EPJ Data Sci. (2017) 6: 10
https://doi.org/10.1140/epjds/s13688-017-0105-9

Regular article

Individual position diversity in dependence socioeconomic networks increases economic output

¹ School of Business, East China University of Science and Technology, Meilong Road, 200237, Shanghai, China
² Research Center for Econophysics, East China University of Science and Technology, Meilong Road, Shanghai, China
³ Research Institute of Sports Economics, East China University of Science and Technology, Meilong Road, Shanghai, China
⁴ Department of Mathematics, East China University of Science and Technology, Meilong Road, Shanghai, China

^* e-mail: wxzhou@ecust.edu.cn

Received: 15 February 2017
Accepted: 1 June 2017
Published online: 14 June 2017

Abstract

The availability of big data recorded from massively multiplayer online role-playing games (MMORPGs) allows us to gain a deeper understanding of the potential connection between individuals’ network positions and their economic outputs. We use a statistical filtering method to construct dependence networks from weighted friendship networks of individuals. We investigate the 30 distinct motif positions in the 13 directed triadic motifs which represent microscopic dependences among individuals. Based on the structural similarity of motif positions, we further classify individuals into different groups. The node position diversity of individuals is found to be positively correlated with their economic outputs. We also find that the economic outputs of leaf nodes are significantly lower than that of the other nodes in the same motif. Our findings shed light on understanding the influence of network structure on economic activities and outputs in socioeconomic systems.