Social Networks

Joan de Martí Beltran and Yves Zenou

No 816, Working Paper Series from Research Institute of Industrial Economics

Abstract: We survey the literature on social networks by putting together the economics, sociological and physics/applied mathematics approaches, showing their similarities and differences. We expose, in particular, the two main ways of modeling network formation. While the physics/applied mathematics approach is capable of reproducing most observed networks, it does not explain why they emerge. On the contrary, the economics approach is very precise in explaining why networks emerge but does a poor job in matching real-world networks. We also analyze behaviors on networks, which take networks as given and focus on the impact of their structure on individuals’ outcomes. Using a game-theoretical framework, we then compare the results with those obtained in sociology.

Keywords: Random Graph; Game Theory; Centrality Measures; Network Formation; Weak (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: A14 C72 D85 Z13 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 31 pages
Date: 2009-12-09
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-gth, nep-net, nep-soc and nep-ure
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.ifn.se/wfiles/wp/wp816.pdf (application/pdf)

Related works:
Working Paper: Social Networks (2009)
Working Paper: Social Networks (2009)
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:hhs:iuiwop:0816

Access Statistics for this paper

More papers in Working Paper Series from Research Institute of Industrial Economics Research Institute of Industrial Economics, Box 55665, SE-102 15 Stockholm, Sweden. Contact information at EDIRC.
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Elisabeth Gustafsson ().