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Accounting for Cultural Spread with an Economic SIR Model

Author

Listed:
  • Laurent Gauthier

    (CAC-IXXI, Complex Systems Institute, ESPRI - Espace, Pratiques sociales et Images dans les mondes Grec et Romain - ArScAn - Archéologies et Sciences de l'Antiquité - UP1 - Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne - UP8 - Université Paris 8 Vincennes-Saint-Denis - UPN - Université Paris Nanterre - MCC - Ministère de la Culture et de la Communication - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, IXXI - Institut Rhône-Alpin des systèmes complexes - ENS de Lyon - École normale supérieure de Lyon - Université de Lyon - UL2 - Université Lumière - Lyon 2 - UJML - Université Jean Moulin - Lyon 3 - Université de Lyon - UCBL - Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1 - Université de Lyon - INSA Lyon - Institut National des Sciences Appliquées de Lyon - Université de Lyon - INSA - Institut National des Sciences Appliquées - Inria - Institut National de Recherche en Informatique et en Automatique - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - UGA - Université Grenoble Alpes)

Abstract

The spread of culture has been often paralleled with epidemic contagion, and susceptible-infected-recovered (SIR) compartment models have been extensively used in the social sciences to represent social phenomena. However, these models do not endogenously account for the emergence of the particular SIR dynamics. We rely on a simple economic construct where agents decide to acquire or to shed some cultural trait at a market price, and derive SIR-like dynamics for the evolution of the prevalence of the trait. While the resulting dynamics are similar to the standard SIR model, they do not rely on contagion or contact. The similarity between both models stresses the fact that social phenomena that resemble epidemiological patterns may be explainable without resorting to contagion mechanisms.

Suggested Citation

  • Laurent Gauthier, 2025. "Accounting for Cultural Spread with an Economic SIR Model," Post-Print hal-05062102, HAL.
    • Handle: RePEc:hal:journl:hal-05062102
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