Toward an Integrative Research Framework for New Venture Legitimacy Judgement Formation

Legitimacy is a critical resource for new ventures. Yet, our review of the literature indicates that the process through which new venture legitimacy judgments are bestowed by stakeholders is under-theorized. Additionally, the consequences of the legitimacy judgment for the stakeholder have not been adequately incorporated in prior research frameworks. We employ the absorptive capacity construct to address these limitations and propose an integrative research framework that includes the stakeholder in the legitimacy judgment formation process, and paves the way for empirical testing of these underlying processes