Homophily and influence (Q2682791)

This paper extends the model of DeGroot in two directions to study the way learning and influence co-evolve in a social network. It establishes an existence result and characterizes the equilibrium influence matrix for some simple benchmark scenarios. Two features are considered in the environment. First, the learning span, which is related to the adjustment rounds on agents' opinions. Second, the structure of the observation network among agents. It is shown that at equilibrium the influence that any agent \(i\) exerts on another agent \(j\) must be proportional to the accumulated indirect influence that all third-party agents exert on both \(i\) and \(j\). Recent literature have also been discussed. It is noted that polarization in social networks can arise even if the influence network remains fixed and no influence-network interplay can be the driving force at work. The paper contains formal proofs in the appendix and makes it self-contained.