Computational Approaches to Studying the Co-evolution of Networks and Behavior in Social Dilemmas

Preface

In this book, I study what happens when actors are influenced by their social network but can also choose their relationships in this network. While writing the book, I benefited much from my own social environment. Although I did not choose all the people in that environment, I do not think I could have made a better choice if given the chance. I take this opportunity to thank a number of these people.

First of all, I owe much to Vincent Buskens, who was my daily supervisor during my time as a PhD student. His all-round expertise and merciless eye for detail have been crucial for the overall quality of the research presented here. In particular, Chapters 2 and 4 also benefited much from his skills as a programmer and an experimentalist. However, it was especially his cheerful and informal personal style that made working with him a great pleasure. Stephanie Rosenkranz, as my second supervisor, has improved the book in many places by her sharp insights, and as a relative outsider from economics, made sure that the multidisciplinary perspective did not get lost. My promoter Werner Raub always made sure that I used the right words in the right place, so that what I wrote was what I meant, even when I did not know yet that that was what I meant. His strong analytical perspective has much improved the theoretical consistency of the book. Moreover, he always took care that everything around my project was organized smoothly. Finally, I am grateful for his encouragement and ...