Analyzing large scale exchange networks

Exchange theories or their implementations in algorithms have limited utility because they can be applied only to quite small networks. They cannot be applied to larger networks until that size limit is removed. Domain Analysis cuts networks into smaller pieces at the boundaries of strong power domains. Domain Analysis identifies strong power and breaks, and distinguishes domains that function exactly as they would were they free-standing, and components that do not. Support for the finding of breaks and the distinction between domains and components are obtained using both experimental data and simulations based on X-Net. To illustrate the use of Domain Analysis, it is applied to find the incidence of strong power in large exchange networks. The application shows that the incidence of strong power decreases as network density increases, and that strong power occurs only infrequently in dense networks. We conclude by calling for ever more general analytic procedures. (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.