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| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Preprint |
| Published: |
2026
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://arxiv.org/abs/2603.22860 |
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| _version_ | 1866917359413886976 |
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| author | Sancheti, Prateek Karlapalem, Kamalakar Vemuri, Kavita |
| author_facet | Sancheti, Prateek Karlapalem, Kamalakar Vemuri, Kavita |
| contents | Interlocking directorships-where individuals simultaneously serve on the boards of multiple corporations-can facilitate the exchange of expertise and strategic alignment but also present risks, including conflicts of interest, economic 'oligarchy', and regulatory non-compliance. In contexts such as large, family-controlled corporate conglomerates in India, the manual detection of interlocks is hindered by the high volume of corporate entities and the complex involvement of extended familial networks. This study introduces a scalable, graph-theoretic framework for the systematic identification and analysis of interlocking directorships. Using Breadth-First Search (BFS) traversal, we examined a curated dataset comprising over 50,000 directors, 85,000 companies, and 300,000 director-company affiliations, yielding a comprehensive representation of corporate network structures. Large Language Models (LLMs) were integrated into the analytical pipeline to characterize both personal and professional linkages among directors. Empirical results indicate that 17% of directors hold positions in exactly two companies, while 58.6% maintain directorships in two or more companies. The combined BFS-LLM methodology enables the detection of recurrent director-company clusters, indicative of strong network cohesion, and provides qualitative insights into potential underlying drivers of these interlocks. The proposed approach enhances the capacity for automated, data-driven detection of complex intercorporate relationships, offering actionable implications for corporate governance, regulatory monitoring, and systemic risk assessment. |
| format | Preprint |
| id |
arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2603_22860 |
| institution | arXiv |
| publishDate | 2026 |
| record_format | arxiv |
| spellingShingle | Who Sits Where? Automated Detection of Director Interlocks in Indian Companies Sancheti, Prateek Karlapalem, Kamalakar Vemuri, Kavita Social and Information Networks Interlocking directorships-where individuals simultaneously serve on the boards of multiple corporations-can facilitate the exchange of expertise and strategic alignment but also present risks, including conflicts of interest, economic 'oligarchy', and regulatory non-compliance. In contexts such as large, family-controlled corporate conglomerates in India, the manual detection of interlocks is hindered by the high volume of corporate entities and the complex involvement of extended familial networks. This study introduces a scalable, graph-theoretic framework for the systematic identification and analysis of interlocking directorships. Using Breadth-First Search (BFS) traversal, we examined a curated dataset comprising over 50,000 directors, 85,000 companies, and 300,000 director-company affiliations, yielding a comprehensive representation of corporate network structures. Large Language Models (LLMs) were integrated into the analytical pipeline to characterize both personal and professional linkages among directors. Empirical results indicate that 17% of directors hold positions in exactly two companies, while 58.6% maintain directorships in two or more companies. The combined BFS-LLM methodology enables the detection of recurrent director-company clusters, indicative of strong network cohesion, and provides qualitative insights into potential underlying drivers of these interlocks. The proposed approach enhances the capacity for automated, data-driven detection of complex intercorporate relationships, offering actionable implications for corporate governance, regulatory monitoring, and systemic risk assessment. |
| title | Who Sits Where? Automated Detection of Director Interlocks in Indian Companies |
| topic | Social and Information Networks |
| url | https://arxiv.org/abs/2603.22860 |