BONDS OF MORALITY AND CHAINS OF POWER: HORIZONTAL AND VERTICAL NETWORKS IN THE CLYDE RIVER MARITIME ECONOMY.

Abstract

Breaking typical conventions of treating inter-organizational networks as atomized forms, this paper explores networks' fundamental connectedness with the broader social structure. Using data from the shipbuilding and shipping industries on the Clyde River from 1711 to 1990, I examine how horizontal intra-industry ties, vertical ties between industries, and other social institutions interacted to shape economic action in the local economy. I find that whereas horizontal ties benefited firms in both the shipbuilding and shipping industries, the vertical ties that connect actors across these industries helped builders but harmed owners. Additional analyses uncover two distinct sets of norms that influenced the distribution of value in these networks. Value appropriation in horizontal networks was governed by moral considerations, where strong firms supported their weaker counterparts. By contrast, vertical connections approximated power and dependence relations, as strong firms leveraged value from their weaker exchange partners.