Limited access Past event
School of Economics and Finance Seminar Identifying the Social Network of Influence
Speaker: Dr Christopher Kops, Maastricht University
Abstract: We live in a socially networked world and choices made by those within this network who influence us is bound to influence our choices as well. We introduce a theory of such socially influenced choices on networks. Specifically, we propose a choice procedure under which, in any choice problem, a decision maker considers only those alternatives that are popular amongst the people who influence him. From this “consideration set,” he chooses the best alternative according to his preferences. Given this model of choice via social influence, we show when and how the network of social influence can be inferred from choice data alone.