Reorganization and Tie Decay Choices

Whereas most research on network evolution has focused on the role of interaction opportunities in the formation of new ties, this paper addresses tie decay choices. When the opportunity structure gets reorganized, social actors make choices about which ties to retain and which to allow to decay, in...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inManagement science Vol. 64; no. 5; pp. 2219 - 2237
Main Author Kleinbaum, Adam M.
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Linthicum INFORMS 01.05.2018
Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences
Subjects
Choice (Psychology)
Choices
Machiavellianism
natural experiments
network dynamics
Organizational behavior
Organizational research
Reorganization
Social aspects
Social networks
Social psychology
Social structure
tie decay
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Summary:Whereas most research on network evolution has focused on the role of interaction opportunities in the formation of new ties, this paper addresses tie decay choices. When the opportunity structure gets reorganized, social actors make choices about which ties to retain and which to allow to decay, informed by their past experience of the tie. I argue that, conditional on changes in opportunity, people (especially those with Machiavellian personalities) choose to retain ties to valuable contacts, they retain reciprocated ties (especially with highly empathic others), and they retain socially embedded ties (especially if they are low self-monitors). The empirical design, which exploits a randomized natural experiment, confirms these hypotheses and suggests that our understanding of tie decay choices—and, consequently, of network evolution—is enhanced by an integrated theoretical perspective that encompasses both social structure and social psychology. This paper was accepted by Olav Sorenson, organizations.
ISSN:0025-1909
1526-5501
DOI:10.1287/mnsc.2016.2705