Abstract
Several research groups are currently studying the distribution of power in social exchange networks. This paper first outlines the history of the dispute, which stimulated the current interests in network exchange theory, between two research groups-Cook, Yamagishi and their associates who have been trying to extend the power/ dependence theory originally developed by Emerson beyond its original dyadic formulations, on the one hand, and Willer, Markovsky and their associates, on the other-concerning the proper method for predicting the distribution of power across network positions. We then present a new equidependence algorithm (EDA) that was developed to overcome the limitations of the old algorithm based on the power/ dependence formulations. The predicitions by the new algorithm were compared with those by GPI proposed by Willer, Markovsky and their associates against simulation results. These comparisons demonstrate the superiority of EDA over GPI.
