Structural Stability of Coalitions: A Formal Model Highlighting the Role of Participants Positioned between Members and Neutral Actors

Given a fixed network that links various actors, we introduce a formal model that describes the structural stability of coalitions. To this end, we used the partition of the set of all actors in three distinct positions: members, i.e., those who are central to a coalition; participants, i.e., those...

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Main Authors: Herman Monsuur, René H. P. Janssen
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2022-01-01
Series:Games
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4336/13/1/17
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author Herman Monsuur
René H. P. Janssen
author_facet Herman Monsuur
René H. P. Janssen
author_sort Herman Monsuur
collection DOAJ
description Given a fixed network that links various actors, we introduce a formal model that describes the structural stability of coalitions. To this end, we used the partition of the set of all actors in three distinct positions: members, i.e., those who are central to a coalition; participants, i.e., those who are not actively engaged with the issues at hand; neutral actors, i.e., non-members, those who are not party to any interests and outside the coalition. Using the language of networks, we formulated three assumptions that may be used to characterize the stability of this partition. We paid particular attention to the role of participants as they facilitate or complicate extensions of a given coalition. Given the fixed network, we (1) illustrate the verification of the stability of a coalition, (2) provide existence results of stable coalitions, and (3) set the limits to their credible extensions. Our three formal assumptions may serve as a platform for discussions regarding the stability of coalitions.
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spelling doaj.art-edf7dd955db94bb6b2878fa410ebe8122023-11-23T20:01:03ZengMDPI AGGames2073-43362022-01-011311710.3390/g13010017Structural Stability of Coalitions: A Formal Model Highlighting the Role of Participants Positioned between Members and Neutral ActorsHerman Monsuur0René H. P. Janssen1Faculty of Military Sciences, Netherlands Defence Academy, Het Nieuwe Diep 8, 1781 AC Den Helder, The NetherlandsFaculty of Military Sciences, Netherlands Defence Academy, Het Nieuwe Diep 8, 1781 AC Den Helder, The NetherlandsGiven a fixed network that links various actors, we introduce a formal model that describes the structural stability of coalitions. To this end, we used the partition of the set of all actors in three distinct positions: members, i.e., those who are central to a coalition; participants, i.e., those who are not actively engaged with the issues at hand; neutral actors, i.e., non-members, those who are not party to any interests and outside the coalition. Using the language of networks, we formulated three assumptions that may be used to characterize the stability of this partition. We paid particular attention to the role of participants as they facilitate or complicate extensions of a given coalition. Given the fixed network, we (1) illustrate the verification of the stability of a coalition, (2) provide existence results of stable coalitions, and (3) set the limits to their credible extensions. Our three formal assumptions may serve as a platform for discussions regarding the stability of coalitions.https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4336/13/1/17network sciencestabilitycoalition formation
spellingShingle Herman Monsuur
René H. P. Janssen
Structural Stability of Coalitions: A Formal Model Highlighting the Role of Participants Positioned between Members and Neutral Actors
Games
network science
stability
coalition formation
title Structural Stability of Coalitions: A Formal Model Highlighting the Role of Participants Positioned between Members and Neutral Actors
title_full Structural Stability of Coalitions: A Formal Model Highlighting the Role of Participants Positioned between Members and Neutral Actors
title_fullStr Structural Stability of Coalitions: A Formal Model Highlighting the Role of Participants Positioned between Members and Neutral Actors
title_full_unstemmed Structural Stability of Coalitions: A Formal Model Highlighting the Role of Participants Positioned between Members and Neutral Actors
title_short Structural Stability of Coalitions: A Formal Model Highlighting the Role of Participants Positioned between Members and Neutral Actors
title_sort structural stability of coalitions a formal model highlighting the role of participants positioned between members and neutral actors
topic network science
stability
coalition formation
url https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4336/13/1/17
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