Research Papers

We described a perspective on poverty traps where group-level influences generate persistence in economic status. We explored how social and environmental factors in places like Harlem contribute to this phenomenon and examined the impact of these influences on the identity and socioeconomic conditions of residents.

We aimed to understand the mechanisms behind persistent poverty by focusing on group-level influences. By examining social and environmental factors, we sought to provide insights into how these elements perpetuate economic disparity and hinder upward mobility.

Understanding poverty traps and the role of group-level influences is crucial for developing effective policies to break the cycle of poverty. By identifying the factors that contribute to persistent economic status, we can better address the root causes of inequality and promote social and economic mobility.

We show how to develop an analysis of social interactions that builds the interdependencies that characterize complex systems into a framework consistent with individual decision making.

A major weakness of the social interactions literature as it is currently constituted is the absence of strong connections between theory and empirics. By this, we mean that there has been little effort to employ theoretical models of social interactions in structural estimation. This paper extends our previous work on binary choice models to account for multinomial choice.

Within economics, there has developed an increasing recognition that social interactions may play a major role in explaining a range of individual behaviors.

This article provides an overview of the empirical side of the growing economic complexity. It explores the state of interplay between recent efforts to introduce complex systems methods into economics and the understanding of empirical phenomena.

The evidence in the existing literature is far from decisive and is amenable to alternative interpretations. It is therefore unclear whether this work has provided evidence in support of economic complexity per se.

There is an increasing application in the economics of ideas from complex systems theory.

We developed general conditions under which complementarities between individual agents imply that assortative matching is efficient. Our analysis covered equal-sized groups, varying group sizes, sequences of replications, and the effects of feedback from group composition on efficient allocations.

We aimed to understand the efficiency of assortative matching in the presence of agent complementarities. By examining different scenarios and conditions, we sought to identify when and why assortative matching leads to efficient outcomes.

Our findings highlight the complexities in achieving efficient assortative matching in an economy. Understanding these complexities and the conditions for efficiency is crucial for designing policies and mechanisms that promote optimal allocation of resources and improve economic outcomes.

We describe the relationship between two different binary social interaction models–the mean-field model of Brock and Durlauf (1995) and the strategy adjustment model of Blume (1994).

We want to understand the behavior of these models when there is a significant random component to choice.

We expect that our results can be extended to some of the literature on search and sorting which proceeds in this manner, and we believe this to be an important area for future research.

We provided an overview of an approach that integrates sociological ideas into economic models of individual behavior, emphasizing the influence of social context and interdependences on decision-making. We based our analysis on the framework developed by Brock and Durlauf (2001, forthcoming), assessing empirical evidence and exploring policy implications.

We aimed to bridge the gap between economics and sociology by incorporating social influences into economic models. This integration helps to provide a more comprehensive understanding of how social factors shape individual choices and economic outcomes.

Integrating sociological perspectives into economic models enhances the explanatory power of these models regarding individual behavior and social interactions. This approach can inform more effective policies that address the complex interplay between social context and economic decisions.

We developed a multinomial-choice model of individual decision-making in the presence of neighborhood effects. This model generalizes previous binary-choice models to account for the interdependencies between individual decisions and neighborhood characteristics.

We aimed to address the limitations of previous models by providing a more comprehensive framework for understanding how neighborhood effects influence individual behavior. This approach enhances the connection between theory and empirical work in economics.

Understanding neighborhood effects is crucial for explaining individual behaviors and their aggregate outcomes. Our model allows for structural estimation of these effects, improving the analysis of social interactions and economic policies.

We critically reviewed Robert Putnam’s influential work, “Bowling Alone,” focusing on its analysis of social capital in America. We assessed the book’s strengths and weaknesses, highlighting both its extensive documentation of community life and its conceptual and empirical shortcomings.

We aimed to evaluate “Bowling Alone” within the broader context of social capital literature, identifying its contributions and limitations. This evaluation helps to understand the validity and implications of Putnam’s claims about social capital’s role in socioeconomic phenomena.

Understanding the strengths and weaknesses of “Bowling Alone” is essential for assessing the broader social capital literature. By critically examining Putnam’s analysis, we can better gauge the importance of social capital in explaining socioeconomic outcomes and inform future research in this field.

We examine the way in which empirical evidence is developed in support of a role for social capital in socioeconomic outcomes. It reviews three leading studies of social capital and provides a general set of conditions under which social capital effects may be identified in linear models.

A number of difficulties exist with the empirical analysis of social capital. To improve empirical studies of social capital, this paper aims to question whether the empirical evidence so far adduced to support a significant explanatory role for social capital achieves this objective.

One of the most striking developments in social science over the last decade is the rise of interest in social capital as a mechanism for understanding socio‐economic phenomena. This enthusiasm has not been restricted to sociologists; within economics and other disciplines interest in social capital has grown dramatically as well.

We analyze aggregate behavioral outcomes when individual utility exhibits social interaction effects. We study generalized logistic models of individual choice, which incorporate terms reflecting individuals’ desire to conform to others’ behavior in an environment of noncooperative decision-making.

We provide an analytical framework-random fields-for studying economies in which social interactions are embedded in individual decisions.

A large body of recent research has begun to consider the role of social interactions in economic behavior. The intuition that individuals seek to conform to the behavior of reference groups has found successful application in a number of circumstances.