The Community Structure of the European Network of Interlocking Directorates 2005–2010

Abstract

The boards of directors at large European companies overlap with each other to a sizable extent both within and across national borders. This could have important economic, political and management consequences. In this work we study in detail the topological structure of the networks that arise from this phenomenon. Using a comprehensive information database, we reconstruct the implicit networks of shared directorates among the top 300 European firms in 2005 and 2010, and suggest a number of novel ways to explore the trans-nationality of such business elite networks. Powerful community detection heuristics indicate that geography still plays an important role: there exist clear communities and they have a distinct national character. Nonetheless, from 2005 to 2010 we observe a densification of the boards interlocks network and a larger transnational orientation in its communities. Together with central actors and assortativity analyses, we provide statistical evidence that, at the level of corporate governance, Europe is getting closer.

Who speaks for the European border security industry? A network analysis

“…Well-connected organisations which attend conferences with other well-connected organisations will have higher eigenvector centralities. Eigenvector centrality gives us a sense of the "rank" of the organisation within the network (Heemskerk et al 2013). Betweenness centrality measures the position of a node between different parts of the network, or the degree to which an organisation may act as a "broker" between different events and organisations (Stovel and Shaw 2012).…”

“…High betweenness means that the organisation attends many events which are also attended by many actors. In order to see if a node is both well-connected within a part of the network and acts as a bridge, or a "broker", between other parts of the network, we can combine two network measures -eigenvector centrality and betweenness centrality (Heemskerk et al 2013). In Table 2 we can see those organisations which have both high eigenvector centralities and high betweenness by their grey shade.…”

“…These organisations are both centrally connected to other well-connected organisations and act as brokers between different parts of the network. We can think of these organisations as "hubs" through which information, norms, or discourses of the border security industry emerge from and pass through to other organisations (Heemskerk et al 2013). Primarily government organisations (border police), private firms, Frontex (the European Agency for the Management of Operational Cooperation at the External Borders of the Member States of the EU), and NATO act as hubs within the network.…”

Measuring Gender Differences in Information Sharing Using Network Analysis: The Case of the Austrian Interlocking Directorship Network in 2009

“…Here, an understanding of network communities seems to be highly relevant in order to understand the functioning of corporate governance mechanisms. For example, Heemskerk, Daolio and Tomassini (2013) apply the community detection heuristics to the interlocking directorship network in Europe, finding evidence of homogenization in the corporate governance mechanisms within Europe.…”

Close communication and 2-clubs in corporate networks: Europe 2010

“…One of us gave an elaborate analysis of the network of interlocking directorates of the major European corporations in (Heemskerk 2013Heemskerk et al 2013). These studies found that despite the general tendency towards less board interlock activity, the European network of interlocking directorates increased its cohesion.…”