Centrality and network flow

Centrality measures, or at least our interpretations of these measures, make implicit assumptions about the manner in which things flow through a network. For example, some measures count only geodesic paths, apparently assuming that whatever flows through the network only moves along the shortest possible paths. This paper lays out a typology of network flows based on two dimensions of variation, namely, the kinds of trajectories that traffic may follow (geodesics, paths, trails or walks), and the method of spread (broadcast, serial replication, or transfer). Measures of centrality are then matched to the kinds of flows they are appropriate for. Simulations are used to examine the relationship between type of…