Abstract We report on our numerical studies of the Axelrod model for social influence in small-world networks. Our simulation results show that the topology of the network has a crucial effect on the evolution of cultures. As the randomness of the network increases, the system undergoes a transition from a highly fragmented phase to a uniform phase. We also find that the power-law distribution at the transition point, reported by Castellano et al, is not a critical phenomenon; it exists not only at the onset of transition but also for almost any control parameters. All these power-law distributions are stable against perturbations. A mean-field theory is developed to explain these phenomena.
Received: 03 April 2002
Revised: 12 July 2002
Accepted manuscript online:
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