Network Effects & Social Inequality: How do Mechanisms Matter?
Network Effects and Social Inequality:
How Do Mechanisms Matter?
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Filiz Garip (Cornell)
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Several听bodies of research suggest that under many conditions social networks amplify听ineq颅ual颅ity in access to or adoption of听practices that contribute to actors鈥櫶齱elfare.听 Most of this work has remained听suggestive, however, due to two prob颅lems.听听First,听inattention to, and lack of con颅sensus about, mechanisms of influ颅ence听impedes interpretation of results and cumulation of听knowledge. Second, few data听sets have the required detail --- over-time measure颅ment of com颅p颅lete social听networks and member听behaviors 鈥� to draw confident conclus颅ions.听听In this paper we address both of these听questions.听 听First, we argue that network听effects听operate through three major families of mechanisms 鈥� network听externalities, social facilitation, and normative influ颅ence 鈥� each of听which听can best be expressed through a distinctive set of related functional听forms.听 听Second, to explore the听implication of these听different mechanisms (in the absence of suitably听fine-grained data), we use computational models of the diffusion of practices听through social networks given varying levels of homophily to explore the听implication of each mechanism for overall and group-specific diffusion rates听and equilibrium adoption levels, and for inter颅group inequality in rates and听levels of adoption.