arXiv subjects

José R. Nicolás-Carlock

Publications and source records attributed to José R. Nicolás-Carlock.

5 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

Globally distributed environmental justice resistance against extractive corporate networks

Is environmental injustice driven by a global network of multinational companies? Is there a global environmental justice movement resisting extractivism? This study addresses these questions through a social network analysis of firms and Environmental Justice Organizations (EJOs) involved in socioenvironmental conflicts. Using Environmental Justice Atlas (EJAtlas) data, we examine 3,396 conflicts involving 6,244 companies and 11,231 EJOs. The findings reveal evident structural asymmetries. Corporations form cohesive, sector-specific global networks that support coordination across regions. Conversely, EJOs form a larger, decentralized, and self-organized network characterised by sparse localised interconnections that enable regional coordination across sectors. A limited number of international EJOs involved in many conflicts worldwide weaves a global environmental justice network to match the global spread of multinational corporations and supply chains. This research study shows that these contrasting network structures reflect the distinct purposes of their constituent actors: sectoral expansion for corporations and environmental and territorial defense for EJOs.

physics.soc-ph↗

arXiv2026

Unequal Access to Power in Corruption Networks: Evidence from Colombia

Corruption is embedded in networks of access, coordination, and protection, yet little is known about how gender shapes actors' positions within them. This article examines whether corruption networks in Colombia's territorial press reproduce gendered patterns of exclusion. Drawing on an access-to-power perspective, we argue that women's lower presence may reflect unequal incorporation into the spaces where exchanges are organized. Empirically, we use Transparencia por Colombia's Radiografía de Hechos de Corrupción, integrating case- and actor-level information to build co-participation networks. We analyze gender differences in composition, position, recurrence, and institutional access to resources. Results show that these networks are strongly masculinized: men dominate actors and ties, and women appear less often among recurrent actors. However, women are not absent from connected or dense areas, suggesting uneven rather than absolute exclusion. The findings shift attention from whether women are ''less corrupt'' to how unequal access to power structures participation in corruption networks.

physics.soc-ph↗

arXiv2024

Strength of minority ties: the role of homophily and group composition in a weighted social network

Homophily describes a fundamental tie-formation mechanism in social networks in which connections between similar nodes occur at a higher rate than among dissimilar ones. In this article, we present an extension of the Weighted Social Network (WSN) model that, under an explicit homophily principle, quantifies the emergence of attribute-dependent properties of a social system. To test our model, we make use of empirical association data of a group of free-ranging spider monkeys in Yucatan, Mexico. Our homophilic WSN model reproduces many of the properties of the empirical association network with statistical significance, specifically, the average weight of sex-dependent interactions (female-female, female-male, male-male), the weight distribution function, as well as many weighted macro properties (node strength, weighted clustering, and weighted number of modules), even for different age group combinations (adults, subadults, and juveniles). Furthermore, by performing simulations with fitted parameters, we show that one of the main features of a spider monkey social system, namely, stronger male-male interactions over female-female or female-male ones, can be accounted for by an asymmetry in the node-type composition of a bipartisan network, independently of group size. The reinforcement of connections among members of minority groups could be a general structuring mechanism in homophilic social networks.

physics.soc-ph↗

arXiv2023

Diffusion limited aggregation, resetting and large deviations of Brownian motion

Models of fractal growth commonly consider particles diffusing in a medium and that stick irreversibly to the forming aggregate when making contact for the first time. As shown by the well-known diffusion limited aggregation (DLA) model and its generalisations, the fractal dimension is sensitive to the nature of the stochastic motion of the particles. Here, we study the structures formed by finite-lived Brownian particles, i.e., particles constrained to find the aggregate within a prescribed time, and which are removed otherwise. This motion can be modelled by diffusion with stochastic resetting, a class of processes which has been widely studied in recent years. In the short lifetime limit, a very small fraction of the particles manage to reach the aggregate. Hence, growth is controlled by atypical Brownian trajectories, that move nearly in straight line according to a large deviation principle. In $d$ dimensions, the resulting fractal dimension of the aggregate decreases from the DLA value and tends to 1, instead of increasing to $d$ as expected from ballistic aggregation. In the zero lifetime limit one recovers the non-trivial model of "aggregation by the tips" proposed long ago by R. Jullien [J. Phys. A: Math. Gen. 19, 2129 (1986)].

cond-mat.stat-mech↗

arXiv2021

Corruptomics

Corruption studies must evolve to match the complexity of the modern world. Here, we present three main problems in corruption analysis that need to be address: the complexity of the corruption phenomenon itself and its context, the complexity of the analytical description, and the complexity of the perspectives that different disciplines bring to the table. In this regard, we argue that the interdisciplinary framework of complex systems and network science represent a promising analytical approach to move forward in this endeavor. Furthermore, current research efforts in this direction indicate the dawn of a new interdisciplinary discipline for corruption studies in the 21st century.

physics.soc-ph↗