The Social Construction of the American Electricity Industry

这是对美国电力工业社会结构的研究。它将探索这样一种理论，即该行业的几个定义特征并不是不可避免的，实际上存在激烈的争议。这些措施包括：L)将发电设备的生产与电力生产分开；2)由中央电站远距离提供电力，而不是在每个家庭和企业中进行小规模(“孤立”)发电；3)投资者所有的公司而不是市政所有的公司在该行业占据主导地位；4)单一公司的发电、输电和配电一体化--实际上是将产品的批发和零售供应合并；以及5)发展大型控股公司，将许多较小公司的电力供应整合到大片地区。这项研究将对调查人员发现的出人意料的丰富数据应用定量分析技术，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大量来源。计划进行的分析包括：研究连锁董事随时间的演变，并结合对该行业如何达到高度集中形式的研究；分析设备供应商的作用，以检查他们如何明显脱离电力生产商；调查该行业如何成为双寡头(通用电气和西屋电气)；通过行业协会议事程序中提供的信息和其他传记来源，对行业内的个人进行网络分析；研究个人在各组织之间的时间变动，以及这一运动如何增进行业共识和形成社会网络。这个项目的目的是利用一个特定行业的发展数据，对行业边界和目标的社会构建提出新的想法，从而产生一种新的科学观点，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行业的诞生和发展的最全面的数据，因此，该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。它将使科学家和行业领袖更好地理解一个新行业是如何不仅受到技术和经济限制，而且通过相关个人通过其同事和竞争对手网络调动资源来塑造的。

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.