Strategies in Social Network Formation

We run a computerised experiment of network formation where allconnections are bene…cial and only direct links are costly. Players simul-taneously submit link proposals; a connection is made only when bothplayers involved agree. We use both simulated and experimentally gen-erated data to test the determinants of individual behaviour in networkformation. We …nd that approximately 40% of the network formationstrategies adopted by the experimental subjects can be accounted for asbest responses. We test whether subjects follow alternative patterns ofbehaviour and in particular if they: propose links to those from whomthey have received link proposals in the previous round; propose links tothose who have the largest number of direct connections.[...]