The Effects of Corruption on Organizational Networks and Individual Behavior
Abstract
Previous research has largely examined social network position as the key determinant of information acquisition. In this study, I instead examine the effects of information on patterns of relations. By contrasting corrupt and non-corrupt projects within an organization, I am able to examine whether the type of information alters the way individuals mobilize to accomplish a goal. This study examines longitudinal data and couples qualitative coding techniques with social network analysis to understand the effects of content on social structure. In contrast to non-corrupt projects, corrupt networks have lower connectivity, have fewer reciprocal relations, and share less communication. These different patterns also hold for a within-subject comparison study. For the same individual, corrupt communications, as compared to non-corrupt communications, are significantly less reciprocal and have reduced transitivity, meaning that message recipients are not as likely to share a communication link. These individual-level behaviors overtime have repercussions for the entire communication network.