The relational structure of corporate ignorance production

Abstract

This study interrogates patterns of interaction through which corporate actors influence environmental knowledge production. I ask 1) How intensive are relationships between corporate actors and knowledge-producing organizations? 2) What types of knowledge-producing organizations are subject to most engagement by corporate actors? and 3) How do these patterns evolve over time? I answer these questions with the landmark case of lead in the United States (1924–2003). I rely on longitudinal network data built from the raw text of Toxic Docs, a database that comprises millions of previously classified corporate documents over eight decades. Using relational event modeling, I find that corporate engagement with scientific organizations is consistently more likely than with other types of actors. In contrast, corporate engagement with regulatory expert organizations is less so. I also find that corporate engagement with scientific organizations is responsive to growing federal interest in the lead problem and anticipates regulatory developments. This suggests that corporate engagement with scientists is best described not simply as reactive but also as preemptive.

The authors' abstract, as published at the source. Social Networks, 2026 · DOI ↗