Sunbelt XXXI International Network for Social Network ... - INSNA

Markets Or Networks: Rural Households' Borrowing Choices In Western ChinaZhang, YanlongNetworks and EconomicsSocial Capital, Culture, Markets, Network Composition, China, Household Financial DecisionFRI.PM2Borrowing is a common yet important household financial behavior for families in developing countries. This paper employs Hechman’s selection model, anduses a Chinese household survey data to explore how social network structure and socioeconomic status condition households’ choices between withinnetworkborrowing and market borrowing. The paper finds that network size and share of weak ties positively affect one’s search embeddedness, whichfacilitates information search and flow. Moreover, having contacts from key state agencies enables one to utilize the contacts’ social influence to acquire loans.In addition, the share of urban contacts has both a positive direct effect and negative indirect effects (through other network features) on within‐networkborrowing. The paper also finds that high SES families are more likely to borrow from markets, because they have more financial knowledge, higheraffordability for market goods, and higher capacities to repay loans. It is also due to the fact that the types and quantities of financial needs are differentbetween high and low SES families. On the one hand, the quantity of network resources is usually limited as compare to market resources. Since high SESfamilies usually borrow more, their high demands are more likely to be satisfied by market resources. On the other hand, lending to those who are insubstantive needs is more likely to be considered as a social obligation than lending to investors. Therefore, it is more appropriate for high SES families to seekmarket resources for investment purposes.Mate Choice In An Online Dating SiteLewis, KevinOnline Social NetworksExponential Random Graph Models, Homophily, Online DatingFRI.AM1Due to limitations in available data as well as difficulties inherent to the study of mate choice, previous research on romantic relationship formation has haddifficulty disentangling the role of individual preferences from the constraints imposed by opportunity structure. Using data from a popular online dating site,combined with advances in exponential random graph modeling, I examine the contribution of multiple dimensions of individual preferences to observedpatterns of interaction. This research not only represents a methodological improvement over past studies of mate choice; but findings have growing practicalsignificance as more and more singles rely on online dating as a primary means of meeting and mating today.