrepreneurial process," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 1(1), pages 107-117.
    30. Bat Batjargal, 2013. "Institutional Polycentrism, Entrepreneurs??? Social Networks, And New Venture Growth," William Davidson Institute Working Papers Series wp1060, William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan.
    31. Eric von Hippel, 1994. ""Sticky Information" and the Locus of Problem Solving: Implications for Innovation," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 40(4), pages 429-439, April.
    32. Garry D. Bruton & Shaker A. Zahra & Li Cai, 2018. "Examining Entrepreneurship Through Indigenous Lenses," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 42(3), pages 351-361, May.
    33. Eric A. Morse & Sally W. Fowler & Thomas B. Lawrence, 2007. "The Impact of Virtual Embeddedness on New Venture Survival: Overcoming the Liabilities of Newness1," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 31(2), pages 139-159, March.
    34. Julie M. Hite & William S. Hesterly, 2001. "The evolution of firm networks: from emergence to early growth of the firm," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 22(3), pages 275-286, March.
    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. Leif Brändle & Helen Signer & Andreas Kuckertz, 2023. "Socioeconomic status and entrepreneurial networking responses to the COVID-19 crisis," Journal of Business Economics, Springer, vol. 93(1), pages 111-147, January.
    2. Simba, Amon & Wang, Yan & del Olmo García, Francisco, 2023. "Deconstructing self-organisation in microentrepreneurship: A social embeddedness perspective," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 162(C).
    3. Healey, Mark P. & Bleda, Mercedes & Querbes, Adrien, 2021. "Opportunity evaluation in teams: A social cognitive model," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 36(4).
    4. Smith, Claudia G. & Smith, J. Brock, 2021. "Founders' uses of digital networks for resource acquisition: Extending network theory online," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 125(C), pages 466-482.
    5. Boddewyn, Jean J. & Peng, Mike W., 2021. "Reciprocity and informal institutions in international market entry," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 56(1).
    6. Songsong Cheng & Qunpeng Fan & Yang Song, 2023. "Performance Gap and Innovation Ambidexterity: A Moderated Mediation Model," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(5), pages 1-22, February.
    7. Céline Flipo & Pier Vittorio Mannucci & Kevyn Yong, 2023. "The impact of cultural tightness on the relationship between structural holes, tie strength, and creativity," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 54(2), pages 332-343, March.
    8. Simba, Amon & Martins Ogundana, Oyedele & Braune, Eric & Dana, Léo–Paul, 2023. "Community financing in entrepreneurship: A focus on women entrepreneurs in the developing world," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 163(C).
    9. Ronald S. Burt & Sonja Opper, 2020. "Political Connection and Disconnection: Still a Success Factor for Chinese Entrepreneurs," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 44(6), pages 1199-1228, November.
    10. Katharina Scheidgen & Anna Brattström, 2023. "Berlin is Hotter Than Silicon Valley! How Networking Temperature Shapes Entrepreneurs’ Networking Across Social Contexts," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 47(6), pages 2233-2262, November.

    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. Thorsten Semrau & Arndt Werner, 2014. "How Exactly Do Network Relationships Pay Off? The Effects of Network Size and Relationship Quality on Access to Start–Up Resources," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 38(3), pages 501-525, May.
    2. Thommie Burström & Jussi Harri & Timothy. L. Wilson, 2018. "Nascent Entrepreneurs Managing in Networks: Equivocality, Multiplexity and Tie Formation," Journal of Enterprising Culture (JEC), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 26(01), pages 51-83, March.
    3. Zou, Na & Storz, Cornelia, 2023. "Why do some entrepreneurs thrive? A network content perspective," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 161(C).
    4. Jean–Luc Arregle & Bat Batjargal & Michael A. Hitt & Justin W. Webb & Toyah Miller & Anne S. Tsui, 2015. "Family Ties in Entrepreneurs’ Social Networks and New Venture Growth," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 39(2), pages 313-344, March.
    5. Hongjuan Zhang & Rong Han & Liang Wang & Runhui Lin, 2021. "Social capital in China: a systematic literature review," Asian Business & Management, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 20(1), pages 32-77, February.
    6. Hongjuan Zhang & Rong Han & Liang Wang & Runhui Lin, 0. "Social capital in China: a systematic literature review," Asian Business & Management, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 0, pages 1-46.
    7. Hongjuan Zhang & Liang Wang & Rong Han, 2019. "The China-West divide on social capital: A meta-analysis," Asia Pacific Journal of Management, Springer, vol. 36(3), pages 745-772, September.
    8. Hans Löfsten & Anders Isaksson & Heikki Rannikko, 2023. "Entrepreneurial networks, geographical proximity, and their relationship to firm growth: a study of 241 small high-tech firms," The Journal of Technology Transfer, Springer, vol. 48(6), pages 2280-2306, December.
    9. Susanna Slotte–Kock & Nicole Coviello, 2010. "Entrepreneurship Research on Network Processes: A Review and Ways Forward," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 34(1), pages 31-57, January.
    10. Christopher Hayter, 2013. "Conceptualizing knowledge-based entrepreneurship networks: perspectives from the literature," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 41(4), pages 899-911, December.
    11. Welsh, Dianne H.B. & Kaciak, Eugene & Shamah, Rania, 2018. "Determinants of women entrepreneurs' firm performance in a hostile environment," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 88(C), pages 481-491.
    12. Julia Keidel & Peter M. Bican & Frederik J. Riar, 2021. "Influential Factors of Network Changes: Dynamic Network Ties and Sustainable Startup Embeddedness," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(11), pages 1-20, May.
    13. Sonja Opper, 2023. "Social network and institution-based strategy research," Asia Pacific Journal of Management, Springer, vol. 40(1), pages 329-351, March.
    14. Thorsten Semrau & Christian Hopp, 2016. "Complementary or compensatory? A contingency perspective on how entrepreneurs’ human and social capital interact in shaping start-up progress," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 46(3), pages 407-423, March.
    15. Kerr, Jon & Coviello, Nicole, 2020. "Weaving network theory into effectuation: A multi-level reconceptualization of effectual dynamics," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 35(2).
    16. Lavlu Mozumdar & Geoffrey Hagelaar & Valentina C. Materia & S. W. F. Omta & Mohammad Amirul Islam & Gerben Velde, 2019. "Embeddedness or Over-Embeddedness? Women Entrepreneurs’ Networks and Their Influence on Business Performance," The European Journal of Development Research, Palgrave Macmillan;European Association of Development Research and Training Institutes (EADI), vol. 31(5), pages 1449-1469, December.
    17. Smith, Delmonize A. & Lohrke, Franz T., 2008. "Entrepreneurial network development: Trusting in the process," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 61(4), pages 315-322, April.
    18. Ronald S. Burt & Sonja Opper, 2020. "Political Connection and Disconnection: Still a Success Factor for Chinese Entrepreneurs," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 44(6), pages 1199-1228, November.
    19. Boris Bauke & Thorsten Semrau & Zheng Han, 2016. "Relational trust and new ventures’ performance: the moderating impact of national-level institutional weakness," International Entrepreneurship and Management Journal, Springer, vol. 12(4), pages 1007-1024, December.
    20. Soetanto, Danny, 2019. "Examining change in entrepreneurial networks: Using visualisation as an alternative approach," European Management Journal, Elsevier, vol. 37(2), pages 139-150.

    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:sae:entthe:v:43:y:2019:i:1:p:19-50. 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: SAGE Publications (email available below). General contact details of provider: .

    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.