2025/2026

Economics of Networks

Type: Optional course (faculty)

Delivered by: Undergraduate Programmes Curriculum Support

When: 1 module

Open to: students of one campus

Language: English

Contact hours: 32

Course Syllabus

Abstract

We live in a connected society, and these connections can have a huge impact on our lives. With the rise of social media (Facebook, Twitter, etc), it has become clear that social networks can influence what we know, what we buy, and how we vote. However, connections (or networks) have always been influential to our lives. For instance, it is common knowledge that personal connections (Social Networks) matter in finding jobs. Similarly, the financial crisis of 2007-2008 was driven by connections between banks (Financial Networks). And finally, the global economy depends on trading connections/relationships between countries (Trade Networks). This course provides an introduction to the Economics of Networks. We will consider how network structures impact behavior, which network structures are likely to emerge in a society, and the overall influence of various networks on economic and social outcomes. We will mainly focus on theoretical parts of the literature; however, this field began mainly theoretical, and so we will be able to cover many of the seminal papers.