Complex network model of the phase transition on the wealth distributions - from Pareto to the society without middle class

Abstract: A model of distribution of the wealth in a society based on the properties of complex networks has been proposed. The wealth is interpreted as a consequence of communication possibilities and proportional to the number of connections possessed by a person (as a vertex of the social network). Numerical simulation of wealth distribution shows a transition from the Pareto law to distribution with a gap demonstrating the absence of the middle class. Such a transition has been described as a second-order phase transition, the order parameter has been introduced and the value of the critical exponent has been found.
Subjects: Physics and Society (physics.soc-ph); Disordered Systems and Neural Networks (cond-mat.dis-nn); Social and Information Networks (cs.SI)
Cite as: http://arxiv.org/abs/1010.2173 arXiv:1010.2173.pdf [physics.soc-ph]