Founder’s social ties, learning and entrepreneurial knowledge acquisition in China

ABSTRACT

This study assesses the relationships among founder’s social ties, learning and entrepreneurial knowledge acquisition. Base on Social Network Theory and Entrepreneurial Learning Perspective, eight hypotheses are proposed. Using a sample of 200 new ventures in Chinese transitional economy, we find that both founders’ social ties (business ties, political ties) and entrepreneurial learning (experiential learning, cognitive learning) have positive impacts on entrepreneurial knowledge acquisition. We also examine whether entrepreneurial learning mediates the effects of social ties on entrepreneurial knowledge acquisition. The results show that cognitive learning positively mediates the relationship between social ties and entrepreneurial knowledge acquisition. However, the mediating role of experiential learning is partly supported.

KEYWORDS:

• Business ties
• China
• cognitive learning
• entrepreneurial knowledge acquisition
• experiential learning
• political ties

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This research was partly supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) [Grant No. 71620107001, 71402064] and President Foundation of Jilin University of Finance and Economics [Grant No. XZ2018041].

Notes on contributors

Biaoan Shan

Biaoan Shan is an associate professor of Business Administration at School of Management, Jilin University, China. His main research interests are founder’ characteristics, entrepreneurial learning, and new ventures growth.

Xifeng Lu

Xifeng Lu is a Lecturer at College of Accounting and the Enterprise Finance and Accounting Research Center of Jilin Province, Jilin University of Finance and Economics, China. Her research interests are entrepreneurial financing, innovation management, and resource management.