Strategic Network Abandonment Dynamics
Published:Dec 30, 2025 14:51
•1 min read
•ArXiv
Analysis
This paper provides a framework for understanding the cascading decline of socio-economic networks. It models how agents' decisions to remain active are influenced by outside opportunities and the actions of others. The key contribution is the analysis of how the strength of strategic complementarities (how much an agent's incentives depend on others) shapes the network's fragility and the effectiveness of interventions.
Key Takeaways
- •Network fragility is determined by outside options, network structure, and strategic interdependence.
- •Weak complementarities lead to localized failures, while strong complementarities cause global collapse.
- •Intervention strategies depend on the strength of complementarities: central agents for strong, marginal agents for weak.
Reference
“The resulting decay dynamics are governed by the strength of strategic complementarities...”