A simple model of global cascades on random networks

The origin of large but rare cascades that are triggered by small initial shocks is a phenomenon that manifests itself as diversely as cultural fads, collective action, the diffusion of norms and innovations, and cascading failures in infrastructure and organizational networks. This paper presents a possible explanation of this phenomenon in terms of a sparse, random network of interacting agents whose decisions are determined by the actions of their neighbors according to a simple threshold rule. Two regimes are identified in which the network is susceptible to very large cascades-herein called global cascades-that occur very rarely. When cascade propagation is limited by the connectivity of the network, a…

• MI
  Massachusetts Institute of Technology