The Social Construction of the American Electricity Industry

本文是对美国电力行业社会结构的研究。 它将探讨的理论，该行业的几个定义特征不是不可避免的，事实上是激烈的竞争。 其中包括：l）将发电设备的生产与电力的生产分开; 2）由中央电站远距离供电，而不是小规模供电。（“孤立的”）一代在每个家庭和企业; 3）主导行业的投资者拥有的，而不是自己拥有的公司; 4）将发电、输电和配电整合在一家公司内-实际上，合并了产品的批发和零售供应;以及5）发展大型控股公司，整合许多较小公司在广大地理区域的电力供应。 该研究将对调查人员发现的意想不到的丰富数据进行定量分析，例如北美所有公用事业公司的全面年度甚至季度目录，两个行业协会会议的详细记录，以及该行业数千名决策者的众多来源。 计划进行的分析包括：研究连锁董事会随着时间的推移的演变，同时研究该行业如何达到高度集中的形式;分析设备供应商的作用，以审查它们如何与电力生产商明确分开;调查该行业如何成为双头垄断（通用电气公司和西屋公司）;通过行业协会议事录和其他传记来源提供的信息，对该行业的个人进行网络分析;研究个人在组织中随时间的运动，以及这种运动如何增强行业共识并塑造社交网络。 %% 该项目的目的是利用某一特定行业的发展数据，发展关于行业边界和目标的社会建设的新想法，从而产生一个新的科学视角，可以应用于广泛的当代行业。 这些数据可能是关于任何主要产业的起源和发展的最全面的数据，因此，这项研究将对产业组织社会学的方法和理论做出有价值的贡献。 它将使科学家和工业领导人更好地了解新工业的形成方式，不仅是技术和经济限制，而且是有关个人通过其同事和竞争对手网络调动资源。

This is a study of the social construction of the American electricity industry. It will explore the theory that several defining features of the industry were not inevitable, and were in fact heavily contested. These include: l ) separation of the production of generating equipment from that of electricity; 2) the provision of electricity by central stations, over long distances, as opposed to small-scale ("isolated") generation in each home and business; 3) dominance of the industry by investor-owned rather than municipally-owned companies; 4) the integration of generation, transmission and distribution in single companies -- in effect, merging wholesale and retail provision of the product; and 5) the development of huge holding companies, integrating the provision of electricity by many smaller companies, over large geographic areas. The research will apply quantitative techniques of analysis to unexpectedly rich data discovered by the investigators, such as comprehensive annual and even quarterly directories of all utility companies in North America, detailed proceedings of the two trade associations' meetings, and as well as numerous sources on the thousands of individuals who were decision-makers in this industry. Among the planned analyses are: studies of the evolution of interlocking directorates over time, coordinated with studies of how the industry reached its highly concentrated form; analysis of the role of equipment suppliers, to examine how they became clearly separated from producers of electricity; investigation of how this industry became a duopoly (General Electric and Westinghouse); network analysis of individuals in the industry, through information provided in trade association proceedings and other biographical sources; study of the movement over time of individuals among organizations, and how this movement enhanced consensus in the industry and shaped social networks. %% The aim of this project is to use data on the development of one particular industry to devel op new ideas about the social construction of industry boundaries and goals, thus producing a fresh scientific perspective that can be applied to a wide range of contemporary industries. The data are probably the most comprehensive available on the inception and development of any major industry, and the study will therefore make a valuable contribution to methods and theory in the sociology of industrial organization. It will provide scientists and industrial leaders with an improved understanding of the ways that a new industry is shaped not only by technological and economic constraints, but also by the mobilization of resources by concerned individuals, operating through their network of colleagues and competitors.