Title
Economic Networks In and Out of Equilibrium
Abstract
Economic and financial networks play a crucial role in various important processes, including economic integration, globalization, and financial crises. Of particular interest is understanding whether the temporal evolution of a real economic network is in a (quasi-)stationary equilibrium, i.e. characterized by smooth structural changes rather than abrupt transitions. Smooth changes in quasi-equilibrium networks can be generally controlled for, and largely predicted, while this is generally not possible for abrupt transitions in non-stationary networks. Here we study whether real economic networks are in or out of equilibrium by checking their consistency with quasi-equilibrium maximum-entropy ensembles of graphs. As illustrative examples, we consider the International Trade Network (ITN) and the Dutch Interbank Network (DIN). We show that, despite the globalization process, the ITN is an almost perfect example of quasi-equilibrium network, while the DIN is clearly an out-of-equilibrium network undergoing major structural changes and displaying non-stationary dynamics. Among the out-of-equilibrium properties of the DIN, we find striking early-warning signals of the interbank crisis of 2008.
Year
DOI
Venue
2013
10.1109/SITIS.2013.89
Signal-Image Technology & Internet-Based Systems
Keywords
Field
DocType
quasi-equilibrium maximum-entropy ensemble,out-of-equilibrium network,dutch interbank network,economic integration,non-stationary network,abrupt transition,international trade network,real economic network,economic networks,quasi-equilibrium network,financial network,globalisation,economic cycles,financial management
Interbank network,Economics,Microeconomics,Financial networks,Complex network,Artificial intelligence,Globalization,Economic integration,International economics,Econophysics,Financial management,Machine learning,Business cycle
Conference
ISSN
Citations 
PageRank 
in Proceedings of the Ninth International Conference on Signal-Image Technology & Internet-Based Systems (SITIS 2013), pp. 530-537 (edited by IEEE) (2014)
2
0.51
References 
Authors
0
2
Name
Order
Citations
PageRank
Tiziano Squartini16711.86
Diego Garlaschelli29018.49