The Role of Network Resources in Market Entry: Commercial Banks' Entry into Investment Banking, 1991-1997

Abstract

This study focuses on the roles of interfirm ties and network status in firms gaining access to customers in newly entered markets, examining whether these network resources are transferable and therefore can be deployed outside the market in which they originated. The role of market ties and network status is examined in a comprehensive longitudinal sample of commercial banks' entry into investment banking from 1991 to 1997. Results show that though market ties and network status facilitate market entry, the importance of network status decreases in the presence of market ties, and the value of network status, unlike market ties, decreases over time after market entry and is less important to customers with more market experience.

Keywords: status, embeddedness, networks, investment banking, commercial banking