Network Analysis of Interlocking Directorates/Project Overview
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Introduction
Looking at both the advantages and disadvantages of interlocking directorates networks, we were motivated by two ideas:
- a non-financial measured method can be effectively used to assess fraud risk
- second – urban planning may revolve around clustering concept that can be effectively displayed by the visualization of the relations between firms and social capital.
By examining the interlocking directorate network and indicating the importance of a firm or director’s position in the interlocking network, we hope to be able to set focus on the individuals who might possibly have deceptive actions and connections. The executives, who have set up many connections in multiple firms at the same time, are subjected to “potentially” facilitate fraudulent activities among these companies. Because these interlocking executives can control a big deal of information, they can make use of it to gain personal benefit either for themselves or for the companies they are governing. Moreover, as interlocking directorates is a major source of social capital, examining these patterns can contribute to research in urban planning for Singapore.
In this study, we used a Singapore sample of companies and directors that contain 50334 listed companies and 82728 directors who hold positions in directors’ boards of these companies. After gathering the sample, we used Gephi, a visual analytics software tool, to visualize the interlocking directorates networks and study the patterns of the interlocking relations. We examined the linkages between the directors and the companies, and also took into accounts the effects of other attributes, such as industry classification and the geographic position of the organizations involved.
Our Motivation
Since the latest Singapore General Elections in 2011, there has been renewed interest in the way the the Government of Singapore operates. The transparency of the government has also been called into question due to the AIM scandal in 2012. Because members of public organizations are allowed to act in multiple board of directors for private corporates, it is questioned whether it is fair for economic development and competition, as these members have higher control over political and economic resources. Our team is interested in looking deeply into the interlocking directorates to clarify the issue and to see how impactful and profitable the network of corporate interlocks has.
Project Scope
In each firm, there may be a board of directors which contains both insiders, who are direct employee under the firm, and outsiders – people who are not employees of the firm but hold an important position in the board of directors. As the existence of interlocking directorates between public and private entities in the same sector increases the possibility of conflicts of interest, our team aims to produce a visualization of these relationships. Key features of our project includes:
- 1. Visualization of the network of interlocking directorates
- 2. Analysis of this network, focusing on the relationships from public to private sectors.
- 3. Gathering useful insights from the analysis, which may be helpful the corporate leaders in decision-making in the future.
