Strong Ties in a Small World

Abstract

Strong ties in a small world van der Leij, M.J.; Goyal, S. General rightsIt is not permitted to download or to forward/distribute the text or part of it without the consent of the author(s) and/or copyright holder(s), other than for strictly personal, individual use, unless the work is under an open content license (like Creative Commons). Disclaimer/Complaints regulationsIf you believe that digital publication of certain material infringes any of your rights or (privacy) interests, please let the Library know, stating your reasons. In case of a legitimate complaint, the Library will make the material inaccessible and/or remove it from the website. Please Ask the Library: http://uba.uva.nl/en/contact, or a letter to: Library of the University of Amsterdam, Secretariat, Singel 425, 1012 WP Amsterdam, The Netherlands. You will be contacted as soon as possible. AbstractThis paper examines the celebrated "strength of weak ties" theory of Granovetter (1973). We examine two hypotheses implied by the theory: one, for any three players with two links present, the probability of a third link being present is increasing in the strength of the two ties, and two, the removal of a weak tie breaks more shortest paths than the removal of a strong tie. This paper tests these hypotheses using data on co-authorship among economists. Our data supports the hypothesis of transitivity of strong ties, but it rejects the hypothesis that weak ties are more crucial than strong ties. We then propose an explanation for the strength of strong ties which builds on two properties of the network: one, significant inequality in the distribution of connections across individuals, and two, stronger ties among highly connected individuals.

Análisis espacio-temporal de la modelación forestal en México

“…Finally, the supply and technology category has 6 % individual authorships and five groups of two to 10 members. Previous studies have found that the productivity of a group is influenced by the number of its collaborators and that the most productive researchers, who have many interactions in their categories, are identified as experts in their area; this allows establishing new collaborations and an increase in their productivity (García, 2012;Hill, 2008;Hou et al, 2008;Leij & Goyal, 2011;Oh, Labianca, & Chung, 2006). This coincides with the results, since the forest management network, which is the largest, had more leaders and scientific production.…”

“…These investments in strategic sectors seek an improvement in higher education and greater scientific production and international collaboration. In the current network of Mexican forest modelers, the 16 most productive and interrelated authors were identified ( Figure 5), according to the degree centrality of the nodes in each of the article categories (García, 2012;Hou, Kretschmer, & Liu, 2008;Leij & Goyal, 2011). These authors, due to having an advantageous position, are more likely to secure resources for projects, because they have more alternatives for collaboration with other researchers who also have significant networks (Hanneman & Riddle, 2005;Newman, 2004).…”

“…En la red actual de modeladores forestales mexicanos se identificaron a los 16 autores más productivos e interrelacionados (Figura 5), según el grado de centralidad de los nodos en cada una de las categorías de artículos (García, 2012;Hou, Kretschmer, & Liu, 2008;Leij & Goyal, 2011). Estos autores, con una posición ventajosa, tienen mayores posibilidades de conseguir recursos para proyectos, porque tienen más alternativas de colaboración con otros investigadores que también tienen redes significativas (Hanneman & Riddle, 2005;Newman, 2004).…”

“…Finalmente, la categoría de abastecimiento y tecnología tiene 6 % de autorías individuales y cinco grupos de dos a 10 integrantes. En trabajos previos se ha observado que la productividad de un grupo está influenciada por la cantidad de sus colaboradores y que los investigadores más productivos, que tienen muchas interacciones en sus categorías, son identificados como expertos en su área; lo anterior permite establecer nuevas colaboraciones y aumento de su productividad (García, 2012;Hill, 2008;Hou et al, 2008;Leij & Goyal, 2011;Oh, Labianca, & Chung, 2006). Esto coincide con los resultados, ya que la red de manejo forestal, que es la más grande, presentó mayor número de líderes y producción científica.…”

Diffusion in Networks with Overlapping Community Structure

“…Other researchers [22], [23], have investigated a limited number of social network datasets, and found evidence that paths through these networks exist, traversing only 'strong ties', consistent with a model of overlapping community. However, the spread of contagions on such networks has not -to our knowledge -previously been examined in detail.…”