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- 84 -RESEARCH ON INTERLOCKING DIRECTORATES : AN INTRODUCTION AND A BIBLIOGRAPHY OF NORTH AMERICAN SOURCESMichael Soref (Sociology, U . of Wisconsin-Madison)ABSTRACT . This bibliography of recent work on corporate interlocking is prefaced by a modesttechnical-conceptual framework . The framework characterizes four types of studies . Thestudies differ on these characteristics : purpose, conceptualization of interlocking, choiceof key agent, unit of observation, and data analysis technique .This bibliography consists of recent studies (and a few not-so-recent studies) which examinepatterns of interlocking or which use interlocking directorate data, plus some related backgroundmaterial . I do not claim comprehensiveness for this bibliography--it consists merely of the relevantreferences accumulated in the course of my dissertation research on the internal differentiation ofthe American capitalist class . This list probably will supply few new leads for experienced researchers,but it might save some work for those beginning to study corporate interlocks . Before listing thesereferences, I will suggest a conceptual framework which might help beginners get a handle on the typesof research on interlocking directorates .Interlocking directorate data have the advantage of being almost the only kind of accessibledata which can be compiled on the "higher circles ." Companies disclose their board membership in theirannual reports, and such information is available in standard business reference sources . However, suchinformation is difficult to interpret . This framework might help make sense of the variety of interpretationsof interlock data . This framework is neither theoretical nor substantive ; it is merely a set ofcategories elucidating interpretations of interlock data in the literature . As any typology, my frameworkprobably ignores some types of work and distorts some of the works which it attempts to comprehend .At any rate, studies of interlocking directorates seem to fall into four categories . Descriptive studiesreport the extent and types of interlocking without relating the findings to theory . Organizationalstudies, coming from the "rational systems" approach, have seen interlocking as a means by which theorganization coopts necessary elements of its environment . Interest group studies have used graphtheoretical techniques on interlocking data to determine patterns of interlocking . Differentiationstudies use interlock data as an index of the position of groups within the capitalist class . Thepurposes of the four types of studies affect the following characteristics of the types of studies : theconceptualization of interlocking, the "key agent" (the phenomenon of greatest interest for the study),the unit of observation, and sometimes the data analysis technique .Descriptive studies : Most of the government reports listed here (U .S . House Anti-Trust Subcommittee1965 ; U .S . FTC 1951 ; U .S . Senate Governmental Operations Committee 1978) can be characterizedas descriptive (although they may contain much theoretically interesting information) . These studies'purpose is to ascertain the extent of anti-competitive interlocking . Section 8 of the Clayton Actprohibits interlocking between competing firms . Although the law has not been actively enforced, it hasprobably had some deterrent effect (Bunting and Barber 1971) . The 1951 FTC staff study and the 1965replication by the staff of the Antitrust Subcommittee of the House Judiciary Committee (along with therecent Metcalfe Committee report) attempted to ascertain the extent which competition was suppressed byinterlocking directorates . A direct interlock between competitors is not the only kind of potentiallyanti-competitive interlock studied ; the studies also try to discover other types of interlocking whichmight lead to collusion, such as interlocks between customers and suppliers . In these studies, interlockingis . conceptualized as a means of collusion among companies . The key agent and the unit of observationfor these studies is the corporation . These studies map or tabulate interlocks signifying varioustypes of potential collusion . The studies also note the concentration of economic power through interlockingdirectorates, although that concern is not unique to this type of study (e .g ., Dye 1976 ; Warnerand Unwalla 1967) . 1Organizational studies : The organizational studies of interlocking attempt to find the extent thatcorporations (or other organizations) use boards "as if they were instruments with which to deal with theenvironment" (Pfeffer 1972, p . 219) . Following Thompson's "rational systems" approach (1967), thesestudies see corporations as organizations whose basic problem is uncertainty in the environment . In thisview, organizations attempt to develop strategies for reducing uncertainty in needed resources, andcooptation is one of the strategies . Interlocking, that is, taking directors in from other corporations(or sending officers out to hold seats on the boards of other corporations) is seen as a type of cooptation .According to Thompson (1967), an organization will tend to rely on cooptation rather than other strategieswhen it depends on another organization for resources, but cannot absorb the resource-providing organization.The organization is the key agent in these studies . A corporation is merely one of a variety oforganizational forms . Interlocks are conceptualized as a means for a corporate organization to extractresources from the environment . Some of these studies disaggregate interlocking, typing interlockingaccording to the types of resources which they help secure . A few of the studies attempt to find thecircumstances under which the various types of interlocks occur . These studies are valuable because they