IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/ris/ambsrv/022668.html

Do Interlocking Directors Contribute to Exploration? A Resource Dependence Perspective

Author

Listed:
  • Deepali Dhingra

    (Indian Institute of Management Rohtak, Haryana, India)

  • Neeraj Dwivedi

    (Indian Institute of Management Kashipur, Uttarakhand, India)

Abstract

The composition of a diverse board of directors is crucial in driving innovation within a firm. One of the diversifying factors that has received significant attention in the literature is the presence of interlocking directors on the board. However, despite existing research on the effect of their presence on boards, we know relatively little about how such directors help the firms decide on specific innovation projects to invest in. We examine the relationship between the presence of interlocking directors on the board and the firm’s tendency to undertake exploratory innovation projects using negative binomial regression, as viewed through the lens of resource dependence theory. We suggest that interlocking directors and the firm’s investment decisions in exploration projects are positively related, thereby contributing to the corporate governance and innovation literatures. The paper highlights how board composition through interlocks enhances networking and information flow, improving strategic decisions. The paper advances the idea that interlocking directors enhance firms’ innovative capabilities by promoting exploratory decision-making. Further, the moderating effects of CEO ownership and average board tenure of interlocked directors have also been discussed.

Suggested Citation

  • Deepali Dhingra & Neeraj Dwivedi, 2026. "Do Interlocking Directors Contribute to Exploration? A Resource Dependence Perspective," American Business Review, Pompea College of Business, University of New Haven, vol. 29(1), pages 264-286, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:ris:ambsrv:022668
    DOI: 10.37625/abr.29.1.264-286
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://digitalcommons.newhaven.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=4023&context=americanbusinessreview
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.37625/abr.29.1.264-286?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
    ---><---

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;

    JEL classification:

    • G34 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Mergers; Acquisitions; Restructuring; Corporate Governance

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    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:ris:ambsrv:022668. 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.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using 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: Amber Montano (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/cbnhaus.html .

    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.