Interventions in Networks: Theory and Applications

Abstract：  

Two primitive types of interventions in networks are widely adopted: characteristics-based interventions which influence individuals' private incentives, and structure-based interventions which target at the social connections between individuals. In this paper we provide a general framework to evaluate the impacts of the two types of interventions on economic outcomes. We establish outcome equivalence between any structural intervention and an appropriately identified characteristic intervention. This new angle of view from such equivalence greatly simplifies the search for the optimal intervention policy and offers novel economic insights in a variety of applications, which includes identifying the most wanted criminal(s) in delinquent networks, targeting the key connector for fragmented communities, and network design.

Speaker Biography：   

Junjie Zhou is an associate professor of economics at National University of Singapore. He obtained his PhD from University of California-Berkeley. Prof. Zhou’s current research interests lie in Networks, Industrial Organization, Microeconomics. His work appears in Review of Economic Studies, The Rand Journal of Economics, American Economic Journal: Microeconomics, Operations Research, Games and Economic Behavior, Journal of Economic Theory, Economic Journal, Journal of Mathematical Economics, and Production and Operations Management.