Research Line 2:
Cooperation in Social and Economic Relations

Topics, research problems, and research strategy

This research line carries out research on trust problems, cooperation problems, coordination problems, and other social dilemmas. Such problems occur, e.g., in informal support relations between friends or partners in a household, in teams of colleagues who have to collaborate in order to achieve some common goal, and in relations between business firms when, for example, a buyer purchases goods of uncertain quality from a supplier or when firms engage in a Research & Development alliance.

The research line addresses a core question of social theory, namely, the problem of social order, sometimes referred to as the problem of social cohesion, by studying mechanisms that facilitate trust, cooperation, and coordination. More precisely, the research line focuses on how “social embeddedness” affects behavior in social dilemmas. Embeddedness includes repeated interactions between actors involved in a social dilemma and their network of relations with third parties. Thus, embeddedness allows for learning about other actors, such as learning about their trustworthiness, but also for reciprocity and conditional cooperation. Institutional embeddedness allows for trust and cooperative behavior based on commitment devices such as formal and informal contracts.

A major development within the research line has been relaxing the often disputable assumption that embeddedness is given and exogenous. Rather, studies in this research line by now often conceive embeddedness as endogenous and thus focus on the dynamics of ties, networks, and institutions. The co-evolution of embeddedness and behavior is a core issue for future research. Work in this research line likewise includes experimental research together with psychologists from Utrecht University in the rapidly expanding field of social neuroscience.

Coherence of the research line derives from the systematic use of common tools such as game-theoretic models, agent-based simulations, and social network analysis for theory building. Originality and significance of the research line derive from two features. First, the research line contributes to bridging the often deplored gap between abstract rational choice theory and systematic empirical research. Second and more specifically, the research line does so by testing the same or similar hypotheses in different social settings such as informal social relations as well as economic exchange, using different and complementary research designs, namely, survey research, laboratory experiments, and vignette experiments. The research line likewise includes work on random utility theory that aims at a systematic integration of theoretical models based on rational choice assumptions and statistical models.

Past performance, available infrastructure, collaboration

The research line emerged originally from the NWO PIONIER program The Management of Matches, led by Raub and Weesie. Buskens meanwhile joined them as senior researcher. The “Cooperative Relations Seminar” is the regular meeting point for members of the research line since many years. Major research grants in addition to
the NWO PIONIER grant include a KNAW fellowship for C. Snijders, a KNAW fellowship for Buskens, a Utrecht University High Potential program Dynamics of Cooperation, Networks, and Institutions for Buskens (with Rosenkranz from the Utrecht School of Economics), and various NWO Open Competition grants for Raub and Weesie. A result of the UU High Potential program is the Experimental Laboratory for Sociology and Economics (ELSE) with 20 cubicles for subjects and networked PCs, allowing computer assisted exchange of information, a unique facility for sociology in the Netherlands and comparable to major experimental labs in economics in Europe and the US. Weesie maintains an extensive cooperation with Stata Corporation (College Station, TX) on statistical software development, based on generous funding from Stata.

Key publications

Representative publications include the early article by Raub & Weesie (1990) “Reputation and Efficiency in Social Interactions: An Example of Network Effects” in American Journal of Sociology, Buskens & Raub’s (2002) article on “Embedded Trust: Control and Learning” in Advances in Group Processes that received the James S. Coleman Award of the Section on Rationality and Society of the American Sociological Association, the volume The Governance of Relations in Markets and Organizations edited by Buskens, Raub & C. Snijders (JAI/Elsevier 2003), Buskens’ & Van de Rijt’s (2008) article “Dynamics of Networks If Everyone Strives for Structural Holes” in American Journal of Sociology, the volume eTrust. Forming Relationships in the Online World edited by Cook, Snijders, Buskens & Cheshire (Russell Sage 2009), an overview article by Buskens & Raub (2010) on “Rational Choice Research on Social Dilemmas: Embeddedness Effects on Trust” in the forthcoming Handbook of Rational Choice Social Research (Russell Sage) edited by Wittek, T.A.B. Snijders & Nee, and a forthcoming article by Buskens, Raub & Van der Veer (2010) on “Trust in Triads: An Experimental Study” in Social Networks.