Network Agency in Entrepreneurship: A Synthesis and Outlook

Kim Klyver, Yudi Hou, Elco van Burg, Tom Elfring

Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice · 2026 · Volume 50 · Issue 1

Abstract

Network agency matters in entrepreneurship. As purposeful agents, entrepreneurs actively interact with their surroundings. However, scholars only have limited and dispersed knowledge about the antecedents, mechanisms, and outcomes of entrepreneurs’ network agency. We performed an integrative review of network agency in entrepreneurship to provide a much-needed synthesis of the fragmented insights into this topic. By moving away from a deterministic approach in which social structures shape entrepreneurs’ destinies and toward an agentic approach in which social networks shape entrepreneurs while simultaneously being shaped, managed, and developed by them, we contribute to a refined understanding of social networks.

Keywords

entrepreneurship, network agency, social networks, integrative review

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