Geographic distance from information sources drives reliance on agents

Evidence

The proliferation of agency relationships derives as much from the increasing scope of production and exchange that creates barriers of access to information and property as from the mere existence of specialization and differentiation and the efficiencies that arise from delegating to agents. Principals entrust agents to bridge the barriers of direct physical access to information and property. They often rely on data provided by agents because their own physical distance from the sources-be they starving children in Bangladesh or Ethiopia, news events in Latin America, choice vacation property in Arizona or Florida, gold mines in South Africa, or tanks of salad oil in Bayonne, New Jersey-precludes personal data collection. — Shapiro, Susan P., The Social Control of Impersonal Trust, 23

Categorization

• CANDY: The absurd juxtaposition of starving children in Ethiopia and tanks of salad oil in Bayonne, New Jersey is a wry curation of the ‘things you can’t personally verify’ list.
• XREF: Echoes the graft-and-growth themes of delegated knowledge; could tie into the ‘Complaints About Immodesty’ article’s discussion of how moral knowledge gets mediated across distance. — connects to: Agency relationships drive social differentiation and bridge exchange distances — Shapiro, Susan P., The Social Control of Impersonal Trust, 18; Secrecy and distance structurally prevent principals from monitoring agents. — Shapiro, Susan P., The Social Control of Impersonal Trust, 50; Market production for unknown buyers erodes personal knowledge between parties — Georg Simmel, on individuality and social forms_…, 750 (+1 more)

Related

• Agency relationships multiply because scale creates access barriers to information and property. (similarity 0.83)
• Secrecy and distance structurally prevent principals from monitoring agents. (similarity 0.81)
• Agency relationships drive social differentiation and bridge exchange distances (similarity 0.78)

Broader Connections

• Agency relationships drive social differentiation and bridge exchange distances #expands (0.85) — Shapiro, Susan P., The Social Control of Impersonal Trust, 18
• Secrecy and distance structurally prevent principals from monitoring agents. #expands (0.78) — Shapiro, Susan P., The Social Control of Impersonal Trust, 50
• Market production for unknown buyers erodes personal knowledge between parties #corroborates (0.75) — Georg Simmel, on individuality and social forms_…, 750
• Long-distance trade needs institutions to fill knowledge gaps about others’ honesty #expands (0.70)