Class formation in a social network with asset exchange

TL;DR

This paper investigates how different types of economic exchanges and social network structures influence wealth distribution and class formation among agents, revealing condensation phenomena and the impact of network connectivity.

Contribution

It introduces a combined analysis of additive and multiplicative exchanges in social networks, highlighting how network connectivity affects wealth distribution and class formation.

Findings

Additive exchange leads to a Boltzmann-Gibbs distribution.

Multiplicative exchange results in condensation.

Network connectivity influences wealth class formation.

Abstract

We study two kinds of economic exchange, additive and multiplicative, in a system of N agents. The work is divided in two parts, in the first one, the agents are free to interact with each other. The system evolves to a Boltzmann-Gibbs distribution with additive exchange and condenses with a multiplicative one. If bankruptcy is introduced, both types of exchange lead to condensation. Condensation times have been studied. In the second part, the agents are placed in a social network. We analyze the behavior of wealth distributions in time, and the formation of economic classes was observed for certain values of network connectivity.