The Dynamics of Continuous Cultural Traits in Social Networks

Berno Büchel, Tim Hellmann and Michael Pichler
Additional contact information
Berno Büchel: Center for Mathematical Economics, Bielefeld University
Michael Pichler: Center for Mathematical Economics, Bielefeld University

No 457, Center for Mathematical Economics Working Papers from Center for Mathematical Economics, Bielefeld University

Abstract: We consider an OLG model (of a socialization process) where continuous traits are transmitted from an adult generation to the children. A weighted social network describes how children are influenced not only by their parents but also by other role models within the society. Parents can invest into the purposeful socialization of their children by strategically displaying a cultural trait (which need not coincide with their true trait). Based on Nash equilibrium behavior, we study the dynamics of cultural traits throughout generations. We provide conditions on the network structure that are sufficient for long–run convergence to a society with homogeneous subgroups. In the special case of quadratic utility, the condition is that each child is more intensely shaped by its parents than by the social environment. Our model also represents an extension of the classical DeGroot model of opinion formation for which we introduce strategic interaction in choice of expressed opinions (in our setup: traits). We show that under strategic interaction convergence is slower and for convergence we need more restrictive necessary and sufficient conditions than in the DeGroot model.

Keywords: cultural transmission; social networks; preference formation; cultural persistence; opinion dynamics (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 31
Date: 2016-02-15
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-cul, nep-dge, nep-evo, nep-net and nep-soc
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (22)

Downloads: (external link)
https://pub.uni-bielefeld.de/download/2900980/2900981 First Version, 2012 (application/x-download)

Related works:
Journal Article: The dynamics of continuous cultural traits in social networks (2014)
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:bie:wpaper:457

Access Statistics for this paper

More papers in Center for Mathematical Economics Working Papers from Center for Mathematical Economics, Bielefeld University Contact information at EDIRC.
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Bettina Weingarten ().