Alumni Network Centrality and Competitive Aggressiveness

Abstract

This paper examines the role of external resources and information advantages embedded in a firm's alumni network in the adoption of aggressive competitive strategies. We extend the competitive dynamics literature and social network theory by analysing the effect that the acquisition of external resources and information advantage has on corporate competitive strategy. We hypothesize that more central firms in alumni networks are associated with more aggressive competitive actions and better performance. We introduce extensive data from China and find strong support for our central hypothesis. Further, the data indicate that the effect is stronger in firms with high product market competition, high input–output network centrality, and during periods of high economic policy uncertainty. The results are robust to several endogeneity tests.