Social and Economic Networks [Hardcover]

Matthew O. Jackson (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 18, 2008 | ISBN-10: 0691134405 | ISBN-13: 978-0691134406

Networks of relationships help determine the careers that people choose, the jobs they obtain, the products they buy, and how they vote. The many aspects of our lives that are governed by social networks make it critical to understand how they impact behavior, which network structures are likely to emerge in a society, and why we organize ourselves as we do. In Social and Economic Networks, Matthew Jackson offers a comprehensive introduction to social and economic networks, drawing on the latest findings in economics, sociology, computer science, physics, and mathematics. He provides empirical background on networks and the regularities that they exhibit, and discusses random graph-based models and strategic models of network formation. He helps readers to understand behavior in networked societies, with a detailed analysis of learning and diffusion in networks, decision making by individuals who are influenced by their social neighbors, game theory and markets on networks, and a host of related subjects. Jackson also describes the varied statistical and modeling techniques used to analyze social networks. Each chapter includes exercises to aid students in their analysis of how networks function.

This book is an indispensable resource for students and researchers in economics, mathematics, physics, sociology, and business.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Jackson's review of diffusion models is excellent, as tight an overview of these models as I have seen anywhere. . . . Social and Economic Networks is a must-read for all those steeped in the traditional social network analysis paradigm. Economists will find Jackson offers them a superb and accessible introduction to network questions and models. And for others from any social science background curious about social networks, I recommend a careful read of the book. -- David Krackhardt, Science

This book deserves the highest recommendations for all readers interested in networks and interdependence. It is written clearly, and could be used both as a starting textbook for a journey to the world of networks and also as an expert guide for scientists studying social and economic networks. -- Karoly Takacs, Journal of Artificial Societies and Social Simulation

I strongly recommend this book to any scholar or student interested in networks, not only in economics but in any connected field such as sociology, physics, and applied mathematics. Matthew Jackson's guided tour of the literature on economic and social networks is superb. -- Joan de Marti Beltran, Regional Science and Urban Economics

From the Inside Flap

"The study of networks is one of the liveliest and most interesting topics in contemporary economic theory. In this timely and beautifully written book, Matthew Jackson--a leading theorist and pioneer in network theory--lucidly lays out the elements of the theory as well as some cutting-edge research."--Eric S. Maskin, Nobel Laureate in Economics

"Lucid and comprehensive, Jackson's book elegantly synthesizes several important strands of network science from sociology, physics, mathematics, computer science, and economics. It will be an immensely useful reference for researchers and students alike."--Duncan Watts, Columbia University

"Matt Jackson has met and exceeded the challenge of producing a landmark work in a rapidly emerging and highly interdisciplinary field. It is wonderfully written, expertly balancing motivation and examples with technical detail. It should become a treasured resource for members of several research communities, including economists, sociologists, and computer scientists."--Michael Kearns, University of Pennsylvania

"Jackson does justice to the vast interdisciplinary field of complex systems by bringing together the key advances scattered in the social science, physics, mathematics, computer science, and economics literature. With its comprehensive exposition and numerous fascinating examples, this is a must-read for everybody interested in social and economic networks."--Albert-László Barabási, University of Notre Dame

"This book is an eye-opener. In addition to describing the new models of small-world and scale-free networks first developed by physical scientists, it also reveals the fascinating work done by economists on social networks. It is the best available textbook on network models, containing well-thought-out and demanding problems at the end of every chapter."--Phillip Bonacich, University of California, Los Angeles

"This is an excellent, incredible, and much-needed book. Every incoming graduate student who deals with networks in economics, political science, or sociology will want it as a reference. Social and Economic Networks will become the book in formal network analysis in the social sciences. Its clarity is unsurpassed, and perhaps even unsurpassable."--Scott E. Page, author of The Difference

"This is a wonderful book on social networks that will be immensely successful both as a reference on the state of the art and as a textbook for advanced courses. I believe that this book will spur renewed interest in social and economic networks, and serve as an inspiration for many researchers. Fascinating and very pleasant to read."--Francis Bloch, École Polytechnique

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 520 pages
• Publisher: Princeton University Press (August 18, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0691134405
• ISBN-13: 978-0691134406
• Product Dimensions: 10.1 x 6.9 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #720,356 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent for Strategic Networks, January 3, 2010

By 

IdeaGames - See all my reviews

This review is from: Social and Economic Networks (Hardcover)

Jackson has really produced a wonderfully cogent book with an economic approach to studying networks. To be clear, the book is aimed at readers with a degree of mathematical sophistication. He examines how (cooperative and non-cooperative) game theory can be applied to networks, i.e. models of friendship between individuals, alliances between firms and other similar situations. The empirical analysis of networks is treated in a couple of chapters, but perhaps deserves a separate book. Overall, this is an ideal place to start for someone interested in developing microeconomic and game-theoretic models of network interactions.

5.0 out of 5 stars The importance of stochastics in the social life, September 29, 2011

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Edoardo Angeloni "Mathematics teacher" (Teramo , Italy) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Social and Economic Networks (Paperback)

This book is a very useful approach to the social and economic networks by an interesting mathematical view. The exposition is no very difficult as calculations, if one knows sufficiently the game theory. This method is a mix by the Statistics and the Graph theory, while a significative role is related to the Bayes formula. This theory depends in large part by the game theory, let be cooperative or not-cooperative. The applications are about the biology, next the sociology and the economics.

7 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars deeper understanding of social networks, May 28, 2009

By 

W Boudville (Terra, Sol 3) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Social and Economic Networks (Hardcover)

Jackson offers a deeper understanding of Web 2.0, the social web. There has been much buzz of Web 2.0 in this decade, as the successor to the dot coms. Indeed, the rise of Myspace, Facebook, Twitter and others has been spectacular. What this book offers are models of social relationships, that can be used with possible profitable results.

Try using the models to gauge some ideas as the existence and size distributions of clusters within a network. As well as finding key players within the network. Nor should you confine yourself to only those models offered in the text. What the book offers is also in some meta-modelling sense how to develop your own models and assess these against your networks.

Be warned that the book could be too mathematical for some readers. The treatment is sophisticated, and does not lend easily to a trivial read.