IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/kap/netspa/v13y2013i3p255-282.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The Role of Spatial Interaction in Social Networks

Author

Listed:
  • Johannes Illenberger
  • Kai Nagel
  • Gunnar Flötteröd

Abstract

This article addresses the role of spatial interaction in social networks. We analyse empirical data describing a network of leisure contacts and show that the probability to accept a person as a contact scales in distance with ∼ d − 1.4 . Moreover, the analysis reveals that the number of contacts an individual possesses is independent from its spatial location and the spatial distribution of opportunities. This means that individuals living in areas with a low accessibility to other persons (rural areas) exhibit at average the same number of contacts compared to individuals living in areas with high accessibility (urban areas). Low accessibility is thus compensated with a higher background probability to accept other candidates as social contacts. In addition, we propose a model for large-scale social networks involving a spatial and social interaction between individuals. Simulation studies are conducted using a synthetic population based on census data as input. The results show that the model is capable of reproducing the spatial structure, but, however, fails to reproduce other topological characteristics. Both, the analysis of empirical data and the simulation results provide a further evidence that spatial interaction is a crucial aspect of social networks. Yet, it appears that spatial proximity does only explain the spatial structure of a network but has no significant impact on its topology. Copyright Springer Science+Business Media, LLC 2013

Suggested Citation

  • Johannes Illenberger & Kai Nagel & Gunnar Flötteröd, 2013. "The Role of Spatial Interaction in Social Networks," Networks and Spatial Economics, Springer, vol. 13(3), pages 255-282, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:netspa:v:13:y:2013:i:3:p:255-282
    DOI: 10.1007/s11067-012-9180-4
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1007/s11067-012-9180-4
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s11067-012-9180-4?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. ben-Avraham, Daniel & F. Rozenfeld, Alejandro & Cohen, Reuven & Havlin, Shlomo, 2003. "Geographical embedding of scale-free networks," Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, Elsevier, vol. 330(1), pages 107-116.
    2. Aura Reggiani & Pietro Bucci & Giovanni Russo, 2011. "Accessibility and Network Structures in the German Commuting," Networks and Spatial Economics, Springer, vol. 11(4), pages 621-641, December.
    3. Hoff P.D. & Raftery A.E. & Handcock M.S., 2002. "Latent Space Approaches to Social Network Analysis," Journal of the American Statistical Association, American Statistical Association, vol. 97, pages 1090-1098, December.
    4. Lambiotte, Renaud & Blondel, Vincent D. & de Kerchove, Cristobald & Huens, Etienne & Prieur, Christophe & Smoreda, Zbigniew & Van Dooren, Paul, 2008. "Geographical dispersal of mobile communication networks," Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, Elsevier, vol. 387(21), pages 5317-5325.
    5. Wong, Ling Heng & Pattison, Philippa & Robins, Garry, 2006. "A spatial model for social networks," Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, Elsevier, vol. 360(1), pages 99-120.
    6. Laurie Schintler & Rajendra Kulkarni & Sean Gorman & Roger Stough, 2007. "Using Raster-Based GIS and Graph Theory to Analyze Complex Networks," Networks and Spatial Economics, Springer, vol. 7(4), pages 301-313, December.
    7. Patricia L. Mokhtarian, 2002. "Telecommunications and Travel: The Case for Complementarity," Journal of Industrial Ecology, Yale University, vol. 6(2), pages 43-57, April.
    8. Alexander Erath & Michael Löchl & Kay Axhausen, 2009. "Graph-Theoretical Analysis of the Swiss Road and Railway Networks Over Time," Networks and Spatial Economics, Springer, vol. 9(3), pages 379-400, September.
    9. Tilahun, Nebiyou & Levinson, David, 2011. "Work and home location: Possible role of social networks," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 45(4), pages 323-331, May.
    10. A G Wilson, 1971. "A Family of Spatial Interaction Models, and Associated Developments," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 3(1), pages 1-32, March.
    11. M. T. Gastner & M. E.J. Newman, 2006. "The spatial structure of networks," The European Physical Journal B: Condensed Matter and Complex Systems, Springer;EDP Sciences, vol. 49(2), pages 247-252, January.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Giancarlos Parady & Kiyoshi Takami & Noboru Harata, 2021. "Egocentric social networks and social interactions in the Greater Tokyo Area," Transportation, Springer, vol. 48(2), pages 831-856, April.
    2. Tatsuaki Kuroda, 2015. "A Model of Stratified Production Process and Spatial Risk," Networks and Spatial Economics, Springer, vol. 15(2), pages 271-292, June.
    3. Amitrajeet Batabyal & Peter Nijkamp, 2014. "Innovation, Decentralization, and Planning in a Multi-Region Model of Schumpeterian Economic Growth," Networks and Spatial Economics, Springer, vol. 14(3), pages 605-628, December.
    4. Tom Broekel & Marcel Bednarz, 2018. "Disentangling link formation and dissolution in spatial networks: An Application of a Two-Mode STERGM to a Project-Based R&D Network in the German Biotechnology Industry," Networks and Spatial Economics, Springer, vol. 18(3), pages 677-704, September.
    5. Rainer Andergassen & Franco Nardini & Massimo Ricottilli, 2015. "Emergence and Resilience in a Model of Innovation and Network Formation," Networks and Spatial Economics, Springer, vol. 15(2), pages 293-311, June.
    6. Jorritsma, Joost & Hulshof, Tim & Komjáthy, Júlia, 2020. "Not all interventions are equal for the height of the second peak," Chaos, Solitons & Fractals, Elsevier, vol. 139(C).
    7. Pablo Coto-Millán & Xose Luís Fernández & Miguel Ángel Pesquera & Manuel Agüeros, 2016. "Impact of Logistics on Technical Efficiency of World Production (2007–2012)," Networks and Spatial Economics, Springer, vol. 16(4), pages 981-995, December.
    8. Hoffmann, Till & Jones, Nick S., 2020. "Inference of a universal social scale and segregation measures using social connectivity kernels," MPRA Paper 103852, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    9. Roberto Scazzieri, 2022. "Decomposability and Relative Invariance: the Structural Approach to Network Complexity and Resilience," Networks and Spatial Economics, Springer, vol. 22(3), pages 635-657, September.
    10. Stefano Guarino & Enrico Mastrostefano & Massimo Bernaschi & Alessandro Celestini & Marco Cianfriglia & Davide Torre & Lena Rebecca Zastrow, 2021. "Inferring Urban Social Networks from Publicly Available Data," Future Internet, MDPI, vol. 13(5), pages 1-45, April.
    11. Marco Modica & Aura Reggiani, 2015. "Spatial Economic Resilience: Overview and Perspectives," Networks and Spatial Economics, Springer, vol. 15(2), pages 211-233, June.
    12. Georgios Magkonis & Karen Jackson, 2019. "Identifying Networks in Social Media: The case of #Grexit," Networks and Spatial Economics, Springer, vol. 19(1), pages 319-330, March.
    13. César Ducruet & Laurent Beauguitte, 2014. "Spatial Science and Network Science: Review and Outcomes of a Complex Relationship," Networks and Spatial Economics, Springer, vol. 14(3), pages 297-316, December.
    14. Haiyan Li & Yong Tang, 2019. "Network Structure and Dynamics of Chinese Regional Incubation," Networks and Spatial Economics, Springer, vol. 19(4), pages 1173-1197, December.
    15. Abigail Paradise & Asaf Shabtai & Rami Puzis, 2019. "Detecting Organization-Targeted Socialbots by Monitoring Social Network Profiles," Networks and Spatial Economics, Springer, vol. 19(3), pages 731-761, September.
    16. Sui Zhang & Minghao Wang & Zhao Yang & Baolei Zhang, 2021. "A Novel Predictor for Micro-Scale COVID-19 Risk Modeling: An Empirical Study from a Spatiotemporal Perspective," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(24), pages 1-16, December.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. César Ducruet & Laurent Beauguitte, 2014. "Spatial Science and Network Science: Review and Outcomes of a Complex Relationship," Networks and Spatial Economics, Springer, vol. 14(3), pages 297-316, December.
    2. David Fajardo & Lauren Gardner, 2013. "Inferring Contagion Patterns in Social Contact Networks with Limited Infection Data," Networks and Spatial Economics, Springer, vol. 13(4), pages 399-426, December.
    3. András Bóta & Lauren M. Gardner & Alireza Khani, 2017. "Identifying Critical Components of a Public Transit System for Outbreak Control," Networks and Spatial Economics, Springer, vol. 17(4), pages 1137-1159, December.
    4. Andrés Fielbaum & Sergio Jara-Diaz & Antonio Gschwender, 2017. "A Parametric Description of Cities for the Normative Analysis of Transport Systems," Networks and Spatial Economics, Springer, vol. 17(2), pages 343-365, June.
    5. Stefano Guarino & Enrico Mastrostefano & Massimo Bernaschi & Alessandro Celestini & Marco Cianfriglia & Davide Torre & Lena Rebecca Zastrow, 2021. "Inferring Urban Social Networks from Publicly Available Data," Future Internet, MDPI, vol. 13(5), pages 1-45, April.
    6. Lü, Linyuan & Zhou, Tao, 2011. "Link prediction in complex networks: A survey," Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, Elsevier, vol. 390(6), pages 1150-1170.
    7. SOHN Christophe & CHRISTOPOULOS Dimitris & KOSKINEN Johan, 2013. "Geography and social networks. Modelling the effects of territorial borders on policy networks," LISER Working Paper Series 2013-19, Luxembourg Institute of Socio-Economic Research (LISER).
    8. Meysam Alizadeh & Claudio Cioffi-Revilla & Andrew Crooks, 2017. "Generating and analyzing spatial social networks," Computational and Mathematical Organization Theory, Springer, vol. 23(3), pages 362-390, September.
    9. Meead Saberi & Taha H. Rashidi & Milad Ghasri & Kenneth Ewe, 2018. "A Complex Network Methodology for Travel Demand Model Evaluation and Validation," Networks and Spatial Economics, Springer, vol. 18(4), pages 1051-1073, December.
    10. Pavithra Parthasarathi & Hartwig Hochmair & David Levinson, 2015. "Street network structure and household activity spaces," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 52(6), pages 1090-1112, May.
    11. Wu, Zhenxing & Lu, Xi & Deng, Yong, 2015. "Image edge detection based on local dimension: A complex networks approach," Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, Elsevier, vol. 440(C), pages 9-18.
    12. James R Clough & Tim S Evans, 2017. "Embedding graphs in Lorentzian spacetime," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 12(11), pages 1-14, November.
    13. Lynne Hamill & Nigel Gilbert, 2009. "Social Circles: A Simple Structure for Agent-Based Social Network Models," Journal of Artificial Societies and Social Simulation, Journal of Artificial Societies and Social Simulation, vol. 12(2), pages 1-3.
    14. Psaltoglou, Artemis & Calle, Eusebi, 2018. "Enhanced connectivity index – A new measure for identifying critical points in urban public transportation networks," International Journal of Critical Infrastructure Protection, Elsevier, vol. 21(C), pages 22-32.
    15. Umut Türk, 2019. "Socio-Economic Determinants of Student Mobility and Inequality of Access to Higher Education in Italy," Networks and Spatial Economics, Springer, vol. 19(1), pages 125-148, March.
    16. Lei Kang & Chao Yang & Jeffrey C Peters & Peng Zeng, 2016. "Empirical analysis of road networks evolution patterns in a government-oriented development area," Environment and Planning B, , vol. 43(4), pages 698-715, July.
    17. Nazli Yonca Aydin & H. Sebnem Duzgun & Friedemann Wenzel & Hans Rudolf Heinimann, 2018. "Integration of stress testing with graph theory to assess the resilience of urban road networks under seismic hazards," Natural Hazards: Journal of the International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, Springer;International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, vol. 91(1), pages 37-68, March.
    18. Dimitrios Tsiotas & Serafeim Polyzos, 2018. "The Complexity in the Study of Spatial Networks: an Epistemological Approach," Networks and Spatial Economics, Springer, vol. 18(1), pages 1-32, March.
    19. Rui Ding & Norsidah Ujang & Hussain Bin Hamid & Mohd Shahrudin Abd Manan & Rong Li & Safwan Subhi Mousa Albadareen & Ashkan Nochian & Jianjun Wu, 2019. "Application of Complex Networks Theory in Urban Traffic Network Researches," Networks and Spatial Economics, Springer, vol. 19(4), pages 1281-1317, December.
    20. Dimitrios Tsiotas & Serafeim Polyzos, 2015. "Introducing a new centrality measure from the transportation network analysis in Greece," Annals of Operations Research, Springer, vol. 227(1), pages 93-117, April.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:kap:netspa:v:13:y:2013:i:3:p:255-282. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.