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Mutually beneficial cooperation is a common part of economic systems as firms in partial cooperation with others can often make a higher sustainable profit. Though cooperative games were popular in 1950s, recent interest in noncooperative games is prevalent despite the fact that cooperative bargaining seems to be more useful in economic and political applications. In this paper we assume that the strategy space and time are inseparable with respect to a contract. Furthermore, it is assumed that each firm's strategy polygon is a geodesic polygon which changes its shape every point of time with the stubbornness strategy surface of firm's executive board follow a Gaussian free field. This gives us more flexibility to deal with generalized geodesic cooperative games which is the main contribution of this paper. Under this environment we show that the strategy spacetime is a dynamic curved Liouville-like 2-brane quantum gravity surface under asymmetric information and that traditional Euclidean geometry fails to give a proper feedback Nash equilibrium. Cooperation occurs when two firms' strategies fall into each other's influence curvature in this strategy spacetime. Small firms in an economy dominated by large firms are subject to the influence of large firms. We determine an optimal feedback semicooperation of the small firm in this case using a Liouville-Feynman path integral method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Motivated by debates about California's net migration loss, we employ valued exponential-family random graph models to analyze the inter-county migration flow network in the United States. We introduce a protocol that visualizes the complex effects of potential underlying mechanisms and perform in silico knockout experiments to quantify their contribution to the California Exodus. We find that racial dynamics contribute to the California Exodus, urbanization ameliorates it, and political climate and housing costs have little impact. Moreover, the severity of the California Exodus depends on how one measures it, and California is not the state with the most substantial population loss. This paper demonstrates how generative statistical models can provide mechanistic insights beyond simple hypothesis-testing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Inequality Process (IP) has been tested and confirmed against data on incomes that are approximately gamma distributed. The IP's gamma pdf (probability density function) model expresses statistics of IP particle wealth algebraically in terms of IP parameters for the subset of IP parameters that generate approximately gamma distributions of particle wealth, a serious limitation, one leaving statistics of the many empirical distributions of income and wealth with heavier-than-gamma distribution right tails beyond algebraic expression in terms of IP particle parameters. This paper shows that an IP variance-gamma (VG) pdf model can do for the entire interval on which IP particle parameters are defined, (0,1), what the IP's gamma pdf model does for only a subset. This paper thus generalizes the IP's gamma pdf model, and it does so with no loss of parsimony since the IP's VG pdf model is, like the IP's gamma pdf model, expressed in terms of IP particle parameters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Latent class analysis (LCA) is a cross-sectional latent variable mixture modeling (LVMM) approach. Like all LVMM approaches, LCA aims to find heterogeneity within the population by identifying homogenous subgroups of individuals, with each subgroup (called latent class) possessing a unique set of characteristics that differentiate it from other subgroups. LCA can be carried out with categorical latent and indicator variables. But, LCA is unable to examine the association between respective items and the latent variable among categories of individuals. Multiple-group LCA, in particular, is a useful extension of LCA which enables the testing of homogeneity of the class patterns between groups of the individual through a series of constraints. In this paper, we have performed a multi-group latent class analysis for measuring self reported academic dishonesty among the students of University of Jammu. From the analysis, three general behaviors of academic cheaters are identified as rare, frequent, and instant cheaters. Further, from the multi-group LCA, it is envisaged that female students of University of Jammu are more instantaneous cheaters than male students. Students who are self-reported cheaters from sciences and humanities of the University of Jammu are persistent in cheating whereas from professional courses they are more occasional. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, by defining two types of signed detour distances and corresponding detour distance matrices, we introduce the notion of detour distance compatibility for signed graphs and later applying these concepts, we give yet another characterization of balance in signed graphs. Further, we discuss signed detour spectra of certain classes of unbalanced signed graphs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper develops and illustrates a method for empirically designing an income tax system that people will regard as fair. The paper begins with the classical Principles of Tax Justice, viz., as pretax income increases, three quantities should also increase – posttax income, tax amount, and tax rate. GSOEP data on residents' pretax income and the posttax income they regard as fair are used to estimate a just linear income tax system. Analytic results include a signature standard form of the tax system showing the intertwined fates of poor and rich and the conditions which threaten fairness. Empirical results show that the estimated tax system lowers taxes for a majority of respondents, especially the relatively poorer, and substantially reduces inequality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent months, the figure of Greta Thunberg and the theme of climate changings quickly became the focus of the debate. This has led to a polarization effect in opinion forming about the climate subject. Starting from the analysis of this phenomenon, we develop an opinion dynamics model in which several types of contrarian agents are considered. Each agent is supposed to have an opinion on several topics related to each other; thus, the opinions being formed on these topics are also mutually dependent. The aim of the paper is to investigate the indirect effects of contrarian agents on the collective opinion about these topics. Several numerical tests are presented in order to highlight the main features of the model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we present an empirical study of the opinion dynamics of a large-scale sample of online social network users. We estimate users' opinions as continuous scalars based on their subscriptions to information sources and analyze how friendship connections affect the dynamics of these estimations. Distinguishing between positive (toward friends' opinions) and negative (away from friends' opinions) opinion shifts, we find that the existence and magnitude of both types of shifts are positively related (largely through linear or inverted U-shaped form) to the distance in opinions between a user and their friends. The distance additionally moderates the balance between positive and negative movements: if the distance is within a certain moderate range, there is a relatively high chance of a positive shift. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper intends to simulate a simple artificial society divided into two populations: criminal and non-criminal. The time evolution of the system is modeled using a set of differential equations, borrowing relevant features from the prey-predator, epidemic spread, and harvesting models. Each population can switch type upon interaction. The stability and equilibrium points of this system are examined, concluding that harvesting and interaction rates play an important role in the evolution of the system toward different stable equilibria between populations, which eventually coalesce into one. The results indicate that as long as the harvesting and conversion rates remain sufficiently small, the criminal population thrives. However, when either of the two crosses a certain value, the criminal population becomes extinct. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In digraphs representing asymmetric relations, the measured scores of previous spectral rankings are usually dominated by nodes in the largest strongly connected component. In our previous work, we proposed hierarchical alpha centrality to give higher scores for more reachable nodes not in the largest strongly connected component. However, without careful consideration of damping parameters, the scores obtained by this method may be unbounded. In this paper, we normalize the adjacency matrix to be stochastic, subsequently damping the resulting Markov chain with a reciprocal perturbation at each and every non-zero transition, and propose a new hierarchical measure of centrality for asymmetric relations. The proposed measure simplifies damping and ensures that the measured scores are bounded. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we analyze data on the opinion dynamics of 1,660,927 users of an online social network using formal models of opinion formation. We have observed that moderate users have a tendency to follow the average opinion of their online friends, which we interpret as a presence of bounded confidence. Further, we have discovered that the probability of moving toward the average opinion goes down if the difference between it and the user's opinion is too large. Another interesting feature uncovered is that if a user's opinion and the average opinion of their online friends are very similar, the influence also decreases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we examined the effect of deliberative democracy on the polarization of opinion. Through three case analyses, we find that deliberative democracy has two major components – provision of information and group discussion. Polarization of opinion can be explained by several theories: social identity theory, social comparison, and confirmation bias. We constructed a deliberative democracy model that reflected these mechanisms of polarization. We found that deliberative democracy actually decreased polarization of opinion when group discussion was a strong factor. Our study provides guidelines for an institutional design incorporating deliberative democracy, with emphasis on the composition of unbiased group discussions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

When and for whom does it pay to make high-quality products? In this paper, I address this question through the lens of Harrison White's socioeconomic models of production. The socioeconomic models relate economist incentives of cost-efficiency to sociological insights into the construction of quality on markets. Differences in firm size and quality sustain distinct market niches whose appeal to producers vary. The ordering of niches by quality and associated implications for profitability establish the incentive structure of the market. As illustration, I trace the evolution of the Californian wine industry from its nadir under prohibition to today. The account motivates a productive reading of the socio-economic models that tempers their analytical focus and broadens their scope of application. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fragmentation, echo chambers, and their amelioration in social networks have been a growing concern in the academic and non-academic world. This paper shows how, under the assumption of homophily, echo chambers and fragmentation are system-immanent phenomena of highly flexible social networks, even under ideal conditions for heterogeneity. We achieve this by finding an analytical, network-based solution to the Schelling model and by proving that weak ties do not hinder the process. Furthermore, we derive that no level of positive algorithmic bias in the form of rewiring is capable of preventing fragmentation and its effect on reducing the fragmentation speed is negligible. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many social and other networks exhibit stable size scaling relationships, such that features such as mean degree or reciprocation rates change slowly or are approximately constant as the number of vertices increases. Statistical network models built on top of simple Bernoulli baseline (or reference) measures often behave unrealistically in this respect, leading to the development of sparse reference models that preserve features such as mean degree scaling. In this paper, we generalize recent work on the micro-foundations of such reference models to the case of sparse directed graphs with non-vanishing reciprocity, providing a dynamic process interpretation of the emergence of stable macroscopic behavior. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The current study mathematically models key factors influencing Risk Perception (RP) that involves knowledge inferred from present situations and social learning, past information and priming effect. It is a generalized perception-based model and in the present paper, it is applied to Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). The computational model has been simulated for numerous rounds in two phases to find a quantitative value of the model factors. In the first phase, the model reflected dependency of RP upon recent past events and priming, while second phase revealed that social learning modulates RP, even in ASD. This further proves that peer-interaction plays a crucial role in building perception. Thus, our work provides a mathematical framework to evaluate perception objectively in any situation, such as risky/danger-situations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pricing practices of firms are an important yet the least studied aspect of the price phenomenon in sociology. This paper answers the question: why do firms, even in the same market, tend to use different pricing practices – value-informed, competition-informed, or cost-informed pricing – to set prices? To that end, this study constructs a formal dynamic flocking model to investigate the inter-dynamics between market uncertainties and the viability of the three pricing practices. The model is a substantial revision and extension of Harrison White's static W(y) market model by reformulating the latter into a dynamic one and by explicitly incorporating different market uncertainties into the model as variables. The study shows that each kind of pricing practice is only viable under certain distributions of market uncertainties. The theory is then used to explain the distribution of pricing practices among firms in the Burgundy wine market. Theoretical and methodological innovations and the implications for firms and for sociological research on markets and uncertainties are also discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]