Paper Number
ECIS2026-1281
Paper Type
CRP
Abstract
Digital financial services are organized in alliance-intensive ecosystems, yet we know little about whether and how firms’ alliance portfolios are associated with market value. Drawing on 130 publicly listed FinTechs (2019–2025), we identify 760 unique strategic alliances and represent them as a reciprocally encoded network, where each alliance is recorded as two mutual ties. We compute degree, betweenness, and closeness centrality and relate alliance portfolios and network positions primarily to firm-level market valuation (market capitalization and total enterprise value), while considering revenue, net income, and adjusted 5-year beta as supporting financial indicators. Spearman rank correlations indicate significant associations between alliances and market valuation and revenue, but not net income or founding year. In log-linear OLS with controls and fixed effects, one additional alliance is associated with ≈3.6% higher market capitalization. Framed by Social Capital Theory, the findings provide confirmatory evidence that alliance-based embeddedness is associated with capital market valuations.
Recommended Citation
Jede, Andreas and Teuteberg, Frank, "Alliances and Valuation In The Era Of Decentralized Finance: A Social-Capital View On Fintechs" (2026). ECIS 2026 Proceedings. 2.
https://aisel.aisnet.org/ecis2026/blockfintech/blockfintech/2
Alliances and Valuation In The Era Of Decentralized Finance: A Social-Capital View On Fintechs
Digital financial services are organized in alliance-intensive ecosystems, yet we know little about whether and how firms’ alliance portfolios are associated with market value. Drawing on 130 publicly listed FinTechs (2019–2025), we identify 760 unique strategic alliances and represent them as a reciprocally encoded network, where each alliance is recorded as two mutual ties. We compute degree, betweenness, and closeness centrality and relate alliance portfolios and network positions primarily to firm-level market valuation (market capitalization and total enterprise value), while considering revenue, net income, and adjusted 5-year beta as supporting financial indicators. Spearman rank correlations indicate significant associations between alliances and market valuation and revenue, but not net income or founding year. In log-linear OLS with controls and fixed effects, one additional alliance is associated with ≈3.6% higher market capitalization. Framed by Social Capital Theory, the findings provide confirmatory evidence that alliance-based embeddedness is associated with capital market valuations.
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