Intermediation and leadership : essays on the economics of networks

Abstract

This thesis offers a contribution to the economic literature applying a networks perspective to economic issues. The focus of my thesis is the role of agents that are in particularly prominent positions within networks and how such agents affect the creation and workings of their surrounding networks. In Chapter 1 I study bargaining and exchange in a networked market with intermediation. Possibilities to trade are restricted through a network of existing relationships and traders bargain over the division of available gains from trade along feasible network routes. Using a stochastic model of bargaining, I characterise stationary equilibrium payoffs and study efficiency and the relationship between network structure and payoffs. In Chapter 2 I study the role of intermediaries in network formation. Intermediating agents can conduct introductions and create a connection between two agents that share them as a common neighbour. Such introductions leverage the existing structure and are formed at lower cost than non-mediated connections. I study the properties of networks formed from the perspective of myopic stability, farsighted stability and through a game of link formation. In Chapter 3, co-authored with Anja Prummer, we offer a perspective on opinion leadership in influence networks. We study the integration of immigrant communities through a model with distinct channels for social influence and skills acquisition, which act as complements in the integration process.