Diversity in Alters’ Degree Centrality Within Interorganizational Networks and Organizations’ Technological Innovation Output

The importance of interorganizational networks and associated social capital for organizations’ technological innovation has drawn considerable scholarly attention. By emphasizing alters’ network structures, this study investigates how diversity in alters’ degree centrality within interorganizational networks affects the focal organization’s technological innovation output and examines the moderating roles of the focal organization’s degree centrality and the degree-centrality difference between the focal organization and its alters. We collected panel data on Chinese listed firms for the period 2004–2023 from the CSMAR and CNRDS databases and constructed interorganizational networks based on board interlocks. Results from panel negative binomial models indicate that diversity in alters’ degree centrality within interorganizational networks positively affects the focal organization’s technological innovation output. However, both the focal organization’s degree centrality and the degree-centrality difference between the focal organization and its alters negatively moderate the positive effect. These findings advance research by showing how first-order and second-order social capital jointly shape organizations’ technological innovation output, while also providing practical implications for organizations seeking to configure their interorganizational networks to optimize their innovation strategies.