Networks are important in shaping behavior in many social, political, and economic environments. Networks affect the outcomes of wars when different militant groups form alliances and conflicts can spread across national borders. Economic production and supply chains are organized as networks, and the properties of these networks are important for the stability of the economy against shocks. Through networks of research and development (R&D) collaborations between firms new technologies are discovered and diffuse in the industry. Similarly, co-authorship networks in academic research play an indispensable role in the process of scientific discovery and knowledge production. The many aspects that are governed by networks make it critical to understand how they impact behavior, which network structures are likely to emerge, and how they affect welfare in the society. This course offers an introduction to social and economic networks, drawing on the latest findings in economics, statistics and econometrics. It provides empirical background on networks and their regularities, and discusses modern econometric tools to analyze them.

This course will be taught by Prof. Michael Konig who visits NTU from Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam. He research interest is economic analysis of networks. His publications appear in Econometrica, Theoretical Economics, Review of Economics and Statistics, Games and Economic Behavior, Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization, and others.