Economic activity takes place at the intersection of the global (large firms, international markets and the state) and the local (the overlapping neighbourhoods of friends, family and colleagues, buyers and suppliers). Networks offer a framework that combines local interactions within large interconnected populations.
Cambridge economists working on networks constitute one of the strongest cluster of researchers in this field, anywhere in the world. The group is distinctive its broad expertise that covers theory, experiments (field, laboratory and online) and statistical analyses with Big Data. The group collaborates extensively across disciplines - with computer scientists, engineers, statisticians, physicists and social psychologists.
This research cluster has four themes:
- The dynamics of networks
This theme examines topical problems such as technological innovation, financial contagion, cybersecurity, disease epidemics, supply chain disruptions and international conflict.
- Community, Markets and the State
Here we look at how traditional communities shape the behaviour of individuals and groups in a modern economy. This work has important implications for the optimal design of development policy.
- Networked Production
Combining theory with large-scale datasets on firm-to-firm trade and new empirical methods in computer science, statistics and applied maths, we study the propagation and amplification of firm and industry specific shocks, the diffusion of technology, and the impact of market power on growth.
- Public Policy in a Network Economy
This theme examines the problem of a policy maker intervening in an economic network to attain a collective goal such as reduction in macroeconomic volatility, improving school pupil performance, and maximizing consumer surplus.
