Heterogeneous Ties Research Articles

Regional Buddhist Communities in Tang China and Their Social Networks: The Network of Master Fayun (?–766)

This paper investigates the formation of monastic networks in Tang Dynasty (618–907) China, focusing primarily on the Buddhist traditions of Tiantai, Chan and Vinaya, which have yet to be explored as a series of related regional movements. Central to this effort is a dataset that documents over 2000 interactions between some 700 actors that were extracted from stelae inscriptions, monastic biographical collections, historical accounts, letters, and poems. The network data show two clear patterns in the organization of regional Buddhist communities: (1) individual actors bridged cliques of monastics and officials; (2) both monastics and officials contributed to network activities. To illustrate these two patterns, this paper focuses on the ego-network of Fayun 法雲 (?–766), a prominent Vinaya leader based in Jiangsu region, as an example of the formation and evolution of regional Buddhist communities in southern China. Degree centrality indicates that Fayun was one of the central figures in the southern Buddhist landscape of the early eighth century. By tracing his heterogeneous ties with prominent state officials, local authorities, and monastics affiliated with the Tiantai, Chan, and Vinaya traditions, this study outlines general patterns in the formation and legitimization of regional Buddhist communities in Tang China. All three traditions are revealed as intersecting social formations that were sustained through shared ties with local and nationally prominent bureaucrats.

Homophily, Setbacks, and the Dissolution of Heterogeneous Ties: Evidence from Professional Tennis

Homophily, Setbacks, and the Dissolution of Heterogeneous Ties: Evidence from Professional Tennis

Shedding Light on Peri-Urban Ecosystem Services Using Automated Content Analysis

The objective of this paper is to provide an overall perspective on peri-urban ecosystem services in European Countries. The phenomenon of urbanization affecting our era has seen the shift of the city from compact and well-defined structures to agglomerations with a seamless expansion. This has led to several environmental consequences that have affected the urbanized areas and the surroundings. The peri-urban areas may be the main urban design and planning challenge of the 21st century. These hybrid landscapes, characterized by high fragmentation, can be turned into opportunities to improve the sustainability and quality of urban areas, generating multiple economic, social and environmental benefits. Areas beyond the immediate urban core can be considered a zone of influence, which represent a critical resource in terms of provisioning, regulating, supporting services and cultural ecosystem services. Our study has been developed in the framework of the project “Fertile Lands, Fragile Lands” funded by the University of Catania. A multi-phased method has been applied, showing strong, heterogeneous ties between landscape and ecosystem services. While the importance of literature studies on this topic is well recognized, the same attention has not been placed on the tools and methods of conducting systematic and incremental literature reviews. Using Leximancer software, we propose a text mining approach to extract relevant themes and concepts as well as related topics of interest from identified literature on peri-urban ecosystems. We first introduce the overall methodology and then discuss each phase in detail. The outputs can be used as starting point for broad exploratory reviews and allow further exploration in this issue. The results show how the peri-urban space can be seen as a mosaic in which the settlement, the agricultural and the environmental systems interact and coexist, placing at the centre the relationship of reciprocity between the built environment and the open territory.

Homophily in the formation and development of learning networks among university students

AbstractStudents’ personal learning networks can be a valuable resource of success in higher education: they offer opportunities for academic and personal support and provide sources of information related to exams or homework. We study the determinants of learning networks using a panel study among university students in their first and second year of study. A long-standing question in social network analysis has been whether the tendency of individuals with similar characteristics to form ties is a result of preferences “choice homophily” or rather selective opportunities “induced homophily”. We expect a latent preference for homophilic learning partnerships with regard to attributes, such as gender, ability, and social origin. We estimate recently developed temporal exponential random graph models to control for previous network structure and study changes in learning ties among students. The results show that especially for males, same-gender partnerships are preferred over heterogeneous ties, while chances for tie formation decrease with the difference in academic ability among students. Social origin is a significant factor in the crosssectional exploration but does appear to be less important in the formation of new (strong) partnerships during the course of studies.

Board social capital reduces implied cost of capital for private companies but not of state-owned companies

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to analyze how the type of ownership and control moderates the effect of the board social capital on the implied cost of capital. To do so, the authors analyzed the effect of the board social capital by the relational resources present in its direct and heterogenous ties, considering the predictions of analysts about the implied cost of capital.Design/methodology/approachThe data panel comprised 137 companies listed on the Brazilian stock exchange between the years of 2002 and 2015, generating a total of 535 observations. The authors check the robustness of the results through instrumental variables and systems of equations, as well as compete for the effect of board social capital both by the board and ownership structures.FindingsResults show that the board relational resources, both in direct and heterogeneous ties, significantly reduce the implied cost of capital for private companies, but not for state-owned companies. Board social capital reduces the cost of capital even when the results compete with the board structure and concentration of ownership, being able to mitigate the discount in the cost of capital by the presence of dominant shareholders.Originality/valueThis study uses a more theoretically and empirically comprehensive measure of board social capital than the majority of studies that use only network position indicators. So, contrasting the effect of this measure on the implied cost of capital between private and state-owned companies, the authors also demonstrate that the board social capital can mitigate the discount by ownership concentration on the implied cost of capital.

Does the capital of social capital matter? Relational resources of the board and the performance of Brazilian companies

Based on theories of social capital, in this study, we seek to assess the impact of a board’s social capital on the market value of companies listed on the Brazilian stock exchange. As our indicator of social capital, we use the relational resources identified in the direct, indirect and heterogeneous ties of the board. Employing panel data from 508 observations, our results indicate that heterogeneous relational resources have a stronger and more significant influence than the resources available from board members’ direct relationships. Additionally, as the effects of board interlock are endogenously determined by several factors related to the firm level, we seek to mitigate the endogeneity problem using models of instrumental variables and simultaneous equations. Our hypotheses were consistent after controlling for endogeneity. We also check whether the board’s social capital could present a U-inverted effect on the market value. This relationship was only plausible in social capital by indirect ties. Finally, we isolate the effect of relational resources within and between industries on Tobin’s Q. There was no significant effect through interlocks within the same industry. However, ties with companies in several other industries were significant.

Does the Capital of Social Capital Matter? Relational Resources of the Board and the Performance of Brazilian Companies

Based on theories of social capital, in this study, we seek to assess the impact of a board’s social capital on the market value of companies listed on the Brazilian stock exchange. As our indicator of social capital, we use the relational resources found in the direct, indirect and heterogeneous ties of the board. Employing panel data from 508 observations, our results indicate that heterogeneous relational resources have a stronger and more significant influence than the resources available from board members’ direct relationships. Additionally, as the effects of board interlock are endogenously determined by several factors related to the firm level, we seek to mitigate the endogeneity problem using models of instrumental variables and simultaneous equations. Our hypotheses were consistent after controlling for endogeneity. We also check if the board’s social capital could present a U-inverted effect on the market value. This relationship was only plausible in social capital by indirect ties. Finally, we isolate the effect of relational resources within and between industries on Tobin’s Q. There was no significant effect through interlocks within the same industry. However, ties with companies in some other industries were significant.

Bridge and redundant ties in networks: the impact on innovation in food SMEs

Purpose– The purpose of this paper is to study the impact of networks diversity on innovation activity of firms. It aims to review the structural issue in innovation networks and to distinguish different structures of networks for product and process innovation through an empirical research.Design/methodology/approach– Using a data set of 348 European agri-food firms, the authors study the impact of bridge and redundant ties on product and process innovation of firms. This is an empirical research based on an online survey in five European countries.Findings– The finding shows that bridge ties (measured by the number of heterogeneous networks in which firm participate) always facilitate product innovation in firms. The authors found also that a high number of heterogeneous ties in term of partners (simultaneous presence of redundant and non-redundant ties) motivate both product and process innovation in firms. Furthermore, the authors found a positive impact of network competence on process innovation.Research limitations/implications– The measures of bridge ties and redundant ties are indirect measures. This choice is a willing choice. Direct measurement of bridge and redundant ties always requires in-depth interviews with firms managers and thereby are limited by the number of observations.Originality/value– Research on innovations networks are dominated by case studies and researches with limited number of observations. Studying the networking behaviour, particularly the tie selection, of a wide range of firms brings additional knowledge in this field of research.

Network ties and absorptive capacity for learning and decision-making

The decision-making literature emphasizes that social ties play an important role in high-stake decisions. However, research on small- and medium-sized enterprises has only partially covered these influences by focusing on the direct link between social ties and the effectiveness of decision-making. In this paper, we focus on absorptive capacity of decision-makers as a critical mechanism that gives social ties their potency in explaining collaborative decision-making in an inter-organizational network (ION) context. In a sample of key individuals in 13 export consortia, this study identifies the extent to which the characteristics of personal network affect individuals’ absorptive capacity. Our results suggest that weak and heterogeneous ties between key individuals in an ION are central mechanisms that influence their ability to access, assimilate, transform and utilize information. However, indirect ties do not show a positive impact on absorptive capacity, as it was hypothesized. Our findings add to the literature on the role of network ties in collaborative decision-making by making explicit a mechanism through which personal network of individuals in an ION influence their information-processing capabilities for effective decision-making. We show that decision-making in interfirm networks is not only a political process but also a learning process.

The Role of Networks in Small and Medium‐Sized Enterprise Innovation and Firm Performance

The objective of this paper is to understand the contribution of networks to innovation and firm performance in small and medium enterprises (SMEs). Based on longitudinal data from 1,435 SMEs, we show that strong, heterogeneous ties improve innovation in SMEs. However, the connections between network ties and firm performance are more complex than previously thought, as the positive association is mediated by innovation. Consequently, SMEs should only concentrate on cultivating and maintaining networks if they lead directly to improvements in innovation.