Homophily and long-run integration in social networks

Yann Bramoullé, Sergio Currarini (), Matthew Jackson, Paolo Pin and Brian Rogers

Journal of Economic Theory, 2012, vol. 147, issue 5, 1754-1786

Abstract: We model network formation when heterogeneous nodes enter sequentially and form connections through both random meetings and network-based search, but with type-dependent biases. We show that there is “long-run integration”, whereby the composition of types in sufficiently old nodesʼ neighborhoods approaches the global type-distribution, provided that the network-based search is unbiased. However, younger nodesʼ connections still reflect the biased meetings process. We derive the type-based degree distributions and group-level homophily patterns when there are two types and location-based biases. Finally, we illustrate aspects of the model with an empirical application to data on citations in physics journals.

Keywords: Network formation; Social networks; Homophily; Integration; Degree distribution; Citations (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: A14 D85 Z13 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2012
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (75)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:jetheo:v:147:y:2012:i:5:p:1754-1786

DOI: 10.1016/j.jet.2012.05.007

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