Centrality Of Actors Research Articles

Damocles's Switchboard: Information Externalities and the Autocratic Logic of Internet Control

Abstract This paper advances a theory for the autocratic logic of internet control. Politically motivated internet control generates a positive externality for domestic data-intensive firms and a negative externality for domestic knowledge-intensive research entities. Exploiting a major internet control shock in 2014, I find that Chinese data-intensive firms gained 26 percent in revenue over other Chinese firms as the result of internet control. The same shock incurred a 10 percent decline in research quality from Chinese researchers, conditional on the knowledge intensity of their discipline. It also reduced the research quality from Chinese researchers relative to their US counterparts by 22 percent in all disciplines. Due to the positive data externality, internet control enacted to prevent domestic threats challenges the state's competing need for data sovereignty against foreign threats. Meanwhile, the state shields certain foreign knowledge-intensive actors from the negative knowledge externality to avoid the immediate economic costs they might otherwise impose. Qualitative evidence supports both implications, highlighting the centrality of short-term interests and foreign actors in autocratic decision making.

Integration of Indian inventor networks in global value chains in pharmaceuticals industry

ABSTRACT The network approach of value chain analysis examines the role and centrality of various actors and their interrelationships with other actors, besides establishing the role of external linkages in this process. This paper tries to combine the effect of research networks on the geographic dispersion of innovative activity in the Indian pharmaceutical industry. We use activity-wise data from USPTO's patents to establish the level of integration of Indian innovative firms in the pharmaceutical global value chain. Using Tobit analysis, we examine the nature of the collaborative pattern of firms and establish whether this pattern of the inventor network level translates to integration into global networks in terms of geographic dispersion. We analyse the geographic dispersion of inventor networks as a function of the characteristics of the innovative actors that coordinate their inventive work. We show the level of integration of Indian innovative firms in the pharmaceuticals global value chain and assess the structure of these research networks. This helped contextualize firms' roles by contrasting them with other institutional types. The level of integration of Indian firms is low in terms of the geographic dispersal of innovation networks, while the private universities and public research centres are more geographically dispersed.

Executive hour or political competition in times of crisis?—An analysis of public crisis reporting on the COVID‐19 lockdowns in Germany

AbstractWhile much work has looked at how governments responded to the Corona pandemic, little consideration has been given to how the crisis affected party competition and what positions political actors took during this period. How were political actors' positions on COVID‐19 portrayed in daily newspapers? And how can we explain these patterns? To answer these questions, this article examines the discourse surrounding both German lockdown decisions by analyzing the public coverage of two German daily newspapers. By means of discourse network analysis, the most central actors of the public discourse are revealed at first. Second, relevant factors influencing the discourse centrality of political actors are analyzed. Therefore, a linear regression is performed to identify party‐political factors that have a significant influence on political actors' discourse centrality. Participation in the executive branch in the Länder and federal level as well as having candidate status emerge as central factors influencing discourse centrality.

Contemporary fellow travellers: Egyptian Revolutionary Socialists and the theory and political practice of Marxism

Within academic discourses of postcolonial theory, much has been written on whether and how Marxism can be drawn on to understand the ‘postcolonial world’ and, in this regard, what the relations between Eurocentrism and Marxism are. In practice, Marxism remains a core analytical framework for many emancipatory movements from the Global South, as is the case for Egyptian organisation of Revolutionary Socialists, whose popularity grew during the 2011 Egyptian Revolution. The following paper is based on anthropological research with Egyptian Revolutionary Socialists in exile and the political underground. It showcases that many academic postcolonial debates sideline the agency of Marxist social actors from the Global South, their theoretical and practical endeavours, and their own modes of knowledge production. It is through the agency of Revolutionary Socialist social actors that Marxism travels from below, is translated, (re)read, debated, and materialises itself in given contexts. I highlight how Egyptian Revolutionary Socialists utilise Marxism as a living theory in their contemporary political practice and argue that their practice in exile as fellow travellers can be understood as a reconfiguration of the concept of travelling theory into travelling theory from below. Herein the centrality of social actors’ practice in grasping theory manifests itself.

Dr Hunter’s Plague: Gender, Race and Photography in British India

From politicians to physicians, the opening years of India’s plague epidemic (1896–1900) have conventionally been treated as a male-dominated sphere of activity. This article argues for the centrality of female actors—as doctors, nurses and ‘ward ayahs’—and across the social spectrum from dalits to Europeans. Photography demonstrates the prominence and diversity of women’s plague roles; it helps to complicate a text-based narrative of plague at the intersection of gender, race, class and colonialism. Images augment and not merely document. The value of combining visual and textual sources is underscored by focusing on a single institution, the General Plague Hospital in Poona (Pune) and on a woman doctor, Marion Hunter, whose photographic presence and whose views in and after India highlight the tensions and contradictions of a gendered as well as racialised imperial presence.

Do the networks always reveal the truth? The case of tripartite business incubator in Kenya, Uganda and Zambia

PurposeThe existing literature on business incubators has rarely addressed network establishments thus far. The purpose of this study is to shed light on the process of network formation and its structure during the incubator creation process. The study focuses on establishing a network involving three key types of partners in the initial phase of setting up four agribusiness incubators. These partners come from universities, research organisations and private companies operating in a developing context.Design/methodology/approachThis study uses social network theory, using a combination of qualitative and network survey approaches in Kenya, Uganda and Zambia. The qualitative data were used to investigate partnership formation, while the network survey was conducted to map the organisational network of business incubator partners. Constructs of social network theory, including relational content, relational form, centrality of actors and instrumentality, were qualitatively measured in this study.FindingsThe findings indicate that partners rely on previous informal relationships, which are formalised during the creation of business incubator partnerships. In the African context, once these relationships are formalised, they become part of what is referred to as business networks, irrespective of the nature of the relationship content. Personal networks serve as precursors to establishing organisational networks that cater to incubated firms. Incubator partners facilitate the networking process and enhance the formation of new connections in the early-stage partnership-based tripartite business incubators. They act as brokers, bridging structural holes by coordinating actors across the hole and linking disconnected nodes by activating their sub-networks. The results reveal that the partners' level of embeddedness in various organisational settings increases the diversity of contacts integrated into the incubator networks. In terms of relational content, partners tend to perceive the ties as business-oriented, even though the content of the relationship may differ. The strength of relationships depends on their formalization and the frequency of interaction.Research limitations/implicationsThe findings of the study contradict the reviewed social network literature, emphasising the necessity to adapt methodological approaches based on the cultural and institutional context in which they are applied. The social network questionnaire requires modification when used in different contexts and settings. Specifically, methodologies should be adjusted in situations where actors need to be discreet concerning their various relationships. It is important to note that organisational culture does influence actors' behaviours.Practical implicationsThis study is deemed relevant to managers and practitioners of business incubators alike. It highlights that understanding the contextual factors that influence networking practices, the type and strength of networks and the resources provided to participants are crucial elements that should be considered in future policy and intervention initiatives.Originality/valueThis paper addresses the identified gap in examining network formation during the establishment of business incubators. The research is significant as it provides insights into networking at the incubator level of analysis within a tripartite business incubator setup. Ultimately, this paper helps increase our understanding of networking within the context of emerging countries.

The population ecology of sustainable agriculture knowledge networks: insights from California

Sustainable agricultural knowledge networks consist of heterogeneous actors who collaborate and share knowledge to advance the goals of sustainable agriculture. We analyze how the structure of sustainable agriculture knowledge networks is related to the social-ecological context across 57 counties in California. We apply a population ecology approach that identifies variables related to the space, energy, and stability of the social-ecological context in which networks evolve. Using data from a 2016 survey of agricultural outreach and extension professionals, we find four different types of networks at different stages of development, which vary in the centrality of key actors associated with the University of California. The most highly developed networks exist in agriculturally productive counties with diverse crops. The population ecology variables relate differently to the size versus structure of knowledge networks, which implies a need for ambidextrous extension strategies customized to different types of network processes.

Social Networks and Knowledge Transfer in International Construction Joint Venture Projects: A Case Study in Thailand

International joint ventures (IJVs) are a specific type of strategic alliance between contractors from developed and developing countries and have been increasingly used. IJVs between multinational organisations are considered a successful strategy to benefit from international market opportunities in the globalised world. International construction joint ventures (ICJVs) have become of significant interest as the global construction market continues to be integrated into the more competitive business environment. The aim of this article is to uncover the knowledge transfer (KT) practices in an ICJV using social network analysis (SNA). The case presented here is the pilot study. A total of 19 questionnaire surveys were undertaken with selected team members. UCINET 6.0, an SNA package, was used to analyse the collected data and NetDraw was used to visualise the sociogram. This article first presents the actors' attributes; then, social network characteristics, which consist of network structure, network density and degree of centrality and cliques of actors, are presented. This analysis will be used to identify the key actors that influence the KT processes in this case study.

Minority Actorness Through a Non-Europeanised Policy Area

Abstract By bringing together the literatures on Europeanisation and minority studies, this article illustrates the centrality of actors representing national minorities as a key to understand Europeanisation of minority politics today. Minority politics is becoming Europeanised indeed, however, not in the ways commonly expected. And although the EU repeatedly fails to develop a clear minority policy, an actor-centred approach adopted in this study helps to reveal how minority actors extend their political strategies to the European level through different channels and how they exploit various opportunities stemming from European-level politics. Jacquot and Woll’s concept of ‘usages of Europe’ not only enables us to trace how actors multiply channels and arenas of participation, but it also helps to spot the emergence of tactics of experimentation with European-level norms and rules, contributing to an acquisition of new roles among minority actors and supporting an actorness formation among those active. As the actors engage in criticising EU institutions, they develop tactics of responsibilising which in turn affects their minority agendas and the actors themselves. In this respect, this study contributes to developing the weakly studied literature about minority agency and Europeanisation.

Institutional dependencies in climate adaptation of transport infrastructures: an Institutional Network Analysis approach

Climate adaptation measures are shaped and implemented through processes of governance, where the interactions and decision-making among actors lead to the creation and reinforcement of institutions. Institutions in this respect are the rules that shape the interactions of actors in different phases of climate adaptation. Currently there is no comprehensive method to systematically identify and map dependencies between institutions. This study proposes the Institutional Network Analysis (INA) approach that is based on the Institutional Grammar as a systematic and comprehensive tool to (1) visualise institutional dependencies, (2) identify points of concern in the institutional landscape such as conflicts and voids, and (3) provide quantitative insights into the centrality of actors, embeddedness of institutional outcomes, and dependencies between institutions. The approach is applied to the case of climate adaptation of transport infrastructures surrounding the Port of Rotterdam, the Netherlands. The analysis reveals a conflict in the use of risk assessment criteria, as parties in the Port may follow their own matrices in the presence of a shared decision-making framework. Nonetheless, the network metric analysis reveals that the criteria, whether shared or individual, build on the same source of risk analysis, suggesting that this duality may not be detrimental for climate adaptation efforts. Additionally, an institutional void is identified for financial responsibilities in locations where infrastructures overlap. Finally, the network metrics show high dependency between institutions in the risk dialogue phase, and reveal the centrality of infrastructure owners ProRail and RWS in the institutional landscape instead of local or regional governmental bodies.

A social network analysis of internally displaced communities in northeast Nigeria: potential conflicts with host communities in the Lake Chad region

In this study, we aim to analyze social networks in which internally displaced persons (IDPs) are involved in northeast Nigeria, after they have been displaced by the insurgency of the Boko Haram group. While IDPs usually resettle in camps operated by the government, contacts with host communities are common. We further analyze the potential that such contacts may lead to conflicts between IDPs and their host communities in the Lake Chad region. Data for this study were collected by interviewing IDPs in the Bakassi IDP camp in Maiduguri and by interviewing members of the host community in Maiduguri in close proximity to the Bakassi IDP camp. A Social Network Analysis approach was used to analyze the data, by constructing social network graphs and computing network attributes, mainly the betweenness centrality of actors. The results of the study show on the one hand a mixture of friendly and conflicting relationships between IDPs and the host community from the IDPs’ perspective, and on the other hand, only few contacts between members of the host community and IDPs in the Bakassi IDP camp, from the host community's perspective. The analysis suggests that in the context of conflict present in the Lake Chad region, IDPs and members of the host community mainly use closed networks, to keep available resources and economic opportunities within their communities. We recommend a better service delivery to IDPs but also to members of the host communities who feel neglected as more attention is given to IDPs with the distribution of humanitarian aid.

Recalibrating Everyday Space: Using Section 24 of the South African Constitution to Resolve Contestation in the Urban and Spatial Environment

Positioned as existing predominantly within a green agenda, the right to an environment (section 24 of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996) presents numerous opportunities for rights-based interpretation in the "brown" urban and spatial environment. In this article I conduct such an exercise, focussing on both the right to freedom of movement (section 21 of the Constitution) and the right to the safety and security of the person (section 12 of the Constitution). I begin by drawing out the historical and contemporary spatial implications of both rights, drawing on empirical research that demonstrates how the enclosure of everyday space through gating practices and private securitisation in the South African city serves to extend spatial apartheid into the current day. A siloed interpretation of both rights, however, leads to an impasse between the two. Both rights are prima facie of an equal value in a constitutional setting.
 To resolve this standoff, I argue for the use of the environmental right as a constitutional value. This is an underutilised right in the South African Constitution, and yet it holds much promise given how it seeks to protect the health and wellbeing of both present and future generations.
 There are two benefits to employing the environmental right as a constitutional value. First, the environmental right situates both section 12 and section 21 in a symbiosis of individual claims to shared resources, in the process recalibrating the human ecology of the urban and spatial environment away from the centrality of dominant actors and towards a polycentricity of interests. In so doing, section 24 provides a fuller and more connected picture of both rights.
 Second, the duty implicit in the environmental right reveals how to begin realising these rights on a wider scale that goes beyond individual injustices and towards community justice. I argue strongly that this duty exists on the state: left unattended to, everyday space becomes the preserve of those with the means – financial or otherwise – to shape space according to their own anti-public interests. In this regard, I present two instances of policy and legal choices available to the state that serve to undo contemporary experiences of spatial apartheid

Public-private innovation networks in services: Revisiting PPPs with servitization

This article investigates to what extent and how public-private innovation networks in services (PPINSs) can provide an original understanding of servitization-based innovations in ecosystems. To do this, we examined the biopharmaceutical industry in the Ile-de-France region in north-central France. We performed a longitudinal study from 2005 to 2016, building on structural holes and personal network efficiency methodology. Our results confirm the centrality of public actors in structuring and diffusing knowledge within a PPINS; the role of structural holes in controlling and filtering transferred knowledge, the main beneficiaries of which are private actors; and finally, the evolution and development of the PPINS around these central private/public actors. The network reveals that product-service innovation in the sector would be difficult to achieve without complex private/public interdependencies (knowledge, big data, logistics, digital therapies, etc.). Our paper also stresses on the need to move forward the public economic model from a public service into an innovative service to the public.

Theoretical and Conceptual Considerations for Analyzing Social Interfaces in Agroecosystems

The current framework of agroecosystem (AES) knowledge focuses on a systemic approach or static structures rather than on dynamic processes that are defined historically. The hypothesis is that agroecosystems are the product of the interdependence of a diversity of actors (present and absent) and, therefore, constitute complex social interfaces, which, in order to address them, require a new understanding of the centrality of the actors and their capacity for agency. Then, regarding this complexity, some aspects are not clearly defined in the systemic approach which need to be more explicit such as: (a) the implicit psychosocial aspects and (b) the relationships with their social environment, how these affect them and are affected by them. The purpose of this document is to suggest a theoretical and conceptual approach to correct these unclear areas. First, the centrality of actors (including their agency capacity) in the AES is recognized. Besides, their interdependence with the diversity of actors (present and absent) and therefore the need to analyze the AES complex social interfaces.

Shaping Mobile Worlds in Asia: Human and Nonhuman Socialities

In these difficult, pressing and uncertain times, migration and mobility in Asia have been incorporated into the projects of state institutions, media and a range of civil society actors. These agendas engender and shape debates that include belonging and exclusion; social mobility and inequality; conflict, violence and persecution; economic growth and labor market outcomes; state regulation, governance and governmentality; as well as diversity and innovation. Where migratory flows and mobility are advancing significant economic, social, political, environmental and ethical concerns, it becomes imperative for us to rethink and unpack these core concepts in creative and multidisciplinary ways. To do so, we assemble a group of scholars from disciplines such as sociology, anthropology, and geography who work on a variety of topics related to migration studies, sensory scholarship, anthropology of documents, religion, knowledge mobilities, citizenship, and education. Various case studies to be featured in this special issue include Timor Leste, Singapore, Indonesia, China, Malaysia, Sri Lanka, India, and Taiwan. Collectively the authors critically consider the centrality of both human and non-human actors in constituting the different types, degree, and scales of migration and mobility. The articles in this collection engage with how people, objects, things, deities, discourses, and knowledge move across the different and multiple pathways that constitute everyday life in Asia, the shared regional focus of our various research projects. The collection further elicits the connectivities (or entanglements) and comparisons evinced in our individual research, and collectively, with the goal of critically revisiting and reworking our conceptual toolkits and methodologies.

Disputed Policy Change: The Role of Events, Policy Learning, and Negotiated Agreements

This paper explores policy change in Swedish coastal and marine conservation, identifying advocacy coalition factors—focusing internal and external events, policy learning, and negotiated agreements—that explain divergent outcomes in disputed national park planning processes. A longitudinal study, covering three decades of three planning processes, indicates that all factors matter. External and internal events, combined with policy learning or negotiated agreements, constituted the main change pathways. We noted that events' influence on learning and agreements was facilitated by policy brokers and mediated through new venues and altered actor strategies. The findings indicated that competing coalitions' policy beliefs influenced the specific routes taken and underlined the centrality of governmental actors to different outcomes. The study illustrates how political conflicts occur and are addressed in environmental governance, generates insights critical to implementing international and national conservation policy, and builds theoretical knowledge of pathways to policy change in disputed policy processes.

The organisational structure of transnational narcotics trafficking groups in Southeast Asia: a case study of Vietnam’s border with Laos

The Golden Triangle—the area where the borders of Thailand, Laos, and Myanmar converge—is considered one of the most complicated narcotics-trafficking hotspots in the world. More research is needed, however, to understand the supply and demand resources as well as the overall structure of transnational narcotics trafficking (TransNT) in this area and neighboring regions. The present paper provides an in-depth examination of the organisational structure of TransNT in the borderland between Vietnam and Laos, using multiple qualitative approaches to identify four key aspects of trafficking groups in this area: namely, group size, the relative centrality of lead actors in the trafficking networks, the flexibility and adaptability of network operations, and the personal attributes of traffickers. Depending on the number of drug traffickers involved, TransNT in Vietnam can be separated into small, medium, and large-scale groups; however, drug markets in Vietnam are not controlled by monopolistic groups or ‘cartels’. Notably, cross-border networks tend to have a fluid structure characterised by a sophisticated modus operandi from the preparation stages to the later stages of trafficking activity, enabling the criminal networks to achieve their goals.

Actors and justifications in media debates on Arctic climate change in Finland and Canada: A network approach

In this paper, we examine the centrality of policy actors and moral justifications in media debates on Arctic climate change in Finland and Canada from 2011–2015. We take a network approach on the media debates by analysing relations between the actors and justifications, using discourse network analysis on a dataset of 745 statements from four newspapers. We find that in both countries, governments and universities are the most central actors, whereas business actors are the least central. Justifications that value environmental sustainability and scientific knowledge are most central and used across actor types. However, ecological justifications are sometimes in conflict with market justifications. Government actors emphasize new economic possibilities in the Arctic whereas environmental organizations demand greater protection of the vulnerable Arctic. Ecological justifications and justifications that value international cooperation are more central in the Finnish debate, whereas justifications valuing sustainability and science, as well as those valuing national sovereignty, are more central in the Canadian debate. We conclude that in addition to the centrality of specific policy actors in media debates, the use of different types of moral justifications also reflects political power in the media sphere.

Knowledge and innovation diffusion in retailing clusters: an analysis based on the social perspective

This study addresses the diffusion of innovation in commercial clusters through the formal network analysis. The objective is to describe the innovation diffusion processes in business networks from Rogers' model perspective in which innovation is influenced by its social structure. The research considered the relation between centrality and diffusion potential of actors of a commercial cluster in Brazil. A survey was applied in the cluster of bars and restaurants of Vila Madalena region in Sao Paulo, Brazil. As result, the network with approximately 70 organisations was mapped. It allowed us to understand the social structure of the cluster, as well as the identification of the structural properties of the network. We found a significant relationship between centrality and innovation of the actors present in that cluster.

Communication network of buffalo farmers in lar Gili Rakit of Sumbawa Island West Nusa Tenggara, Indonesia

Transporting buffaloes to natural pasture (Lar) Gili Rakit by letting the buffaloes to swim in a bay locally called as “kebo nange”, is traditional management practiced by Sumbawa farmers. The information needs make individuals communicate with each other and form a communication network. This study determined the structure, cohesiveness, and centrality of actors of the Sumbawa farmers in the network of communication. 200 respondents from nine villages in Empang and Tarano Sub-districts were interviewed by using the snowball sampling method UCINET 6 was used to analyze their communication network and discussed descriptively. The results of the study show that the communication network of Sumbawa buffalo farmers in Gili Rakit the two villages are radial personal networks and seven villages are interlock personal network. The central network dominant and centered on the main actors namely actors 72, 190, 68, 132, and 104 in the network with the highest local centrality 191 ties, global centrality 96135 ties and the centrality of actors 18.382.875 ties.