Cosmopolitan Networks in Commerce and Society 1660–1914

MARK CASSON
communities established by the emigrants may affiliate into an
organization that promotes their traditional values. From time to
time the whole family may reassemble for an important ‘rite of passage’
of one of its leading members, or for some ceremony to honour
the common ancestors.
6. Volatility and Innovation
If a physical network operated in a totally stable environment then
there would be little day-to-day need for coordination. Each day the
same routine would be followed. A rigid system of command and
control working on a regular cycle would be perfectly adequate to
coordinate physical flows, much like a railway signalling system
driven by the dictates of a daily timetable.
In fact the economic environment is constantly changing, creating
a continual need to modify levels of production and patterns of trade
throughout the global economy. As new trade routes open up, new
demands for infrastructure arise. Networks of transport and communication
evolve, breaking some connections, but also bringing distant
places into closer contact with each other.
In addition, intellectual curiosity and the quest for greater economy
stimulates scientific discovery. In a private enterprise economy
individuals can profit from discoveries through innovation. To produce
and distribute new products, innovators create new networks
of customers and suppliers, and possibly destroy the networks built
up by their established competitors in the process. Thus while established
networks influence the type of information discovered, the
discovery of new information feeds back to alter the structure of networks
too.
Social networks also spread news, including information about
new investment opportunities. The diffusion of news speeds up
adjustment to change. News can be spread in two main ways: by
local contact, through conversation with neighbours in a small
group; or through broadcasting to members of a larger group.
A leader may emerge who controls broadcast information. The
leader may promote particular beliefs about the environment and
censor or discredit competing views. He may also favour certain
types of institution over others, for example, preferring large firms to
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