The Evolution of Coworker Networks: An Experimental and Computational Approach

Abstract

When selecting work team members several behavioral components concur. In this chapter we are interested in investigating the effects of these components in terms of team selection, agent aggregation and performance of groups. A computational model, together with a theoretical approach and the results of two human experiments where subjects interact in a similar game, allow us to identify some of the most important determinants. Our results suggest that the occurrence of two factors is crucial: the presence of leaders as aggregators of knowledge and agents being able to expand and improve their higher profit projects. It is particularly evident the threefold role the leaders have. First, they increase the social network of other agents making possible projects otherwise impossible. Second, they state the pace of a balanced growth in terms of social network, while taming the otherwise combinatorial explosion. Finally, they help selecting one of the theoretically possible equilibria.