Course 2013-2014 a.y.

Go to class group/s: 31

CLMG (6 credits - II sem. - OP  |  SECS-S/01) - M (6 credits - II sem. - OP  |  SECS-S/01) - IM (6 credits - II sem. - OP  |  SECS-S/01) - MM (6 credits - II sem. - OP  |  SECS-S/01) - AFC (6 credits - II sem. - OP  |  SECS-S/01) - CLAPI (6 credits - II sem. - OP  |  SECS-S/01) - CLEFIN-FINANCE (6 credits - II sem. - OP  |  SECS-S/01) - CLELI (6 credits - II sem. - OP  |  SECS-S/01) - ACME (6 credits - II sem. - OP  |  SECS-S/01) - DES-ESS (6 credits - II sem. - OP  |  SECS-S/01) - EMIT (6 credits - II sem. - OP  |  SECS-S/01)

Course Director:
FERNANDO VEGA-REDONDO

Course Objectives

The course presents the main developments of the modern theory of social networks, as they have been applied to understand some of the most important social and economic phenomena that are central to our highly connected societies. Initially, we focus on phenomena such as search, contagion, or diffusion that can be largely conceived as non-strategic. Then, we turn to the study of traffic, trade, bargaining, cooperation, or public goods, all of which display an essential strategic component and thus have to be analyzed using the tools of Game Theory. Indeed, such a strategic approach must sheds light both on how social behavior depends on the social network as well as on how the social network itself is shaped by the strategic choices of individual agents.

Course Content Summary

• Graphs: definitions and measures
• Mechanisms and algorithms of network formation
• Information networks: the World Wide Web (WWW)
• Structure of the WWW
• Web-filtering: centralized search engines
• Web-walking: decentralized search in a small world

• Diffusion networks
• Epidemics: simplex contagion in a scale-free network

• Complex epidemics: social recruitment and collective action

• Networks and games I:exogenous social structure
• Traffic and congestion in networks
• Matching and markets
• Play in networks, paradigmatic setups:cooperation, coordination and public goods
• Trade in networks with intermediaries
• Trade and bargaining in networks

• Networks and games II: endogenous social structure
• Endogenous networks supporting cooperation
• Public goods within an endogenous network
• Endogenous trading networks

• Empirical research on social networks: issues and possibilities

Detailed Description of Assessment Methods

The final grade of the course is based on the following sources:

• Regularly assigned problem sets
• Written exams

Textbooks

The main textbook is:

• D. EASLEY, J. KLEINBERG, Networks, Crowds, and Markets, Cambridge University Press, 2010.

For a more technical coverage of some of the topics, the following two auxiliary books can be used:

• F. VEGA-REDONDO, Complex Social Networks , Cambridge University Press, 2007.
•  M. JACKSON, Social and Economic Networks, Princeton University Press, 2008.

Exam textbooks & Online Articles (check availability at the Library)

Prerequisites

• Intermediate Microeconomics
• Basic Game Theory
• Basic mathematical background in
  • analysis
  • linear algebra
  • dynamical systems

       

Last change 21/06/2013 11:40