IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/the/publsh/5068.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Exploiting social influence in networks

Author

Listed:
  • Nora, Vladyslav

    (Department of Economics, Nazarbayev University)

  • Winter, Eyal

    (The Federmann Center for the Study of Rationality, Hebrew University)

Abstract

We study binary action network games with strategic complementarities. An agent acts if the aggregate social influence of her friends exceeds a transfer levied on the agent by a principal. The principal seeks to maximize her revenue while inducing everyone to act in a unique equilibrium. We characterize optimal transfers showing that agents who are more popular than their friends receive preferential treatment. Our main result is that under mild conditions complete core–periphery networks deliver the highest revenue to the principal. Furthermore, we show that the revenue is higher in networks where links are allocated unequally across agents. Hence, the principal benefits from creating “influentials” by linking well-connected hubs to less popular periphery.

Suggested Citation

  • Nora, Vladyslav & Winter, Eyal, 2024. "Exploiting social influence in networks," Theoretical Economics, Econometric Society, vol. 19(1), January.
    • Handle: RePEc:the:publsh:5068
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://econtheory.org/ojs/index.php/te/article/viewFile/20240001/38397/1156
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Giovanna Devetag & Andreas Ortmann, 2007. "When and why? A critical survey on coordination failure in the laboratory," Experimental Economics, Springer;Economic Science Association, vol. 10(3), pages 331-344, September.
    2. Bloch, Francis & Quérou, Nicolas, 2013. "Pricing in social networks," Games and Economic Behavior, Elsevier, vol. 80(C), pages 243-261.
    3. Goyal, Sanjeev & Joshi, Sumit, 2003. "Networks of collaboration in oligopoly," Games and Economic Behavior, Elsevier, vol. 43(1), pages 57-85, April.
    4. Francis Bloch, 2016. "Targeting and pricing in social networks," PSE-Ecole d'économie de Paris (Postprint) hal-01309549, HAL.
    5. Goyal, Sanjeev & Joshi, Sumit, 2004. "Erratum to "Networks of collaboration in oligopoly": [Games Econ. Behav. 43 (1) (2003) 57-85]," Games and Economic Behavior, Elsevier, vol. 46(1), pages 219-219, January.
    6. Andrea Galeotti & Sanjeev Goyal, 2010. "The Law of the Few," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 100(4), pages 1468-1492, September.
    7. Sanjeev Goyal & Marco J. van der Leij & José Luis Moraga-Gonzalez, 2006. "Economics: An Emerging Small World," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 114(2), pages 403-432, April.
    8. Babaioff, Moshe & Feldman, Michal & Nisan, Noam & Winter, Eyal, 2012. "Combinatorial agency," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 147(3), pages 999-1034.
    9. Bernard Herskovic & João Ramos, 2020. "Acquiring Information through Peers," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 110(7), pages 2128-2152, July.
    10. Belhaj, Mohamed & Bervoets, Sebastian & Deroïan, Frédéric, 2016. "Efficient networks in games with local complementarities," Theoretical Economics, Econometric Society, vol. 11(1), January.
    11. Marina Halac & Ilan Kremer & Eyal Winter, 2020. "Raising Capital from Heterogeneous Investors," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 110(3), pages 889-921, March.
    12. Christian Ghiglino & Sanjeev Goyal, 2010. "Keeping Up with the Neighbors: Social Interaction in a Market Economy," Journal of the European Economic Association, MIT Press, vol. 8(1), pages 90-119, March.
    13. Ilya Segal, 1999. "Contracting with Externalities," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 114(2), pages 337-388.
    14. Hiller, Timo, 2017. "Peer effects in endogenous networks," Games and Economic Behavior, Elsevier, vol. 105(C), pages 349-367.
    15. Eyal Winter, 2004. "Incentives and Discrimination," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 94(3), pages 764-773, June.
    16. , D. & Tessone, Claudio J. & ,, 2014. "Nestedness in networks: A theoretical model and some applications," Theoretical Economics, Econometric Society, vol. 9(3), September.
    17. E. Glen Weyl, 2010. "A Price Theory of Multi-sided Platforms," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 100(4), pages 1642-1672, September.
    18. Goyal, Sanjeev & Joshi, Sumit, 2003. "Networks of collaboration in oligopoly," Games and Economic Behavior, Elsevier, vol. 43(1), pages 57-85, April.
    19. Itay P. Fainmesser & Andrea Galeotti, 2016. "Pricing Network Effects," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 83(1), pages 165-198.
    20. Liu, Xiaodong & Patacchini, Eleonora & Zenou, Yves, 2014. "Endogenous peer effects: local aggregate or local average?," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 103(C), pages 39-59.
    21. Segal, Ilya, 2003. "Coordination and discrimination in contracting with externalities: divide and conquer?," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 113(2), pages 147-181, December.
    22. Aoyagi, Masaki, 2013. "Coordinating adoption decisions under externalities and incomplete information," Games and Economic Behavior, Elsevier, vol. 77(1), pages 77-89.
    23. Shai Bernstein & Eyal Winter, 2012. "Contracting with Heterogeneous Externalities," American Economic Journal: Microeconomics, American Economic Association, vol. 4(2), pages 50-76, May.
    24. Matthew O. Jackson & Leeat Yariv, 2007. "Diffusion of Behavior and Equilibrium Properties in Network Games," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 97(2), pages 92-98, May.
    25. Hojman, Daniel A. & Szeidl, Adam, 2008. "Core and periphery in networks," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 139(1), pages 295-309, March.
    26. repec:hal:pseose:hal-01013603 is not listed on IDEAS
    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. Toygar T. Kerman & Anastas P. Tenev & Konstantin Zabarnyi, 2025. "Persuasion Gains and Losses from Peer Communication," Papers 2509.09099, arXiv.org.

    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. Jackson, Matthew O. & Zenou, Yves, 2015. "Games on Networks," Handbook of Game Theory with Economic Applications,, Elsevier.
    2. Jadbabaie, Ali & Kakhbod, Ali, 2019. "Optimal contracting in networks," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 183(C), pages 1094-1153.
    3. Hiller, Timo, 2022. "A simple model of network formation with competition effects," Journal of Mathematical Economics, Elsevier, vol. 99(C).
    4. Sanjeev Goyal, 2015. "Networks in Economics: A Perspective on the Literature," Cambridge Working Papers in Economics 1548, Faculty of Economics, University of Cambridge.
    5. Goyal, S., 2016. "Networks and Markets," Cambridge Working Papers in Economics 1652, Faculty of Economics, University of Cambridge.
    6. Norma Olaizola & Federico Valenciano, 2020. "Dominance of weighted nested split graph networks in connections models," International Journal of Game Theory, Springer;Game Theory Society, vol. 49(1), pages 75-96, March.
    7. Hellmann, Tim & Staudigl, Mathias, 2014. "Evolution of social networks," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 234(3), pages 583-596.
    8. Belhaj, Mohamed & Deroïan, Frédéric, 2019. "Group targeting under networked synergies," Games and Economic Behavior, Elsevier, vol. 118(C), pages 29-46.
    9. Chan, Lester T., 2025. "Weight-ranked divide-and-conquer contracts," Theoretical Economics, Econometric Society, vol. 20(3), July.
    10. Hiller, Timo, 2017. "Peer effects in endogenous networks," Games and Economic Behavior, Elsevier, vol. 105(C), pages 349-367.
    11. Sun, Yang & Zhao, Wei, 2024. "Relative performance evaluation in spillover networks," Games and Economic Behavior, Elsevier, vol. 145(C), pages 285-311.
    12. Bloch, Francis & Shabayek, Shaden, 2023. "Targeting in social networks with anonymized information," Games and Economic Behavior, Elsevier, vol. 141(C), pages 380-402.
    13. repec:ehu:ikerla:19437 is not listed on IDEAS
    14. Heijmans, Roweno J.R.K. & Suetens, Sigrid, 2025. "Comparing Subsidies to Solve Coordination Failure," Discussion Papers 2025/9, Norwegian School of Economics, Department of Business and Management Science.
    15. Chen, Ying-Ju & Zenou, Yves & Zhou, Junjie, 2022. "The impact of network topology and market structure on pricing," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 204(C).
    16. Belhaj, Mohamed & Bervoets, Sebastian & Deroïan, Frédéric, 2016. "Efficient networks in games with local complementarities," Theoretical Economics, Econometric Society, vol. 11(1), January.
    17. Ostrizek, Franz & Sartori, Elia, 2023. "Screening while controlling an externality," Games and Economic Behavior, Elsevier, vol. 139(C), pages 26-55.
    18. Mohamed Belhaj & Frédéric Deroian, 2015. "Contracting on Networks," AMSE Working Papers 1501, Aix-Marseille School of Economics, France.
    19. Bayer, Péter & Guerdjikova, Ani, 2024. "Optimism leads to optimality: Ambiguity in network formation," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 168(C).
    20. Aoyagi, Masaki, 2018. "Bertrand competition under network externalities," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 178(C), pages 517-550.
    21. , D. & Tessone, Claudio J. & ,, 2014. "Nestedness in networks: A theoretical model and some applications," Theoretical Economics, Econometric Society, vol. 9(3), September.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    JEL classification:

    • C72 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Game Theory and Bargaining Theory - - - Noncooperative Games
    • D82 - Microeconomics - - Information, Knowledge, and Uncertainty - - - Asymmetric and Private Information; Mechanism Design

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    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:the:publsh:5068. 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: Editor Theoretical Economics The email address of this maintainer does not seem to be valid anymore. Please ask Editor Theoretical Economics to update the entry or send us the correct address (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://econtheory.org .

    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.