Research

I am interested the role of networks in the economic sphere. My previous research examined how inter-personal and inter-organizational networks structure economic processes. In my current project I extended this focus to investigate the effect of networks on technological change.

In my dissertation research I explore sociological factors that shape technological change. One part of my project is concerned with the relationship between firm's technological trajectory and its inter-organizational network. The other part of my project examines factors that influence technological change at the national level. My case study is the development of semiconductor industry in China.

Between 1999 and 2003 I worked on a research project investigating the role that schools play in matching students to jobs in China's transitional economy. My research suggested that while social networks were not very important in linking students to jobs, school's ties to employers served as an important channel of job search.

In my previous life as an anthropologist (1996-1997) I conducted research on credit transactions in the informal economy of Nigeria. I found that in the absence of legal enforcement of credit contracts, not social embeddedness, but regularized transactions and creative institutionalization served as foundations for trust in economic life.

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