Finding value in geographic diversity through prior experience and knowledge integration: A study of ventures’ innovative performance

Prior research indicates that entrepreneurs with new ventures should build knowledge networks that grant access to a variety of geographic knowledge sources if they are to enhance their innovative performance. In this article, we explore entrepreneurs’ abilities to reap the benefits of the geographical configuration of their knowledge networks. Controlling for a wide range of firm-level factors, we find that a too diverse network geographically speaking, negatively impacts innovative performance. This main effect is, however, positively moderated by entrepreneurs’ breadth of prior career experience and their ventures’ knowledge integration capability.