Altruism with Social Roots: an Emerging Literature

This paper analyzes the emerging literature on the determinants of giving within a social network. We propose two main explanatory variables for previous experimental results on the friendship effect. The first is social integration, which has a positive impact on giving. The second variable is strategic and is based on reciprocity: the possibility of ex-post favors. Econometric analysis shows that both variables play a positive (and significant) role.giving, social networks, reciprocity, social integration.

Altruism with Social Roots: An Emerging Literature

This paper analyzes the emerging literature on the determinants of giving within a social network. We propose two main explanatory variables for previous experimental results on the friendship effect. The first is social integration, which has a positive impact on giving. The second variable is strategic and is based on reciprocity: the possibility of ex-post favors. Econometric analysis shows that both variables play a positive (and significant) role.giving, social networks, reciprocity, social integration

Knowledge flow across inter-firm networks: the influence of network resources, spatial proximity, and firm size

The objective of this paper is to analyze the characteristics and nature of the networks firms utilize to access knowledge and facilitate innovation. The paper draws on the notion of network resources, distinguishing two types: social capital – consisting of the social relations and networks held by individuals; and network capital – consisting of the strategic and calculative relations and networks held by firms. The methodological approach consists of a quantitative analysis of data from a survey of firms operating in knowledge-intensive sectors of activity. The key findings include: social capital investment is more prevalent among firms frequently interacting with actors from within their own region; social capital investment is related to the size of firms; firm size plays a role in knowledge network patterns; and network dynamism is an important source of innovation. Overall, firms investing more in the development of their inter-firm and other external knowledge networks enjoy higher levels of innovation. It is suggested that an over-reliance on social capital forms of network resource investment may hinder the capability of firms to manage their knowledge networks. It is concluded that the link between a dynamic inter-firm network environment and innovation provides an alternative thesis to that advocating the advantage of network stability

BUILDING UP SOCIAL CAPITAL IN A CHANGING WORLD

This paper models the dynamic process through which a large society may succeed in building up its "social capital" by establishing a stable and dense pattern of interaction among its members. In the model, agents interact according to a collection of (idyosincratic) infinitely repeated Prisoner's Dilemma played on the existing social network. This network not only specifies the playing partners but, crucially, also determines how relevant strategic information diffuses or new cooperation opportunities are found. Over time, the underlying payoffs randomly change, i.e. display some "volatility". In response to it, agents react by creating new links and removing others. This combines into a complex but ergodic dynamic process, whose analysis is undertaken in different ways. First, we rely on its ergodicity to "compute" numerically its long-run regularities. Second, we use mean-field approximations to derive analytical results. Both routes are found in accord and also complementary. The long-run dynamics of the process sharply depends on environmental volatility, displaying the following features: (a) Only if volatility is not too high can the society sustain a dense social network and thus attain a large average payoff. (b) The social architecture endogenously responds to increased volatility by becoming more cohesive. (c) Network-based strategic effects are an essential buffer that preclude the abrupt collapse of the social network in the face of growing volatility. These conclusions are largely in tune with the points stressed in the social-capital literature.social capital, volatility.

Análisis de redes sociales aplicado a la producción científica forestal española, ISI-1994/2003

We analyzed the scientific production by Spanish forest collection ISI (Institute for Scientific Information Inc.) in SCI-Web of Science from 1994 to 2003, by applying social network analysis to the network of research topics, previously obtained by analysis associated word, the latter giving the strategic diagram of the major research topics, subnets descriptors and magazines and the authors of each subject. The use of social network analysis allows better visualization of the network of research topics and improves and expands the analysis of forest research during the study perio

Agricultural Producer Cooperatives as Strategic Alliances

In this paper we examine the linkages between four bodies of business-to-business relationship theory (transaction cost analysis, the resource-based theory of the firm (RBV), social network theory and theories of trust and cooperation) to the design and governance of agricultural cooperatives. Defining a cooperative broadly as any type of alliance formed by producers for their mutual benefit, we base the discussion on three types of cooperative; traditional, "new generation" and learning networks. Our main focus is on cooperatives as an alliance between members, but we also discuss alliances between cooperatives We find that there is a gap in the literature relating to the analysis of alliances with more than two members (such as cooperatives), so the linkages between the theories and cooperative types must be seen as being somewhat tentative. We hypothesise that the RBV, social network theory and trust and cooperation theories are in fact, applicable to multiple-member alliances, but their relevance is likely to become less as the number of members increase.agricultural cooperatives, strategic alliances, transaction cost analysis, the resource-based view, social network theory, trust and cooperation, new generation cooperatives, learning networks., Agribusiness,

Strategic Positioning in Mafia Networks

This paper analyzes two criminal networks belonging to the \u2017Ndrangheta, a mafia-type criminal organization originating from Calabria, a Southern Italian Region. The literature on criminal networks argues that differences in the degree and betweenness centrality measures may highlight strategic positioning patterns for criminals capable of reducing risk of detection and maintaining control over the criminal activities at the same time. However, the identification of this strategic pattern is difficult whenever, as frequently happens, centrality measures are highly correlated The paper analyzes network positioning in two mafia-type organizations, where degree and betweenness centrality were highly correlated. The analysis focuses on specific characteristics of the individuals in the networks (task, hierarchy and social status within each group) and how these relate to network positioning (centrality scores and clustering coefficient) and the outcome of the criminal proceedings (accusation, arrest, conviction and sentence in months). Results show that task and hierarchy are highly associated with network centrality, but also with accusation, arrest and conviction. Contrarily, high social status within the networks shows limited association with network centrality and the outcome of criminal proceedings. This may reveal patterns of strategic positioning which could not be identified solely though network analysis measures

An Application of Social Network Analysis on Military Strategy, System Networks and the Phases of War

The research developed in this study will utilize Social Network and Graph Theory terminology and methodology applied to groups of systems, rather than individuals within a given system, in order to shape strategic level goals. With regard to military operations, Social Network Analysis has been used to show that enemy networks and relationships can be accurately represented using weighted layers with weighted relationships in order to identify the key player(s) that must be influenced and/or removed so that a particular effect on the enemy might be realized. Social Network Analysis is therefore a significant tool concerning tactical level of operations that aids in developing a targeting methodology which aids tactical commanders in mission planning, however has never been applied to strategic levels of Command. Like previous key player problems, this research will utilize system attributes and global relational strengths as inputs. The output results will rank order representative systems of interest that satisfy the constraints and desired objectives within a particular Phase of War. This work will apply and extend the tools of Social Network Analysis structure and techniques to a theater level mission