Social networks and the process of "globalization"

Georg Dürnecker and Fernando Vega-Redondo
Authors registered in the RePEc Author Service: Georg Duernecker

No 12-18, Working Papers from University of Mannheim, Department of Economics

Abstract: We propose a stylised dynamic model to understand the role of social networks in the phenomenon we call "globalization." This term refers to the process by which even agents who are geographically far apart come to interact, thus being able to overcome what would otherwise be a fast saturation of local opportunities. A key feature of our model is that the social network is the main channel through which agents exploit new opportunities. Therefore, only if the social network becomes global (heuristically, it "reaches far in few steps") can global interaction be steadily sustained. To shed light on the conditions under which such a transformation may, or may not, take place is the main objective of the paper. One of the main insights arising from the model is that, in order for the social network to turn global, the economy needs to display a degree of "geographical cohesion" that is neither too high (for then global opportunities simply do not arise) nor too low (then the meeting mechanism displays too little structure for the process to take off). But if globalization does materialize, we show that it is a robust state of affairs that often arises abruptly as key parameters change. This occurs, in particular, as the rate of arrival of ideas rises, or when there is a high enough increase in the range at which the network transmits information.

Keywords: Social networks; Globalization; Search; Cooperation; Social Cohesion; Innovation (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: C73 D83 D85 O17 O43 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2012
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-ino, nep-net and nep-soc
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https://madoc.bib.uni-mannheim.de/32545/1/Duernecker_%26_Vega-Redondo12-18.pdf

Related works:
Journal Article: Social Networks and the Process of Globalization (2018)
Working Paper: Social Networks and the Process of Globalization (2018)
Working Paper: Social Networks and the Process of "Globalization" (2012)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:mnh:wpaper:32545

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