The Law of the Few

S-Tier
Journal: American Economic Review
Year: 2010
Volume: 100
Issue: 4
Pages: 1468-92

Score contribution per author:

4.022 = (α=2.01 / 2 authors) × 4.0x S-tier

α: calibrated so average coauthorship-adjusted count equals average raw count

Abstract

Empirical work shows that a large majority of individuals get most of their information from a very small subset of the group, viz., the influencers; moreover, there exist only minor differences between the observable characteristics of the influencers and the others. We refer to these empirical findings as the Law of the Few. This paper develops a model where players personally acquire information and form connections with others to access their information. Every (robust) equilibrium of this model exhibits the law of the few. (JEL D83, D85, Z13)

Technical Details

RePEc Handle
repec:aea:aecrev:v:100:y:2010:i:4:p:1468-92
Journal Field
General
Author Count
2
Added to Database
2026-01-25