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On the structure of competitive societies

Author

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  • E. Ben-Naim
  • F. Vazquez
  • S. Redner

Abstract

We model the dynamics of social structure by a simple interacting particle system. The social standing of an individual agent is represented by an integer-valued fitness that changes via two offsetting processes. When two agents interact one advances: the fitter with probability p and the less fit with probability 1-p. The fitness of an agent may also decline with rate r. From a scaling analysis of the underlying master equations for the fitness distribution of the population, we find four distinct social structures as a function of the governing parameters p and r. These include: (i) a static lower-class society where all agents have finite fitness; (ii) an upwardly-mobile middle-class society; (iii) a hierarchical society where a finite fraction of the population belongs to a middle class and a complementary fraction to the lower class; (iv) an egalitarian society where all agents are upwardly mobile and have nearly the same fitness. We determine the basic features of the fitness distributions in these four phases. Copyright EDP Sciences/Società Italiana di Fisica/Springer-Verlag 2006

Suggested Citation

  • E. Ben-Naim & F. Vazquez & S. Redner, 2006. "On the structure of competitive societies," The European Physical Journal B: Condensed Matter and Complex Systems, Springer;EDP Sciences, vol. 49(4), pages 531-538, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:eurphb:v:49:y:2006:i:4:p:531-538
    DOI: 10.1140/epjb/e2006-00095-y
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