Power in Exchange Networks: Setting and Structural Variations.

This article adds to the body of findings on how network position and the conditions of exchange influence an actor's power to obtain favorable outcomes. Four network structures of four persons each are examined in each of two experimental settings: a face-to-face setting, in which negotiations are carried out directly, and the ExNet setting, in which negotiations are carried out through a microcomputer-based electronic network. The structures are selected to provide further tests of the Markovsky et al. `s (1988) procedure for locating power positions. The different settings allow an assessment of the scope of their analysis. The results generally support their predictions. Also examined are two types of predictions. contingency and value, derived from the operant basis of Emerson's (1969) power-dependence theory. The contingency predictions receive more support than do the value predictions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]