Networks

An Economics Approach

by Goyal

ISBN: 9780262374088 | Copyright 2023

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An accessible and comprehensive overview of the economic theory and the realities of networks written by a pioneering economics researcher.

Networks are everywhere: the infrastructure that brings water into our homes, the social networks made up of our friends and families, the supply chains connecting cities, people, and goods. These interconnections contain economic trade-offs: for example, should an airline operate direct flights between cities or route all its flights through a hub? Viewing networks through an economics lens, this textbook considers the costs and benefits that govern their formation and functioning.

Networks are central to an understanding of the production, consumption, and information that lie at the heart of economic activity. Sanjeev Goyal provides advanced undergraduate and graduate students with an accessible and comprehensive introduction to the economics research on networks of the past twenty-five years. Each chapter introduces a theoretical model illustrated with the help of case studies and formal proofs. After introducing the theoretical concepts, Goyal examines economic networks, including infrastructure, security, market power, and financial networks. He then covers social networks, with chapters on coordinating activity, communication and learning, information networks, epidemics, and impersonal markets. Finally, Goyal locates social and economic networks in a broader context covering networked markets, economic development, trust, and group networks in their relation to markets and the state.

•First textbook to provide a broad and comprehensive overview of twenty-first-century economic theory of networks
•Features engaging case studies and accessible exercises
•Written by a pioneering economics researcher

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Contents (pg. vii)
Preface (pg. xiii)
Acknowledgments (pg. xv)
Introduction (pg. 1)
I. Foundations (pg. 13)
1. Concepts and Measures (pg. 15)
1.1 Introduction (pg. 15)
1.2 Concepts and Terminology (pg. 15)
1.3 Measuring Networks (pg. 30)
1.4 Reading Notes (pg. 45)
1.5 Questions (pg. 47)
2. Random Origins (pg. 51)
2.1 Introduction (pg. 51)
2.2 Erdős-Rényi Graphs (pg. 52)
2.3 Preferential Attachment (pg. 63)
2.4 The Configuration Model (pg. 70)
2.5 Small-World Networks (pg. 73)
2.6 Network-Based Linking (pg. 76)
2.7 A Concluding Remark (pg. 78)
2.8 Reading Notes (pg. 78)
2.9 Questions (pg. 80)
3. The Costs and Benefits of Links (pg. 83)
3.1 Introduction (pg. 83)
3.2 One-Sided Links (pg. 84)
3.3 Two-Sided Links (pg. 93)
3.4 General Considerations (pg. 100)
3.5 Appendix: Advanced Material on Solution Concepts (pg. 114)
3.6 Reading Notes (pg. 118)
3.7 Questions (pg. 121)
4. Network Structure and Human Behavior (pg. 125)
4.1 Introduction (pg. 125)
4.2 Choice in Networks (pg. 127)
4.3 Binary Games (pg. 134)
4.4 Binary Games on Random Networks (pg. 141)
4.5 Continuous Action Games (pg. 151)
4.6 Intervening in a Network to Influence Behavior (pg. 158)
4.7 Reading Notes (pg. 162)
4.8 Questions (pg. 165)
II. Economic Networks (pg. 169)
5. Production and Supply Chains (pg. 171)
5.1 Introduction (pg. 171)
5.2 Case Study: The 2011 Japanese Earthquake (pg. 173)
5.3 The Input-Output Model of Production (pg. 175)
5.4 Network Structure and Aggregate Volatility (pg. 185)
5.5 Supply Chains: Fragility and Resilience (pg. 190)
5.6 Reading Notes (pg. 196)
5.7 Questions (pg. 197)
6. Infrastructure (pg. 199)
6.1 Introduction (pg. 199)
6.2 Airlines (pg. 200)
6.3 Roads and Trains (pg. 208)
6.4 Theoretical Framework for Trains and Roads (pg. 216)
6.5 Optimal Spatial Transport Networks (pg. 220)
6.6 The Belt and Road Initiative (pg. 228)
6.7 Reading Notes (pg. 232)
6.8 Questions (pg. 233)
7. Security (pg. 237)
7.1 Introduction (pg. 237)
7.2 The Value of a Network (pg. 238)
7.3 Infrastructure Networks (pg. 239)
7.4 Protecting Networks against Contagious Threats (pg. 259)
7.5 Reading Notes (pg. 272)
7.6 Questions (pg. 273)
8. Intermediaries and Platforms (pg. 277)
8.1 Introduction (pg. 277)
8.2 Network Externalities (pg. 278)
8.3 Compatibility (pg. 287)
8.4 Standards (pg. 295)
8.5 Multisided Platforms (pg. 300)
8.6 Chains of Intermediation (pg. 303)
8.7 Reading Notes (pg. 313)
8.8 Questions (pg. 314)
9. Financial Contagion (pg. 317)
9.1 Introduction (pg. 317)
9.2 The Financial Sector: Some Background (pg. 318)
9.3 Building Blocks of Financial Networks (pg. 322)
9.4 Liquidity Shocks and Financial Contagion (pg. 328)
9.5 Financial Shocks and Optimal Networks (pg. 334)
9.6 Incomplete Network Information and Fire Sales (pg. 341)
9.7 The Formation of Financial Networks (pg. 346)
9.8 Reading Notes (pg. 354)
9.9 Questions (pg. 355)
10. Wars (pg. 359)
10.1 Introduction (pg. 359)
10.2 Netwars (pg. 360)
10.3 Alliances and Conflict (pg. 362)
10.4 Alliances, Trade, and War (pg. 371)
10.5 Conquest and Empire (pg. 380)
10.6 Reading Notes (pg. 396)
10.7 Questions (pg. 397)
III. Social Networks (pg. 401)
11. The Law of the Few (pg. 403)
11.1 Introduction (pg. 403)
11.2 Empirical Background (pg. 405)
11.3 A Simple Theory of Linking (pg. 406)
11.4 Who Buys Information? (pg. 416)
11.5 Monetizing Network Status (pg. 429)
11.6 Reading Notes (pg. 432)
11.7 Questions (pg. 434)
12. Social Coordination (pg. 437)
12.1 Introduction (pg. 437)
12.2 Coordination in a Network (pg. 439)
12.3 A Change in a Convention (pg. 443)
12.4 Co-evolution: Conventions and Networks (pg. 447)
12.5 Social Coordination with Heterogeneous Preferences (pg. 456)
12.6 Appendix: Advanced Material (pg. 464)
12.7 Reading Notes (pg. 469)
12.8 Questions (pg. 472)
13. Communication and Social Learning (pg. 475)
13.1 Introduction (pg. 475)
13.2 Evidence about Social Influence (pg. 477)
13.3 Learning a New Technology (pg. 482)
13.4 A Model of Communication and Social Influence (pg. 489)
13.5 Experimental Evidence on Social Learning (pg. 503)
13.6 Verifying and Sharing Information (pg. 507)
13.7 Appendix (pg. 510)
13.8 Reading Notes (pg. 513)
13.9 Questions (pg. 516)
14. Epidemics and Diffusion (pg. 519)
14.1 Introduction (pg. 519)
14.2 Empirical Background (pg. 521)
14.3 A Simple Threshold for Epidemics (pg. 527)
14.4 The Susceptible-Infected-Recovered (SIR) Model (pg. 531)
14.5 The Susceptible-Infected-Susceptible (SIS) Model (pg. 542)
14.6 Diffusion of Behaviors (pg. 546)
14.7 Supplementary Material (pg. 550)
14.8 Reading Notes (pg. 552)
14.9 Questions (pg. 554)
15. Social Ties and Markets (pg. 557)
15.1 Introduction (pg. 557)
15.2 Product Markets (pg. 558)
15.3 Labor Markets (pg. 571)
15.4 Reading Notes (pg. 586)
15.5 Questions (pg. 590)
IV. Broader Themes (pg. 595)
16. Networked Markets (pg. 597)
16.1 Introduction (pg. 597)
16.2 Bilateral Exchange (pg. 598)
16.3 Intermediaries (pg. 604)
16.4 Research Alliances in Oligopoly (pg. 615)
16.5 Reading Notes (pg. 625)
16.6 Questions (pg. 628)
17. Communities and Economic Growth (pg. 633)
17.1 Introduction (pg. 633)
17.2 The Patterns of Economic Growth (pg. 636)
17.3 Traditional Society and New Opportunities (pg. 643)
17.4 A Theoretical Model (pg. 645)
17.5 La Longue Duree (pg. 658)
17.6 Reading Notes (pg. 663)
17.7 Questions (pg. 665)
18. Trust (pg. 667)
18.1 Introduction (pg. 667)
18.2 Local Trust (pg. 668)
18.3 Social Collateral (pg. 672)
18.4 Generalized Trust (pg. 685)
18.5 Local and Generalized Trust (pg. 691)
18.6 Scaling up Trust: The Role of Social Networks (pg. 698)
18.7 Supplementary Material: Names of Journals (pg. 701)
18.8 Reading Notes (pg. 703)
18.9 Questions (pg. 705)
19. Groups, Impersonal Exchange, and State Capacity (pg. 709)
19.1 Introduction (pg. 709)
19.2 Empirical Background (pg. 710)
19.3 Conceptual Considerations (pg. 728)
19.4 A Model of State Capacity (pg. 730)
19.5 Sources of Civic Capital (pg. 740)
19.6 Reading Notes (pg. 750)
19.7 Questions (pg. 752)
References (pg. 755)
Index (pg. 783)
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