A set of measures for Simmelian tie strength, Simmelian brokerage, and, being Simmelianly brokered are introduced. The measures are derived from interpretations of a quote from Simmel (1950). The theoretically most informative measure of Simmelian brokerage is based on a complex value measure of Simmelian tie strength reflected in an Hermitian matrix. Also measures based on weight matrices and ...

In the network age, the source of economic value and wealth is no longer the production of material goods but the creation and manipulation of competitive Internet business models. When a new model changes the economics of an industry and is difficult to replicate, it can by itself create a strong competitive advantage. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the value configuration and com...

The concept of social capital, which has gained wide currency in the literature, examines how actors’ ties to others advantage or disadvantage them and the groups to which they belong. Two conceptually distinct types of social capital, closure and brokerage in Burt’s (2005) terms, have been identified. In this paper, we propose a method by which brokerage and closure can be distinguished using ...

This study proposes a structural approach to examining online bridging and bonding social capital in a large virtual world. It tests the effects of individual players’ network brokerage and closure on their task performance and trust of other players. Bridging social capital is operationalized as brokerage, the extent to which one is tied to disconnected others, and bonding social capital as cl...

In the social sciences, the debate over the structural foundations of social capital has long vacillated between two positions on the relative benefits associated with two types of social structures: closed structures, rich in third-party relationships, and open structures, rich in structural holes and brokerage opportunities. In this paper, we engage with this debate by focusing on the measure...

The aim of this study is to investigate, using the perspective of the investor, the determinant factors for the success of the stock brokerage process over the Web, using financial portals on the Brazilian Internet. A framework of the online stock trading process is presented in order to compare the traditional form of stock brokerage with that made possible by the Internet and to discuss some ...

Cloud service brokerage and related management and marketplace concepts have been identified as key concerns for future cloud technology development and research. Cloud service management is an important building block of cloud architectures that can be extended to act as a broker service layer between consumers and providers, and even to form marketplace services. We present a 3-pronged classi...

This paper applies social network analysis techniques to study computer virus propagation. We propose a novel multilevel hierarchical linear model to simultaneously evaluate the impact of both individual-level and group-level variables on virus propagation process. In this model, we propose centrality and brokerage measures as explanatory variables. We estimate our model based on empirical data...

Using a simulation model, the study examines the impact to states and national BHCs if allowed greater participation in securities (segmented into securities brokerage and investment banking), insurance (brokerage, life insurance underwriting, and property-casualty underwriting), or real estate (segmented into five industries ranging from brokerage to development). Utilizing accounting earnings...

Fundamental changes in private investments are currently observable for the German stock market. The importance of equities as an alternative to traditional kinds of private investments has grown remarkably and technological progress provides new ways for private investors to participate actively in the capital markets in order to take advantage in securities trading. One of the latest developm...