Social Network Construction of Entrepreneurs: Dynamic Perspective from Chinese Service Industry

Abstract

After decades of rapid economy growth in China, the importance of social capital and social network for entrepreneurship has been recognized in recent years. The main purpose of this study is to explore the changing social network construction of entrepreneurs with a dynamic perspective. This paper extends earlier research with focusing on service industry and with taking the process-oriented view. By investigating 125 entrepreneurs from service industry, this study employs the method of statistical analysis to find out the difference of social network construction in three entrepreneurship stages. The results indicate that the density and scale of entrepreneur's social network does vary in different entrepreneurship stages. The results also indicate the heterogeneity of network members' professional background does vary in different entrepreneurship stages while heterogeneity of network members' social status does not. In the end of this paper, some reasons for the results are discussed.