Structure and Strategy in Collective Action: Communication and Coordination in Social Networks

Michael Suk-Young Chwe

Working Papers from Santa Fe Institute

Abstract: This paper considers both structural and strategic influences on collective action. Each person in a group wants to participate only if the total number participating is at least her threshold; people use a social network to communicate their thresholds. Results include: cliques form the common knowledge sufficient and in some sense necessary for collective action; dispersion of "insurgents," people strongly predisposed toward collective action, can be good for collective action but too much dispersion can be bad; classic "bandwagon" models overstate the fragility of collective action.

Keywords: social networks; communication; coordination (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 1996-12
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Persistent link: http://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:wop:safiwp:96-12-092

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