NETWORKS, CROWDS AND MARKETS

Networks are everywhere. Global trade, supply chains, financial markets, the World Wide Web, professional and social communities are examples of interconnected systems that are important to the structure and function of the modern world. The pattern of connections in such systems can often be represented as a network, the components of the system being the nodes and the connections the links. Networks are a general yet powerful means of representing patterns of connections or interactions between parts of such systems. The first part of this course will introduce tools for the study of networks and show how common principles permeate the functioning of diverse networks and how the same issues related to robustness, fragility, and interlinkages arise in different types of networks. The second part of this course will use examples and applications of the network approach to reveal new and useful insights into trade, finance, business, and society.