Exchange Networks

An exchange network is a special case of a social network in which the nodes of the network are social actors (e.g., persons or groups) and the lines connecting the nodes are possible interactions between particular actors that may occur during the process of social exchange. Exchange networks may be complete, in which case they allow interactions between all pairs of actors, or incomplete, in which case they prohibit interactions between some pairs of actors. Hence, an exchange network is a structure of social constraints on the process of social exchange that unfolds [Page 265]among a group of actors. Research on social exchange networks has focused on the question of how variation in the structure of an exchange network affects the outcomes of the social ...