Understanding evolving communities in transnational board interlock networks

The network structure of the corporate elite is well studied through board interlocks: the sharing of common directors between companies. Corporate networks, where nodes are companies and lines represent interlocks, model how corporations and the individuals therein exert power over others, gain access to information and in general interact within the global economy. Exploring corporate network structures using network analysis techniques has greatly improved our understanding of the global corporate system. Network studies have amongst others aided in unraveling the spread of corporate practice, the formation of a corporate elite, and the formation of business groups and elite transnatic-malization. We apply the proposed method on the evolving board interlock network over time, and relate the most significant changes in communities to other attributes, such as geographical location, allowing us to study the dynamics of the global corporate elite structure. Analysis of the evolving global corporate network benefits the debates on globalization and the balance of power between west and east, for example enabling a quantification of the gradual integration of new corporate powers such as China.