International alliance formations: The role of brokerage in technology competition networks

International strategic alliances (ISAs) are an important strategic tool for local firms, and management scholars have long been interested in determining their drivers, such as brokerage positions, using social network theory. However, the different types of brokerage positions in competition networks have been underexplored. To fill this knowledge gap, we theorize that the information benefits of a brokerage position in competition networks are constrained, and this may significantly influence the alliance formation of a firm. In studying the U.S. telecommunications equipment manufacturing industry, we observe that as firms enter brokerage positions in competition networks, ISAs, particularly upstream ISAs, become more likely to form. Our findings imply that the properties of competition networks motivate local firms to search for external resources to decipher the codification or tacitness of information access from competitors.