Politics and the Evolution of Inter-firm Networks: A Post-Communist Lesson
研究一个国家政治制度构建方式如何影响工业网络的延续与变化，以捷克共产主义时期及之后的工业网络演变为案例，指出网络稳定性与变化源于政府制度建设的政治路径，而非纯网络内部因素。
This article attempts to account for both continuity and change in network structures and relationships by analyzing how a country's political approach to institution building shapes the reproduction of industrial networks. While firm-level actors may develop tenacious socio-economic relationships, the authority structure of a network emerges from the ways certain constituent firms align themselves with public institutions. I empirically examine this approach by analyzing the evolution of Czech industrial networks during and after communism. The fragility, eventual stability, and subsequent changes in networks come not from purely `intra-network' factors, but rather from the political approaches of the government toward institution building. In short, this article aims to renew our focus on the origin and evolution of social capital and networks by enjoining network analysis with recent work in political economy.