Social Identity in Network Formation

Ying Chen (), Tom Lane () and Stuart McDonald ()
Additional contact information
Ying Chen: University of Nottingham Ningbo China
Stuart McDonald: University of Nottingham Ningbo China

No 2024-07, Discussion Papers from The Centre for Decision Research and Experimental Economics, School of Economics, University of Nottingham

Abstract: Using a laboratory experiment, we study the evolution of economic networks in the context of fragmented social identity. We create societies in which members can initiate and delete links to others, and then earn payoffs from a public goods game played within their network. We manipulate whether the society initially consists of segregated or integrated identity groups, and vary whether societal mobility is high or low. Results show in-group favouritism in network formation. The effects of original network structure are long-lasting, with initially segregated societies permanently exhibiting more homophilic networks than initially integrated ones. Moreover, allowing greater social mobility results in networks becoming less rather than more integrated. This occurs in part because eviction from networks is based on out-group hostility when societal mobility is high, and on punishing free riders when mobility across groups is low.

Keywords: social identity; social network; in-group bias; homophily; laboratory experiments (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024-07
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-cdm, nep-exp, nep-gth, nep-net and nep-ure
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.nottingham.ac.uk/cedex/documents/paper ... on-paper-2024-07.pdf (application/pdf)

Related works:
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:not:notcdx:2024-07

Access Statistics for this paper

More papers in Discussion Papers from The Centre for Decision Research and Experimental Economics, School of Economics, University of Nottingham School of Economics University of Nottingham University Park Nottingham NG7 2RD. Contact information at EDIRC.
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Jose V Guinot Saporta ().