Elliott, M., Goyal, S. and Teytelboym, A.

Networks and Economic Policy

Oxford Review of Economic Policy

Vol. 35(4) pp. 565–585: Winter 2019

Abstract: Over the past two decades, economists have made significant advances in understanding how networks affect individual behaviour and shape aggregate outcomes. We argue that insights from network economics can play an important role in the design of economic policy. Focusing on six policy domains, we show that network economics not only deepens our understanding of existing policy concerns but also suggests a number of new policy questions. In each of these policy areas, we evaluate the availability of data and assess the suitability of the network economics toolkit for policy work. We conclude with a discussion of challenges to the adoption of network-based methods in economic policy along with strategies to overcome them.

Keywords: production networks, financial networks, networked markets, social networks, professional networks, criminal networks

JEL Codes: D85, L14

Author links: Matthew Elliott  Sanjeev Goyal  

Publisher's Link: https://doi.org/10.1093/oxrep/grz024