Learn how to model social and economic networks and their impact on human behavior. How do networks form, why do they exhibit certain patterns, and how does their structure impact diffusion, learning, and other behaviors? We will bring together models and techniques from economics, sociology, math, physics, statistics and computer science to answer these questions.
Offered By
Social and Economic Networks: Models and Analysis
Stanford UniversityAbout this Course
Skills you will gain
- Social Network
- Game Theory
- Network Analysis
- Network Theory
Offered by

Stanford University
The Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University or Stanford, is an American private research university located in Stanford, California on an 8,180-acre (3,310 ha) campus near Palo Alto, California, United States.
Syllabus - What you will learn from this course
Introduction, Empirical Background and Definitions
Examples of Social Networks and their Impact, Definitions, Measures and Properties: Degrees, Diameters, Small Worlds, Weak and Strong Ties, Degree Distributions
Background, Definitions, and Measures Continued
Homophily, Dynamics, Centrality Measures: Degree, Betweenness, Closeness, Eigenvector, and Katz-Bonacich. Erdos and Renyi Random Networks: Thresholds and Phase Transitions
Random Networks
Poisson Random Networks, Exponential Random Graph Models, Growing Random Networks, Preferential Attachment and Power Laws, Hybrid models of Network Formation.
Strategic Network Formation
Game Theoretic Modeling of Network Formation, The Connections Model, The Conflict between Incentives and Efficiency, Dynamics, Directed Networks, Hybrid Models of Choice and Chance.
Reviews
- 5 stars84.93%
- 4 stars12.70%
- 3 stars1.47%
- 2 stars0.14%
- 1 star0.73%
TOP REVIEWS FROM SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC NETWORKS: MODELS AND ANALYSIS
Dr. Jackson is clear and concise in his explanations and did a great job creating a high-level overview course on a subject for which he obviously has a much greater wealth of knowledge.
The course is vast. The Professor is to the point and doesn't lack knowledge in his field. I'd recommend this course for anyone interested in Economics. Loved it.
I was new to network theory but the concepts were very well articulated. A whole new way of looking at what makes social relationships, favor exchange(s) and social networks work. Well worth the time.
Matt is a fantastic instructor and has inspired many new ideas for my PhD project. Putting this course up here for free is extremely generous of both Matt and Coursera.
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