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Authors
Advisor(s)
Abstract(s)
This paper examines the interplay of opinion exchange dynamics and communication network formation. An opinion formation procedure is introduced which is based on an abstract representation of opinions as k-dimensional bit-strings. Individuals interact if the difference in the opinion strings is below a defined similarity threshold dI . Depending
on dI , different behaviour of the population is observed: low values result in a state of highly fragmented opinions and higher values yield consensus. The first contribution of this research is to identify the values of parameters dI and k, such that the transition between fragmented opinions and homogeneity takes place. Then, we look at this transition from two perspectives: first by studying the group size distribution and second by analysing the communication network that is formed by the interactions that take place during the simulation. The emerging networks are classified by statistical means and we find that non-trivial social structures emerge from simple rules for individual communication.
Description
Keywords
Opinion Exchange Dinamics Communication Network Formation
Pedagogical Context
Citation
Banisch, Sven, Tanya Araújo and Jorge Louçã. 2009. "Opinion dynamics and communication networks". Instituto Superior de Economia e Gestão - DE Working papers nº 16-2009/DE/UECE
Publisher
ISEG - Departamento de Economia