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Behavioral Communities and the Atomic Structure of Networks

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  • Matthew O. Jackson
  • Evan C. Storms

Abstract

When people coordinate their behaviors with their friends—e.g., choosing whether to adopt a new technology, protest against a government, attend university—divisions within a social network can lead to contrasting norms of behavior in different parts of the network. We define a society's atoms to be groups of people who adopt the same behavior in every equilibrium. We show that the atoms are at least as coarse as blocks in stochastic block models, and that using knowledge of the atoms to seed the diffusion of a behavior significantly increases diffusion compared to seeding based on standard community detection algorithms.

Suggested Citation

  • Matthew O. Jackson & Evan C. Storms, 2026. "Behavioral Communities and the Atomic Structure of Networks," American Economic Journal: Microeconomics, American Economic Association, vol. 18(1), pages 146-173, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:aea:aejmic:v:18:y:2026:i:1:p:146-73
    DOI: 10.1257/mic.20230304
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Argyrios Deligkas & Eduard Eiben & Gregory Gutin & Philip R. Neary & Anders Yeo, 2023. "Some coordination problems are harder than others," Papers 2311.03195, arXiv.org, revised Nov 2023.
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    Cited by:

    1. Joseph Root & Evan Sadler, 2026. "A Theory of Network Games Part 1: Utility Representations," Papers 2602.16071, arXiv.org, revised Jun 2026.
    2. Guy Tchuente, 2026. "Who Matters to Whom? Identifying Peer Effects with Propagation Geometry," Papers 2602.23594, arXiv.org.

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      More about this item

      JEL classification:

      • D85 - Microeconomics - - Information, Knowledge, and Uncertainty - - - Network Formation
      • D91 - Microeconomics - - Micro-Based Behavioral Economics - - - Role and Effects of Psychological, Emotional, Social, and Cognitive Factors on Decision Making
      • Z13 - Other Special Topics - - Cultural Economics - - - Economic Sociology; Economic Anthropology; Language; Social and Economic Stratification

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