Influence in Corporate Networks: An Examination of Four Measures
评估了四种衡量大企业网络影响力的定量方法，并基于1904年美国大企业数据与历史记录对比，发现更复杂的测量方法更符合历史记载。
Research for this paper was partly funded by the National Science Foundation, grant #SOC 73-05606 and the Center for Social and Economic Research, Eastern Washington University, Cheney, Washington. Bunting's contributions were made while on leave at the Sociology Board, University of California at Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, California. We wish to acknowledge the assistance and encouragement of G. William Domhoff, Mark Granovetter, Charles Hoffmann, Donald Palmer, Michael Schwartz, Katherine Teves, Eugene Weinstein, and William C. Hoekendorf. This study evaluates four quantitative measures of influence in networks of large corporations: (1) the absolute number of interlocks; (2) the Bonacich centrality index; (3) a modification of the Bonacich index using strong ties only; and (4) a further modification of the Bonacich index using strong ties weighted for directionality. These measures are applied to data from a sample of large American corporations in 1904, and the results are compared with the historical record. Results from the more sophisticated measures are shown to more closely resemble historical accounts of the period. Implications of these findings for studies of intercorporate relations are discussed.*