Latent ties identification in inter-firms social networks

Social networks are usually analyzed through manifest variables. However there are social latent aspects that strongly qualify such networks. This work aims to propose a statistical methodology to identify latent variable in inter-firm social networks. A multidimensional scaling technique is proposed to measure a latent variable as a combination of an appropriate set of two or more manifest relational aspects. This method, tested on an inter-firm social network in the Marche region (Italy), it is a new way to grasp social aspect with quantitative tools that could be implemented under several different conditions, using also other variables.