(1985). Levine's Atlas of Corporate Interlocks. Connections ... - INSNA

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S) Corporation-Specific Activity Constants
In ordinary physical communication networks
there are many exceptions to the general
rule that great distance corresponds to less communication
or more difficult communication . In
the physical world 1 . at my home In rural New
Hampshire, am close to dozens of small New England
towns and far from New York City . Yet In
most cases it is easier, foster . and cheaper for
me to visit New York City . In the physical world
New York has access that transcends physical
proximity and the same in likely to be true in
the social world of corporate interlocks . Therefore,
1 hove modified the FRS technique with corporation-specific
activity constants that modify
the relation between the distance and the frequency
of interlocks .
Using activity constants, two corporations
with one interlock may be either very close or
very distant depending on the value of their constants
. If two corporations are distant, but
linked to each other, then their activity constants
ore large ; if two corporations ore close,
but unlinked, then their activity constants must
be *moll, and oil things being equal, their constents
are proportional to the number of links
between them . Thus, two corporations with high
activity constants may act like two major airports
In the physical world : They can be linked
across great distance without any implication
that they are linked to all the low-activity corporations
(minor "airports") that lie between .
They can be linked without being close .
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