Breaking up is hard to do: Irrational inconsistency in commitment to an industry peer network
This paper strengthens the basis for a key claim of contemporary economic sociology — that strong ties among capitalists cannot be reduced to rational considerations. Support for this claim has been limited by reliance on an external standard of rationality, whereby irrationality in commitment to a...
| Main Authors: | , |
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| Other Authors: | |
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | en_US |
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Sage Publications
2017
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| Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/108304 https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6271-0708 |
| _version_ | 1826193939229573120 |
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| author | Zuckerman Sivan, Ezra W Sgourev, Stoyan |
| author2 | Sloan School of Management |
| author_facet | Sloan School of Management Zuckerman Sivan, Ezra W Sgourev, Stoyan |
| author_sort | Zuckerman Sivan, Ezra W |
| collection | MIT |
| description | This paper strengthens the basis for a key claim of contemporary economic sociology — that strong ties among capitalists cannot be reduced to rational considerations. Support for this claim has been limited by reliance on an external standard of rationality, whereby irrationality in commitment to a partner or network is based on an observer’s evaluation of an actor’s interests. In this article we address this limitation by developing an internal standard for assessing the rationality of an actor’s commitment, which is derived from Davidson’s (1980) definition of akrasia or ‘incontinence.’ In addition, we clarify the mechanisms that produce ‘akratic’ commitment among capitalists: (a) short-term emotions that overwhelm rational calculation; and (b) a sense of loyalty that leads one to incorporate others’ interests into one’s own. Finally, we provide systematic evidence of akratic commitment and the proposed mechanisms from studies of an industry peer network in the remodeling construction industry. |
| first_indexed | 2024-09-23T09:47:40Z |
| format | Article |
| id | mit-1721.1/108304 |
| institution | Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
| language | en_US |
| last_indexed | 2024-09-23T09:47:40Z |
| publishDate | 2017 |
| publisher | Sage Publications |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | mit-1721.1/1083042022-09-30T16:53:39Z Breaking up is hard to do: Irrational inconsistency in commitment to an industry peer network Zuckerman Sivan, Ezra W Sgourev, Stoyan Sloan School of Management Zuckerman Sivan, Ezra W Zuckerman Sivan, Ezra W Sgourev, Stoyan This paper strengthens the basis for a key claim of contemporary economic sociology — that strong ties among capitalists cannot be reduced to rational considerations. Support for this claim has been limited by reliance on an external standard of rationality, whereby irrationality in commitment to a partner or network is based on an observer’s evaluation of an actor’s interests. In this article we address this limitation by developing an internal standard for assessing the rationality of an actor’s commitment, which is derived from Davidson’s (1980) definition of akrasia or ‘incontinence.’ In addition, we clarify the mechanisms that produce ‘akratic’ commitment among capitalists: (a) short-term emotions that overwhelm rational calculation; and (b) a sense of loyalty that leads one to incorporate others’ interests into one’s own. Finally, we provide systematic evidence of akratic commitment and the proposed mechanisms from studies of an industry peer network in the remodeling construction industry. 2017-04-20T18:02:08Z 2017-04-20T18:02:08Z 2011-03 Article http://purl.org/eprint/type/JournalArticle 1043-4631 1461-7358 http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/108304 Sgourev, S. V. and Zuckerman, E. W. “Breaking up Is Hard to Do: Irrational Inconsistency in Commitment to an Industry Peer Network.” Rationality and Society 23, no. 1 (February 2011): 3–34. © 2011 Sage Publications https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6271-0708 en_US http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1043463110396444 Rationality and Society Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ application/pdf Sage Publications Prof. Zuckerman via Alex Caracuzzo |
| spellingShingle | Zuckerman Sivan, Ezra W Sgourev, Stoyan Breaking up is hard to do: Irrational inconsistency in commitment to an industry peer network |
| title | Breaking up is hard to do: Irrational inconsistency in commitment to an industry peer network |
| title_full | Breaking up is hard to do: Irrational inconsistency in commitment to an industry peer network |
| title_fullStr | Breaking up is hard to do: Irrational inconsistency in commitment to an industry peer network |
| title_full_unstemmed | Breaking up is hard to do: Irrational inconsistency in commitment to an industry peer network |
| title_short | Breaking up is hard to do: Irrational inconsistency in commitment to an industry peer network |
| title_sort | breaking up is hard to do irrational inconsistency in commitment to an industry peer network |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/108304 https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6271-0708 |
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