Economics: An Emerging Small World?

Arbeitspapier

The structures of social interaction affect individual behavior and economic performance in important ways. This leads us to ask: does the architecture of social interaction exhibit particular patterns and are these patterns stable over time? We examine interaction among economists by looking at the evolution of co-authorship relations over a thirty year period. We find that in the 1970's this world was quite fragmented with the largest interconnected group { the giant component { covering only 15% of the population. However, by the 1990's economics was much more integrated, with the giant component covering over 40% of the population. The average distance between individuals was small and declined over the period, leading us to conclude that economics is an emerging small world. A crucial stable feature of the network over this period is the existence of several stars (economists with many co-authors each of whom have few collaborators and rarely work among themselves). The world of economics is thus a collection of inter-linked stars. We also find that a growth in the average number of co-authors is the main reason behind the growth in the giant component and the fall in average distances within it. The second part of the paper develops a simple theoretical model of collaboration in economics. We find that an unequal distribution of collaborations and inter- linked stars arise naturally in this environment. Falling costs of communication and increasing credit for joint research lead to greater co-authorship and this supports a larger giant component.

Object Details

• Language: Englisch

References and Relationships

• Bibliographic citation: Series: Nota di Lavoro ; No. 84.2004

Classification and Topics

• Classification: Wirtschaft ; Role of Economics; Role of Economists; Market for Economists
• Subject: Small worlds ; Networks ; Global village ; Wirtschaftswissenschaft ; Bibliometrie ; Netzwerk ; Welt

Contributors, Places and Time

• Event: Geistige Schöpfung
• (who): Goyal, Sanjeev ; van der Leij, Marco ; Moraga-Gonzàlez, José Luis
• Event: Veröffentlichung
• (who): Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei (FEEM)
• (where): Milano
• (when): 2004

Further information

• Handle: http://hdl.handle.net/10419/117962
• Last update: 10.03.2025, 11:43 AM CET