Just returned from Agent 2007: Complex Interaction and Social Emergence at Northwestern University, where I presented my paper The Evolution and Persistence of Dominant Roles in Interorganizational Relationships. Here’s the abstract:

Recent application of role theory to economic behavior (Montgomery 1998) has provided new insights into interorganizational relationships (Heide and Wathne 2006). In particular, role theory offers a framework for investigating the source of seemingly contradictory accounts of economic exchange, including Uzzi’s (1997; 1996) finding that embeddedness enhances firm survival in the apparel industry and Wathne, et al.’s (2001) discovery that embeddedness does not insulate a firm from price competition in the commercial banking industry. The key to understanding these discrepancies lies in the divergent evolution of dominant relationship roles. This paper investigates the evolution and persistence of roles in interorganizational relationships from a role-theoretic perspective using agent-based modeling.

If that sounds interesting, you’re welcome to read it when it’s published in the conference proceedings.