The Concentration Inversion

Governance is more distributed than vendor dependency, but not by as much as we thought.

1.29×
Governance to vendor target ratio
70.0%
Institutions governance-dominant
380
Of 543 institutions in the inversion

Each regulated institution distributes its governance edges across multiple oversight nodes and concentrates its vendor edges on a smaller set of technology providers. The Concentration Inversion measures the ratio of these two distributions. Under the v13.1.0 substrate, the mean institution maintains 58.9 distinct governance targets and 45.8 distinct vendor targets, a ratio of 1.29 to 1. Governance dominates vendor distribution in 380 of 543 institutions, or 70.0 percent. The inversion holds in direction. Its magnitude is materially smaller than the v11.1 baseline indicated. The substrate is converging toward parity. The chokepoint thesis stands: the binding systemic constraint is vendor concentration, but governance distribution is a thinner buffer than earlier evidence suggested.

Figure 1 · Concentration Inversion: v11.1 vs v13.1.0
0 30 60 90 120 MEAN TARGETS PER INSTITUTION 103.5 29.4 v11.1 baseline ratio 3.50× 58.9 45.8 v13.1.0 substrate ratio 1.29× Governance targets Vendor targets The inversion narrows. The vendor chokepoint persists. MAR®500.com

Each pair of bars compares the mean number of distinct governance and vendor targets per institution on the named substrate. Governance targets are the unique nodes that receive governed_by, halted_by, escalates_to, or logs_to edges. Vendor targets are the unique nodes that receive model_sourced_from, sub_processes_through, calls, or accesses edges. The v11.1 baseline reported 103.5 governance targets to 29.4 vendor targets. The v13.1.0 substrate reports 58.9 to 45.8. The shift is attributable to expanded vendor evidence recovery; the scanner has captured vendor relationships that the v11.1 baseline missed, narrowing the apparent inversion.

Source · Meridian substrate v13.1.0, May 2026 · Distinct edge target counts per institution by edge category Methodology · SSRN 6535599
543 institutions · 12 sectors · 95,876 agents · 636,854 governance edges · substrate v13.1.0
Methodology grounded in Systemic Governance Risk in AI Agent Networks, SSRN Working Paper 6535599. Substrate methodology in The Stationary Sea (Part 1: Substrate Construction) on Zenodo.