1. ¹MSM Group, Warwick Business School, Coventry, UK
2. ²ICS/Department of Sociology, University of Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands

Correspondence: Christian Steglich, ICS/Department of Sociology, University of Groningen, Grote Rozenstraat 31, 9712 TG Groningen, The Netherlands; Matthew Checkley, E-mail: matthew.checkley@btinternet.com

Abstract

This research considers how the connectedness of venture capital (VC) firms changes with the job mobility of managers between those firms. A continuous-time Markov chain model is developed to test whether managers are able to 'drag' prior inter-firm relational ties with them as they move between employing firms. The findings support the hypothesis that increasing the stock of managers is material to creating inter-firm ties. However, managers are not found to drag their prior links to new network positions. This result is consistent with an institutional view of VC syndication, suggesting that inter-firm relations are other than managerial in nature.