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Social distance, heterogeneity and social interactions

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  • Cont, Rama
  • Löwe, Matthias

Abstract

A crucial ingredient in social interaction models is the structure of peer groups, which link individuals with similar characteristics. We propose and study a dynamic binary choice model with social interactions in which heterogeneity of peer group effects is modeled introducing diversity in individual characteristics and linking pairwise influences to a social distance between individuals. Our framework allows for mimetic as well as anti-mimetic interactions and a heterogeneous structure of peer groups across individuals. Dynamic equilibria are studied in the limit when the number of agents is large. We show that the model exhibits multiple equilibria resulting from conflicts between various group pressures the individuals are subjected to. We study in particular the correlation in the population at equilibrium between the characteristics of the agents and their decisions: this quantity has an interesting empirical interpretation and solves a simple analytical equation when the number of agents is large. Finally we discuss the empirical content of the model and present a consistent estimator for the parameter describing which is consistent for any typical population regardless of the structure of individual characteristics.

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  • Cont, Rama & Löwe, Matthias, 2010. "Social distance, heterogeneity and social interactions," Journal of Mathematical Economics, Elsevier, vol. 46(4), pages 572-590, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:mateco:v:46:y:2010:i:4:p:572-590
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    2. Löwe, Matthias & Schubert, Kristina & Vermet, Franck, 2020. "Multi-group binary choice with social interaction and a random communication structure—A random graph approach," Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, Elsevier, vol. 556(C).
    3. Grabisch, Michel & Rusinowska, Agnieszka, 2011. "A model of influence with a continuum of actions," Journal of Mathematical Economics, Elsevier, vol. 47(4-5), pages 576-587.
    4. Gupta, Prashant & Mallick, Sushanta & Mishra, Tapas, 2018. "Does social identity matter in individual alienation? Household-level evidence in post-reform India," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 104(C), pages 154-172.
    5. Emilio Barucci & Marco Tolotti, 2012. "Identity, reputation and social interaction with an application to sequential voting," Journal of Economic Interaction and Coordination, Springer;Society for Economic Science with Heterogeneous Interacting Agents, vol. 7(1), pages 79-98, May.
    6. Tinggui Chen & Yulong Wang & Jianjun Yang & Guodong Cong, 2021. "Modeling Multidimensional Public Opinion Polarization Process under the Context of Derived Topics," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(2), pages 1-34, January.
    7. Favara, Marta, 2012. "The Cost of Acting "Girly": Gender Stereotypes and Educational Choices," IZA Discussion Papers 7037, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).

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