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arXiv · 2001.04644

A Network Formation Game for the Emergence of Hierarchies

Pedro Cisneros-Velarde·Francesco Bullo
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Abstract

We propose a novel network formation game that explains the emergence of various hierarchical structures in groups where self-interested or utility-maximizing individuals decide to establish or severe relationships of authority or collaboration among themselves. We consider two settings: we first consider individuals who do not seek the other party's consent when establishing a relationship and then individuals who do. For both settings, we formally relate the emerged hierarchical structures with the novel inclusion of well-motivated hierarchy promoting terms in the individuals' utility functions. We first analyze the game via a static analysis and characterize all the hierarchical structures that can be formed as its solutions. We then consider the game played dynamically under stochastic interactions among individuals implementing better-response dynamics and analyze the nature of the converged networks.

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Pedro Cisneros-Velarde, Francesco Bullo. 2020-07-09. A Network Formation Game for the Emergence of Hierarchies. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0255990

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