The present study aims to explore the social conditions and underlying mechanism of match-fixing, especially when it is not facilitated in a quid pro quo relationship. Analyzing scandals in Taiwan’s Chinese Professional Baseball League, our research investigates how both individual agendas and organizational interests are served in match-fixing. Practically, the prerequisites and actors’ rationales for their involvement in match-fixing are explained. Theoretically, actors’ motivations and the exchange of intangible resources (not in the form of money) are examined. Our findings speak to theories of structural, cognitive and relational social capital by elaborating on the dark side of social capital. The relational attributes possessed by actors embedded in their social networks are involved in the cognitive process of actors’ decision making. Alternative policy implications are proposed to reduce the potential for match-fixing.
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