Abstract:

While there is a nearly 50 year old tradition of studying policy networks and a nearly 20 year old tradition of studying collaborative networks, very little work has tried to integrate the two concepts or a third, related type of network - fiscal networks. This presentation will review the theories and empirical evidence that I have developed over the last 8 years regarding the interconnecton of these three types of networks in what I term "network systems." This paper will also review a recent piece of theoretical work that I have done on the nature of the social "glue" that holds such systems together: organizational social capital, personal social capital, and resource dependencies.