 Trading in Complex NetworksFelipe M. Cardoso, Carlos Gracia-Lázaro, Frederic Moisan (), Sanjeev Goyal, Angel Sánchez and Yamir Moreno Cambridge Working Papers in Economics from Faculty of Economics, University of Cambridge Abstract: Global supply networks in agriculture, manufacturing and services are a defining feature of the modern world. The efficiency and the distribution of surpluses across different parts of these networks depend on choices of intermediaries. This paper conducts price formation experiments with human subjects located in large complex networks to develop a better understanding of the principles governing behavior. Our first finding is that prices are larger and that trade is significantly less efficient in small world networks as compared to random networks. Our second finding is that location within a network is not an important determinant of pricing. An examination of the price dynamics suggests that traders on cheapest - and hence active - paths raise prices while those off these paths lower them. We construct an agent based model (ABM) that embodies this rule of thumb. Simulations of this ABM yield macroscopic patterns consistent with the experimental findings. Finally, we extrapolate the ABM on to significantly larger random and small world networks and find that network topology remains a key determinant of pricing and efficiency. Date: 2019-06-14 Downloads: (external link) Related works: Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:cam:camdae:1953 Access Statistics for this paper More papers in Cambridge Working Papers in Economics from Faculty of Economics, University of Cambridge |
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