Network Structure and the Division of Labor

• In Event: 3265 - Social Networks

Abstract

Abstract: We use a simulation-based method to consider the impact of different network structures on the propensity for specialization and differentiation among economic producers. The color-node game, in which nodes want to find a color that does not match their nearest neighbors, is used to represent the specialization problems inherent to the division of labor. We find, counterintuitively, that the specialization is more likely to occur when there are fewer viable solutions. This finding is the product of more solutions leading to more churn at the level of the nodes, which increases the likelihood of generalist strategies. The central finding is that even very small changes in network structure can have extremely large impacts on the likelihood of specialization in producer networks.

Authors

• Emily Anne Erikson, Yale University

• Hirokazu Shirado, Yale University