Power in Negatively Connected Exchange Networks

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This study consists of a series of experiments testing different models for the determination of power in social exchange networks. The experiments will be set up so that it is possible to test the effects of nine different types of social networks on the exchange that occurs among individuals in the networks. Networks are different in size, in the number and direction of exchanges which can be made, in the values associated with an exchange between two individuals, and in the alternatives available outside the network. In the experiments, subjects will be playing a game where the object is to agree with one or more other players on how to divide points between them. These points can later be exchanged with money. Depending on the type of network a subject is in and on his or her location in that network, one player may have more power than others because he or she can negotiate with more players, have alternatives for gaining points from outside the network, or because he or she is forced to trade with certain other players in order to earn any reward. The experiments provide tests of competing hypotheses about the effects of such structural conditions on the actions and decisions of the participants in the experiment. Although this study is experimental, and thus highly abstract, the results will improve our understanding of the ways in which social structures differ in the power embedded in different positions in a given social structure and how that in turn influences individual actors behavior and decisions.