"In an instance of supreme irony, economists and sociologists studying networks have traditionally conducted their researches in largely unconnected components, each with its own questions, methods, and citation clusters. The Missing Links indeed provides the missing links between the two literatures. In the jargon of the subject, it bridges a structural hole. Much intellectual traffic will flow across this bridge in the future."

AVINASH DIXIT, John J.F. Sherrerd '52 University Professor of Economics, Princeton University

"The contemporary study of social networks represents one of the most exciting endeavors in social science and constitutes a remarkable integration of ideas from economics and sociology. The Missing Links brings together many of the most important thinkers on social networks to produce a valuable overview of the state of the field. This book will be of great value to students as well as researchers. Editor James Rauch, who has made a number of seminal contributions to social network research, deserves congratulations for assembling such a fine collection of essays."

STEVEN N. DURLAUF, Kenneth J. Arrow Professor of Economics, University of Wisconsin, Madison

"Representing the latest interdisciplinary thinking on the formation and decay of networks by top sociologists and economists, The Missing Links is a rare balance between survey chapters that review the main theoretical fault lines that separate sociological and economic views of networks and empirical chapters that bridge them."

BRIAN UZZI, Richard L. Thomas Professor of Leadership and Organizational Change, Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University