This dissertation studies how entrepreneurs construct, manage, and mobilize their networks, and how such a process is related to performance of entrepreneurial firms under severe institutional and social constraints. Extant theories of network effects on entrepreneurial performance tend to be structure oriented and static. This study brings agency back into the picture by exploring how entrepreneurs employ existing network relationships and create new ones in pursuit of better performance. Through qualitative fieldwork and statistical analysis of 100 high technology entrepreneurial firms in Zhongguancun Science Park---China's Silicon Valley, this study shows that Chinese hi-tech entrepreneurs have used their network ties not only for access to resources, but also for creation of new ties with potential resource holders. Specifically, these entrepreneurs have sought to expand and change their networks through the process of network extension---expansion of a network by addition of new ties resulting from successful introductions made by existing contacts. I argue that network extension represents a key mechanism by which entrepreneurial networks affect performance, especially in emerging economies characterized by weak market-supporting institutions, high uncertainty, low trust, and high velocity. The more effective an entrepreneur is at managing the process of network extension, i.e., generating more successful introductions from existing network contacts, the better the performance of the entrepreneurial firm. This study also explores the interaction dynamics of network extension. In particular, I identify a set of antecedents of network extension including tie strength, entrepreneur's prior employment, entrepreneur's university alumni affiliation, and entrepreneur's social absorptive capacity. Additionally, from an institutional perspective, I propose that overseas experience in developed economies moderates the effect of tie strength on the degree of network extension. On the whole, this study puts forward a theoretical framework which specifies the network mechanisms that lie beneath the link between entrepreneurial networks and performance on the one hand, and identifies the key factors that give rise to such networks on the other hand, thus providing an integrative account of network processes and network effects. Statistical modeling and results provide substantial support to the proposed theoretical model.
