Alliance experience has been a frequent topic in strategic alliance research in recent decades. Nonetheless, its performance consequences, either as a whole or differentiated into general versus partner-specific alliance experience, are neither theoretically clear nor empirically consistent. We use a range of meta-analytic techniques to integrate the empirical findings of 143 studies and provide a more conclusive assessment compared to prior research. Our study thus addresses a long-standing, understudied, and controversial topic: the distinction between the two types of alliance experiences. Going beyond traditional sub-group analysis, we reveal the contextual contingencies by examining how different types of alliance experiences and performance outcomes jointly affect the alliance experience–performance relationship. Moreover, we identify critical country-level institutional contingencies that moderate the focal effect.
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