Home | Events Archive | Who knows? The Effect of Information Access on Social Network Centrality
Seminar

Who knows? The Effect of Information Access on Social Network Centrality

  • Series
    Research on Monday
  • Speaker(s)
    Pedro CL Souza (Queen Mary University of London, United Kingdom)
  • Field
    Organizations and Markets
  • Location
    Erasmus University Rotterdam, Campus Woudestein, Polak 2-09
    Rotterdam
  • Date and time

    November 21, 2022
    11:30 - 12:30

Abstract
Network centrality plays a key role in many economic processes. Yet, the causal determinants of centrality are not well understood. We conducted a randomized experiment in Malawian boarding secondary schools, providing one fifth of students with exclusive access to an online information source throughout the school year. Using a panel of complete and detailed network data, we show that information access leads to a large and sustained increase in network centrality, as students form new strategic links. We calibrate and simulate a model of strategic network formation to demonstrate implications for network-based targeting, information diffusion, inequality and welfare.

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