K. Yamaguchi, THE FLOW OF INFORMATION THROUGH SOCIAL NETWORKS - DIAGONAL-FREE MEASURES OF INEFFICIENCY AND THE STRUCTURAL DETERMINANTS OF INEFFICIENCY, Social networks, 16(1), 1994, pp. 57-86
The aim of this paper is to (1) propose specific diagonal-free measure
s of the inefficiency of information flow through social networks and
(2) present an analysis of the structural determinants of inefficiency
. We employ a formal model of collective action developed by Coleman (
1973, 1990); link it to the Markov model of interpersonal influence de
veloped by among others French (1956), Harary (1959), and Friedkin (19
91; Friedkin and Johnsen 1990); and extend it to measure inefficiency
in information flow based on the concept of mean first passage times.
It is shown that structural characteristics of social networks - such
as global density, local density, diameter, number of bridges, and ine
quality in centrality, and certain interactions among these variables
- strongly affect inefficiency. Theoretical implications of the result
s are discussed.