Autonomy in a Social Topology

My purpose here is to define and illustrate a concept of "structural autonomy" based on recent developments in network analysis. The concept is stated in terms of the pattern of relations defining a network position, and it incorporates aspects of oligopoly from economics and group-affiliation from sociology. Eight hypotheses are derived from the proposed concept. These hypotheses concern the effects on autonomy of aspects of the pattern of relations defining a network position, the places in social structure where cooptive relations should appear (as well as places where they should not), and the increase in autonomy that can be expected from effective cooptation. Numerical illustration is provided. As a useful research site, firms in manufacturing industries of the 1967 American economy are treated as structurally equivalent actors, and total profits in an industry are taken to be a result of the relative autonomy of firms in separate industries. The autonomy hypotheses are used to explain relative industry profits and strategies for coopting other firms. Those industries with high structural autonomy tend to have high profits. Firms in an industry tend to purchase other firms in mergers patterned to coopt constraints on the industry's structural autonomy.