Solidarity in collaboration networks when everyone competes for the strongest partner: a stochastic actor-based simulation model

Federico Bianchi*, Andreas Flache, Flaminio Squazzoni

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleAcademicpeer-review

18 Citations (Scopus)
135 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

This article examines the emergence of solidarity from interactions between professionals competing for collaboration. Research on multiplex collaboration networks has shown that economic exchange can elicit solidarity when mediated by trust but did not consider the effect of competition. To fill this gap, we built an agent-based model that simulates the evolution of a multiplex network of collaboration, trust, and support expectations. Simulations show that while resource heterogeneity is key for collaboration, competition for attractive collaboration partners penalizes low-resource professionals, who are less connected and highly segregated. Heterogeneous resource distribution can trigger segregation because of preferential selection of resourceful peers and reciprocity. Interestingly, we also found that low-resource professionals can reduce their marginalization by building in-group mutual support expectations.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)249-266
Number of pages18
JournalJournal of Mathematical Sociology
Volume44
Issue number4
Early online date12-Jan-2020
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1-Oct-2020

Keywords

  • Solidarity
  • collaboration networks
  • competition
  • multiplex networks
  • agent-based model
  • stochastic actor-oriented model
  • SOCIAL NETWORKS
  • ORIENTED MODELS
  • EXCHANGE
  • TRUST
  • POWER
  • RISK
  • SATISFACTION
  • FRIENDSHIP
  • DYNAMICS
  • COHESION

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