This 2007 book provides a systematic and self-contained account of the fast-developing theory of complex social networks. Social networks are central to the understanding of most socio-economic phenomena in the modern world. The classical approach to studying them relies on a methodology that abstracts from their size and complexity. In contrast, the approach taken in this book keeps complexity at the core, whilst integrating it with the incentive considerations that are preeminent in traditional economic analysis. The treatment starts with a detailed discussion of the basic models that act as 'benchmarks' for the complex-network literature: random networks, small worlds, and scale-free networks, before studying three different forces that underlie almost all network phenomena in social contexts: diffusion, search, and play. Finally, these forces are combined into a unified framework that is brought to bear on the issue of network formation and the coevolution of agents' behaviour and their pattern of interaction.

“Fernando Vega Redondo's timely monograph provides a nice introduction to and overview of the rapidly growing literature on complex networks, which spans a number of literatures including statistical physics, graph theory, economics, sociology, and computer science. He provides the essentials to a reader interested in large random graph models of networks. This should be a helpful reference for the broadening set of researchers studying social networks.” --Matthew Jackson, Stanford University

“Network theory is one of the liveliest areas of research in economics, game theory and the social sciences more generally. It is also a fast-growing subject in computer science, engineering, and biology. This impressive volume presents a wide range of applications of theories of complex networks to social environments, including, among others, labor markets, peer group effects, trust and trade, and research and development. The reader is guided though the basic approaches to research at the frontiers at the very frontiers of our knowledge. The book will be an invaluable resource for both graduate students and for researchers in network theory and its applications.” --Myrna Wooders, Vanderbilt University

“More than 81,217 academic economists are involved in research collaborations! Complex Social Networks is about how to describe and analyse such large scale networks, the backbone of many important phenomena, including word-of-mouth spreading of job opportunities or the diffusion of technological change. Written by a leading scholar in interdisciplinary work, this encyclopaedic and very accessible book is a must-have for every researcher or graduate student in this field.” --Antoni Calvó-Armengol, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona

“At the crossroads of economics and statistical physics, Complex Social Networks will be of interest to economists and physicists alike. To physicists, it will reveal the rich diversity of social and economic networks; to economists, it will introduce the tools and techniques of random graphs and complexity analysis. By integrating recent advances in the theory of complex networks with economic models of interaction, Fernando Vega Redondo sheds new light onto a number of fundamental issues: the diffusion of innovations in large societies, the optimal design of search algorithms in complex organizations, the achievement of coordination and cooperation among agents disseminated in social networks.” --Francis Bloch, University of Aix-Marseille and University of Warwick