Shock diffusion in input-output international networks: Cascade processes and graph sparsification

Istituto di Economia - Avviso per conferimento 1 incarico di prestazione occasionale, 4 mesi per attivita' di supporto alla ricerca nell'ambito del progetto PRO3 (NetRes) finalizzato allo studio di processi di diffusione di shock in reti input-output internazionali con differenti livelli di densita'. Le attivita' comprenderanno: This set of tasks aims at exploring the role of graph sparsification in cascade processes generated by economic shocks hitting input-output international networks. Recent literature suggests that the topology of input-output and production networks is non trivially affected by the assumptions made to simplify (i.e. sparsify) empirical graph structures. However, the impact of sparsification on cascade processes generate by economic shocks is poorly understood. The candidate is therefore requested to perform a set of shock-diffusion exercises using pre-existing data (already collected and explored within the PRO3 NetRes project) on input-output international networks using different assumptions about how the underlying dense network is simplified using sparsification techniques. More precisely, the candidate is expected to: (i) develop a number of simple models of economic shock diffusion in input-output networks; (ii) perform shock diffusion analysis under different assumptions on the nature of the initial shock (i.e. whether it horizontally originates in a country or in a region, or it is sector specific); (iii) comparatively analyze the depth and structure of the ensuing cascades using different assumption about the way in which the original network is sparsified. The final goal is to better understand the extent to which weak linkages are conducive to systemic risk in the overall network structure. The candidate is expected to: (a) have accumulated previous experience (e.g., during her/his previous research activity and/or during her/his PhD research activity) in dealing with large sets of network data and shock diffusion models in complex networks, possibly exemplified by her/his track of publications in peer-reviewed international journals; (b) know tools and techniques related to applied network science: (c) be familiar with statistical and econometric software packages (e.g, R and/or Stata), especially as far as implementation of tasks (i)-(iii) are concerned.