A study on support expectations arising between professionals between collaboration and competition.

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Solidarity and Competition:
Simulating Social Support between Competing
Collaboration partners
Federico Bianchi1, Andreas Flache2, Flaminio Squazzoni1
1 GECS – Research Group on Experimental and Computational Sociology, Department of Economics
and Management, University of Brescia, Italy
2 Department of Sociology / ICS, University of Groningen, The Netherlands
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2. 30-06-17 Sunbelt 2018 Conference - Utrecht University, The Netherlands
Support expectations as byproduct of
collaboration
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TRUST
Successful
professional collaboration
Support
expectation
Other studies: Molm, Collett & Schaefer, 2007;
Barrera, 2007; Molm, Schaefer & Collett, 2009;
Kuwabara, 2011; Willer, Flynn & Zak, 2012.

3. 30-06-17 Sunbelt 2018 Conference - Utrecht University, The Netherlands
Double-edge effect of resources:
competition vs. neediness
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Professional
collaboration
Trust in business
Expectations of support
+ resources, + competitive
- resources, + needy
Distribution of resources might
affect collaboration and support
expectations
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ABMs for social networks: Heterogeneity
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• Most statistical models for networks assume homogeneity of parameter effects across network edges.
• Agent-Based Models (ABMs) allow for the generation of macro-level regularities (e.g., a social network) by
simulating micro-level decentralized local interactions between agents (e.g., nodes of a network).
• Agent heterogeneity —> nodes have different attributes (e.g., resources) and can decide about tie
formation/maintenance/disruption according to different decision-making rules (e.g., different
preferences towards partner selection).
• Stochastic Actor-Oriented Models for network evolution provide a framework to build an ABM for
network emergence (Snijders & Steglich, 2015) that takes into account stochastic interdependencies
between agents’ partner selection preferences (Flache & Stark 2009).
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Stochastic Agent-Based Model
of multiplex network emergence
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Initialize time t=0,
initialize network
layers C, T, S
Select a random
agent i and a
random network
layer X
For all other agents,
compute change in
utility for changing
dyad i -> j on
network layer X
Let i select one possible
change (or do nothing)
with probability p
(multinomial random
experiment)
Update
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6. 30-06-17 Sunbelt 2018 Conference - Utrecht University, The Netherlands
Agents’ preferences (w/ heterogeneity)
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COLLABORATION (requests for collaboration)
• collaboration is costly: baseline negative tendency towards collaboration
• baseline tendency to accept requests (positive reciprocity)
• preference for high-resource partners
• observed mechanism: collaboration -> trust
TRUST
• marginally decreasing returns (cognitive limits to handling relations)
• positive reciprocation
• positive tendency towards transitive closure
• observed mechanism: trust —> expectation of support
SUPPORT (expectations of support)
• Marginal returns decrease at different speed depending on resources
• positive reciprocation
• positive tendency towards transitive closure
• Observed mechanism: expectation of support -> trust in business

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Simulation design: manipulation of
resource heterogeneity
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Results: mutual support expectations (connectivity)
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• Competition slightly
decreases overall
connectivity.
• Assuming neediness
heterogeneity even
improves overall
connectivity.

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Results: mutual support expectations
(difference in avg. degree between H- and L-agents)
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Results: support network integration
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Baseline
Competition:
• H-agents form a collaboration core
• H-agents develop in-group support expectations
• L-agents do not find collaboration partners,
therefore do not develop support expectations
High resources
Low resources
Competition + neediness heterogeneity:
• H-agents form a collaboration core
• H-agents develop in-group support expectations
• L-agents develop support expectations despite lack
of collaboration
• H-agents need less support and do not likely
reciprocate support expectations from L-agents

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Results: segregation
(# between-group mutual support expectations)
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•Competition slightly
increases segregation.
•Assuming neediness
heterogeneity does not
compensate the negative
effect of competition.

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Conclusions
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SUBSTANTIAL
• Competition might undermine collaboration-based support expectations: less network connectivity,
higher segregation. Low-resource collaborators are pushed to periphery also of the emergent
network of mutual support expectations.
• Competition provides a positive effect on support expectations as long as less-competitive actors
are encouraged to provide mutual support between each other.
• Anyway, overall network integration does not improve.
METHODOLOGICAL
• ABM computer simulations can complement for limitations of statistical models for social networks
(homogeneity).
• ABM computer simulations can help go beyond idiosyncracies of empirical research by artificially
manipulating contextual conditions of social systems.
• This generates new theoretical hypotheses for empirical research.

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Thanks for your attention
federico.bianchi@unibs.it
@federico_fb