NEW DIRECTIONS FOR NETWORK EXCHANGE THEORY - STRATEGIC MANIPULATION OF NETWORK LINKAGES

Current theories of network power have considerable precision, and experimental methods for studying power are highly developed. The problem posed in this paper is that the very strength of the theory and methods is also a weakness. By constraining any form of strategic action by experimental subjects to bargaining within existing network configurations, one of the most powerful forms of strategy is denied: negotiating changes in the network itself. A beginning theory of strategic agency is developed which generates a series of hypotheses and demonstrates some implications for network power if links can be added or deleted.