<p><a href="http://www-personal.umich.edu/~mejn/networks-an-introduction/" rel="nofollow">Networks: An Introduction</a> by Mark Newman is a good book.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-04-16T14:40:32.707Z
Thanks! it seems quite general though. I looked at the content list and I think I have a working knowledge of most of the economically-relevant topics of it. I'm looking hopefully for something more microeconomic oriented, as in economic equilibriums in networks or mechanism design in networks.
BVJ
CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-04-16T14:34:02.333Z
2015-04-16T14:34:02.333Z
dismalscience
<p>The best introduction is, in my opinion, the book by Matthew Jackson. It has a pretty nice introduction (even if you know nothing about social networks) and chapters about many of the applications of graph theory in economics.</p>

<ul>
<li>Jackson, M. O. (2008). Social and economic networks (Vol. 3).
Princeton: Princeton University Press.</li>
</ul>

<p>It sounds like you try to model a game on a network (i.e., using game theory with players on a network without changing the network). If this is true, then the following paper might be even more relevant:</p>

<ul>
<li>Galeotti, A., Goyal, S., Jackson, M. O., Vega-Redondo, F., &amp; Yariv,
L. (2010). <a href="http://cadmus.eui.eu/bitstream/handle/1814/7864/ECO-2008-07.pdf">Network games</a>. The review of economic studies, 77(1),
218-244.</li>
</ul>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-04-16T14:59:37.910Z
Awesome. I heard about Jackson's book before but got mixed opinions about it. The paper is definitely in line with what I'm doing. Thanks!
BVJ
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2015-04-16T17:00:13.110Z
@BVJ Happy to help. I think mixed opinions is pretty common if a book tries to cover a whole subfield (like the Mas-Colell or, to a lesser extend, the book by Jackson). I actually like the book by Goyal better, but I don't think it is a good introductory book at all.
The Almighty Bob
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2015-04-17T15:20:56.090Z
The draft of Jackson's book circulated around for a while. Worth looking at before buying the book.
Anton Tarasenko
CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-04-17T15:29:03.960Z
@Anton or have a look at the copy in your university library. :-)
The Almighty Bob
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2015-04-16T14:47:27.547Z
2015-04-16T14:47:27.547Z
The Almighty Bob
<p>I'm working on my master's thesis in industrial organization and I have a model that is based on social networks. I have had two courses about social networks (one more focused on basic industrial organization questions in networks and the other more about basic graph theory) but as I work more on the model I feel I'm not really using the network in solving the questions that arise and leaving it more as a descriptive structure, and I fear it is mostly due to ignorance.</p>

<p>Can anyone refer to a good book, class notes or papers that might help me learn more deeply the implications of the network structure and/or the pros and cons of modeling a problem as a network? For example on how the network structure might be helpful when trying to determine existence of equilibrium.</p>

<reference-request><networks>
Where to start with social networks?
BVJ
# Where to start with social networks?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2015-04-16)

I'm working on my master's thesis in industrial organization and I have a model that is based on social networks. I have had two courses about social networks (one more focused on basic industrial organization questions in networks and the other more about basic graph theory) but as I work more on the model I feel I'm not really using the network in solving the questions that arise and leaving it more as a descriptive structure, and I fear it is mostly due to ignorance.

Can anyone refer to a good book, class notes or papers that might help me learn more deeply the implications of the network structure and/or the pros and cons of modeling a problem as a network? For example on how the network structure might be helpful when trying to determine existence of equilibrium.

**Tags:** reference-request, networks

---

## 2 answers

### Answer by username_2 on 2015-04-16. Score: 9 | Accepted answer

The best introduction is, in my opinion, the book by Matthew Jackson. It has a pretty nice introduction (even if you know nothing about social networks) and chapters about many of the applications of graph theory in economics.

* Jackson, M. O. (2008). Social and economic networks (Vol. 3).
  Princeton: Princeton University Press.

It sounds like you try to model a game on a network (i.e., using game theory with players on a network without changing the network). If this is true, then the following paper might be even more relevant:

* Galeotti, A., Goyal, S., Jackson, M. O., Vega-Redondo, F., & Yariv,
  L. (2010). [Network games](http://cadmus.eui.eu/bitstream/handle/1814/7864/ECO-2008-07.pdf). The review of economic studies, 77(1),
  218-244.

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: Awesome. I heard about Jackson's book before but got mixed opinions about it. The paper is definitely in line with what I'm doing. Thanks!  
> **username_2**: @BVJ Happy to help. I think mixed opinions is pretty common if a book tries to cover a whole subfield (like the Mas-Colell or, to a lesser extend, the book by Jackson). I actually like the book by Goyal better, but I don't think it is a good introductory book at all.  
> **username_3**: The draft of Jackson's book circulated around for a while. Worth looking at before buying the book.  
> **username_2**: @Anton or have a look at the copy in your university library. :-)  

---

### Answer by username_1 on 2015-04-16. Score: 3

[Networks: An Introduction](http://www-personal.umich.edu/~mejn/networks-an-introduction/) by Mark Newman is a good book.

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: Thanks! it seems quite general though. I looked at the content list and I think I have a working knowledge of most of the economically-relevant topics of it. I'm looking hopefully for something more microeconomic oriented, as in economic equilibriums in networks or mechanism design in networks.  

---

