Eight Degrees of Separation
Paolo Pin
No 12161, Coalition Theory Network Working Papers from Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei (FEEM)
Abstract:
The paper presents a model of network formation where every connected couple gives a contribution to the aggregate payoff, eventually discounted by their distance, and the resources are split between agents through the Myerson value. As equilibrium concept we adopt a refinement of pairwise stability. The only parameters are the number N of agents and a constant cost k for every agent to maintain any single link. This setup shows a wide multiplicity of equilibria, all of them connected, as k ranges over non trivial cases. We are able to show that, for any N, when the equilibrium is a tree (acyclical connected graph), which happens for high k, and there is no decay, the diameter of such a network never exceeds 8 (i.e. there are no two nodes with distance greater than 8). Adopting no decay and studying only trees, we facilitate the analysis but impose worst-case scenarios: we conjecture that the limit of 8 should apply for any possible non-empty equilibrium with any decay function.
Keywords: Financial; Economics (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 26
Date: 2006
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https://ageconsearch.umn.edu/record/12161/files/wp060078.pdf (application/pdf)
Related works:
Journal Article: Eight degrees of separation (2011) 
Working Paper: Eight Degrees of Separation (2006) 
Working Paper: Eight degrees of separation (2006) 
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:ags:feemct:12161
DOI: 10.22004/ag.econ.12161
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