We study how prior operating experience interacts with observational learning to exert paradoxical effects on market entry. When a new market disrupts a firm’s standing routines, greater operating experience with these routines complicates adaptation and increases the firm’s uncertainty about the feasibility of entering, thereby delaying its entry. Yet, this entry uncertainty simultaneously prompts the firm to rely more heavily on learning from the observation of others entering which, in turn, hastens its entry. Patterns are opposite for firms that can leverage their standing routines into the new market. Here, greater operating experience and resultant momentum to extrapolate existing routines reduce a firm’s uncertainty about the feasibility of entry. This directly accelerates their entry but also diminishes the indirect, accelerating influence of observational learning. Because of these opposite dynamics, entry rates between firms with these different types of prior operating experience begin to diminish. Empirical analysis of entry patterns into the deregulation-created electric power trading market supports our theory and calls for modifications to previous expectations of prior operating experience exerting either a purely delaying or accelerating effect on entry, and, further, draws attention to the indirect pathways through which prior experience shapes entry patterns.

中文翻译：

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先前运营经验和观察性学习对新市场进入的矛盾影响

我们研究了先前的运营经验如何与观察学习相互作用，从而对市场进入产生矛盾的影响。当一个新市场扰乱了公司的常规惯例时，这些惯例的更多运营经验会使适应复杂化，并增加公司对进入可行性的不确定性，从而延迟其进入。然而，这种进入的不确定性同时促使公司更多地依赖从其他进入的观察中学习，这反过来又加速了它的进入。对于那些可以利用他们的常规进入新市场的公司来说，模式是相反的。在这里，更丰富的运营经验和由此产生的推动现有惯例的动力减少了公司对进入可行性的不确定性。这直接加速了他们的进入，但也减少了间接的，加速观察学习的影响。由于这些相反的动态，具有这些不同类型先前运营经验的公司之间的进入率开始下降。对放松管制造成的电力交易市场进入模式的实证分析支持我们的理论，并呼吁修改先前对先前运营经验的预期，对进入产生纯粹的延迟或加速影响，并进一步提请注意通过先前的经验塑造了进入模式。