WORKINGS OF THE MELTING POT: SOCIAL NETWORKS AND THE EVOLUTION OF POPULATION ATTRIBUTES*

Journal of Regional Science - Tập 47 Số 2 - Trang 209-228 - 2007
Jan K. Brueckner1, Oleg Smirnov2
1Department of Economics, University of California, Irvine, 3151 Social Science Plaza, Irvine, CA 92697. E-mail: [email protected]
2Department of Economics, University of Toledo, Toledo, OH 43606. E‐mail: [email protected]

Tóm tắt

ABSTRACT This paper links the two nascent economic literatures on social networks and cultural assimilation by investigating the evolution of population attributes in a simple model where agents are influenced by their acquaintances. The main conclusion of the analysis is that attributes converge to a melting‐pot equilibrium, where everyone is identical, provided the social network exhibits a sufficient degree of interconnectedness. When the model is extended to allow an expanding acquaintance set, convergence is guaranteed provided a weaker interconnectedness condition is satisfied, and convergence is rapid. If the intensity of interactions with acquaintances becomes endogenous, convergence (when it occurs) is slowed when agents prefer to interact with people like themselves and hastened when interaction with dissimilar agents is preferred.

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Journal of Regional Science

Tập 47 Số 2

209-228

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