Archive page for ECON 300, Social, Economic, and Financial Networks.

Syllabus

Books

Christakis, Nicholas A. and James H. Fowler. 2011. “Connected: The Surprising Power of Our Social Networks and How They Shape Our Lives-How Your Friends’ Friends’ Friends Affect Everything You Feel, Think, and Do.” Paperback. Back Bay Books: New York. (ISBN 0316036137)

Easley, David and Jon Kleinberg. 2010. “Networks, Crowds, and Markets: Reasoning About a Highly Connected World.” Cambridge University Press: New York. (ISBN 9780521195331)

Kadushin, Charles. 2012. “Understanding Social Networks: Theories, Concepts, and Findings.” Oxford University Press: New York. (ISBN 9780195379471)

Watts, Duncan J. 2003. “Six Degrees: The Science of a Connected Age.” W.W. Norton & Company: New York. (ISBN9780393325423)

Lectures

Material for each lecture and quiz will be listed below.

Lecture 1: Introduction (and now try this - Lecture 1 Papers "pw")

  • Christakis & Fowler (3-32): In the Thick of It
  • Kadushin (3-12): Introduction
  • Watts (13-42): The Connected Age
  • Milgram: "The Small-World Problem" (1967)
  • Travers & Milgram: An Experimental Study of the Small-World Problem (1969)
  • Granovetter: The Strength of Weak Ties (1973)
  • Mathematica: Exercise Notes

Lecture 2: What does this have to do with economics?

  • Watts (43-68):The Origins of "New" Science
  • Kirman: "Whom or What Does the Representative Agent Represent?" (1992)
  • Hartley: "The Orgins of the Representative Agent" (1996)
  • Tesfatsion: "Introductory Notes on Rational Expectations" (2016)
  • Williamson: "Notes on Macroeconomic Theory" (1999)
  • Romer: "The Trouble with Macroeconomics" (2016), An update

Lecture 3: Small Worlds ("pw")

  • Watts (69-100): Small Worlds
  • Kadushin (108-134): The Small World, Circles, and Communities
  • Easley and Kleinberg (Ch 20): The Small-World Phenomenon
  • Watts: "Network Dynamics and the Small-World Phenomenon" (1999) - ?? model
  • Newman: "Models of the Small World" (2000)
    • Kogut & Walker: "The Small World of Germany and the Duration of National Networks" (2001)
  • Parker on Methodological Individualism v. Methodological Holism
  • Watts-Strogatz Matlab code - put in your working directory

Lecture 4: Love, Health, and Disease ("pw")

Relative standing
Mating
  • Jin et al.: "Preliminary Evidence Regarding the Hypothesis That the Sex Ratio at Sexual Maturity May Affect Longevity in Men" (2010)
  • Greenwood et al.: "Marry Your Like: Assortative Mating and Income Inequality"
    • Economist: "Sex, brains, and inequality" (2014)
    • Brookings: "Opposites Don't Attract: Assortative Mating and Social Mobility" (2014)
  • Angrist: "How do Sex Ratios Affect Marriage and Labor Markets? Evidence from America's Second Generation" (2002)
Obesity

Lecture 5: Economics & Finance: Part I ("pw")

Lecture 6: Economics & Finance: Part II ("pw") same readings

General Reading
Minsky
Bitcoin & Blockchain
Bubbles & Herding

Lecture 7: Management & Production ("pw") same readings

General Reading
Firm Structure
Technology Adoption

Lecture 8: Financial Networks ("pw")

General Reading
Banking Networks
Systemic Risk and Contagion

Lecture 9: Contagion ("pw")