Keystone sector methodology applied to Portugal
find the disconnections (holes)” (Burt, 1992). However, not all the relations are an
efficient investment and the pattern of social links is not equally productive.
The structure holes argument is used “for the separation between non-
redundant contacts” in a social network. The hole between two contacts will provide
benefits that are in some degree additive rather than overlapping, in the whole
competition arena.
This argument is particularly relevant in localities where low mobility is an
obstacle to efficient reallocation of human capital, i.e. difficulties in changing
workforce characteristics in the short run, and problems of replacing outmigrants with
high skilled new comers. In these localities, rates of return will mostly rely on the
social relations. In addition, this argument is especially relevant when one takes the
view that the allocation of competitive opportunities is not made with respect to the
single abilities needed for the modern valued tasks. Whatever specific locality
endowments are, there are other people who could do the ‘same’ job within lower level
of demand exigencies. In the new global knowledge economy “... conditions are given
to the proverb that says success is determined less by what you know than by whom you
know ” (Burt, 1992: 10).
To know the competitive opportunities in a small town requires the condition
(necessary though not sufficient) of knowing its social network structure. Although
there are remaining problems of predicting attitudes or behavior within social network
analysis, it can be used to predict patterns and similarities between attitudes and
behaviors.
There is empirical evidence about the fact that people tend to develop relations
with people like themselves3, to the extent that one’s resource and opinions are
correlated with those with whom they have close contacts. The crucial point is, here, to
describe how certain social structures enhance the benefits in the competitive arena.
Acknowledging Burt (1992:13) there are two kinds of benefits: information and
control. After finding the structural holes in the network it is possible to determine who
knows about those opportunities and is able to generate the information benefits, which,
in consequence, will provide control benefits to the whole network.
Where are the structural holes?
3 See for example Fischer, 1982; Marsden, 1987 or Burt, 1990.