Sunbelt XXXI International Network for Social Network ... - INSNA

The Social Network Of J.p. Morgan & Co.: The Significance Of Social Club Ties, 1895‐1940Pak, Susie J.; Halgin, Daniel S.Elite networksEconomic Networks, Historical Networks, Financial Networks, Affiliation Networks, Ethnic Relations, ElitesSAT.PM2In this paper we study the elite network of J.P. Morgan & Co. before the Second World War. J.P. Morgan & Co. was the most important investment bank in theUnited States in the early to mid‐twentieth century. Becoming a partner in the firm, then an unlimited liability private partnership, was akin to receiving a“golden ticket” to the center of American finance and society, and Morgan partners were generally understood to be men of “high social standing.” Despitethis fact, in most historical studies of the bank, the economic networks have been carefully studied, but the partners’ social ties have been virtually ignored.The paper studies the Morgan bank’s network from a unique database of affiliation ties created from the bank’s syndicate books, partnership agreements,interlocking directorates, the Social Register, New York, and qualitative data. It argues that elite economic networks were not organized entirely around theeconomic motive and demonstrates the importance of non‐economic ties to the organization of the bank’s economic relationships. Of particular interest is thebank's relationship to the German‐Jewish bank of Kuhn, Loeb & Co., the Morgans' primary competitor in the field of investment banking.The Structure Of A Community Elite Affiliation NetworkCornwell, BenjaminElite networksTwo‐mode Networks, Affiliation Networks, Community Networks, ElitesSAT.PM2Local elites are often portrayed as cohesive groups of powerful actors who are connected to each other through exclusive clubs and organizations (thoughsometimes in factions). I explore this idea using original data that were collected during in‐person interviews with 312 elites in a large Midwestern city in 2001‐2002. Participants were asked to name up to 10 local clubs or organizations to which they belonged, which resulted in a list of over 600 organizations. I use thedata to construct and analyze a two‐mode network of elites’ community organizational affiliations. Analyses reveal a high level of interconnectedness in thenetwork, but little cohesion. Much of the interconnectedness stems from elites’ involvement with a pre‐set list of 20 primarily community‐wide voluntaryorganizations that was provided to participants during the interview. When these are removed, some isolates and several small components materialize, butmost elites remain connected to a large component that spans outward in different directions from a loosely connected core. I close by examining therelationship between elites’ positions within this network and other elites’ perceptions of their influence within the community.