Hi all,
Might be a long shot but I’d appreciate any contributions that anyone can offer…
I would like to connect with anyone who can give me a head start regarding knowledge about network effects, as applied to cooperative networks (of organisations/companies) or the interaction between cooperative and competitive networks.
Many thanks in advance 
I’ve studied mathematical models of biological networks in Uni, include game theoretical models on networks.
In broad strokes, my take away is that its very complex and hard to model mathematically. I would suggest to be very skeptical of broad theoretical claims about how these networks behave, because even in a mathematically idealized case, simple changes to mechanisms of how the network evolves can result in drastically different behaviors.
If you can find empirical papers gathering data about real-world examples of coop networks, this would be more beneficial.
What are you hoping to accomplish?
Thanks @ixxie !
Yes, I don’t drink the “mathematics can model human behaviours accurately” Kool Aid haha. I do subscribe to “studying people might show interesting patterns” though and this would be more of that - which seems to be the same as your suggestion. That’s mainly what I was hoping to find, and if not published research then people researching this without publishing.
I can’t find much research at all about networks that would apply well to the cooperative model. Everything is about capital-focused, competitive networks; where all of the actors are involved either in a closed network where they act as members looking to gain something from each other or they’re competing against other actors for the same resources. It’s all a bit a) theoretical economics or b) focused on large competitive corporations.
Haha good for you on skipping the Kool Aid!
I think probably your best chance is to look for people who study the economics of coops specifically, try to find high-profile papers on coops and fish keywords and references relating to coop networks from there. For example a quick search for “research on cooperatives” yielded some interesting review papers.
In game theory, much of the research has been about how cooperation emerges. Competition is far easier to explain than cooperation, which can fail in a variety of ways. Keywords: evolutionary game theory, cooperation (NOT cooperatives), networks, graphs.
Another thing to look for is research on sociocultural evolution: this field defines ‘culture’ as a behavior that can be transmitted between entities. Because it transmits with variation, it can be described as a parallel - but distinct - evolutionary process to genetic evolution. Of course, its a very different type of evolutionary process, so while you can say they are both types of evolution, they have very different dynamics. Sociocultural evolution is very interdisciplinary, and you can find biologist, economics, psychologists, sociologists, archeologists and others working within this framework.
Let me know if you find something. I’d also be open to a journal club (pick 1 paper each month, read it and discuss it).
Not an expert by any means but down to talk as I’m interested in this topic.
Also, not an expert but I’ve just started a new contract, which is mapping/connecting/network weaving UK projects and networks who are embodying post-capitalist values. It’s very much applying network effect to organisations working cooperatively, while enmeshed within a competitive dominated world. I would absolutely LOVE to talk about this any time. Maybe we could plan an online call for anyone interested?
Hey Artemis,
”mapping/connecting/network weaving … projects … who are embodying post-capitalist values” has been a topic I’ve been toying with for a while. I haven’t gotten far with it myself (mostly chats with others and some provisional exploration of open-source mapping tools), as I’m having to prioritise financial stability at the moment, but would really be happy to learn more about what you’re doing, and maybe share my thoughts/ideas and get some thoughts/ideas in return.
Feel free to drop me a DM if that interests you?
Also, if others want to join the conversation, more than welcome, just not sure how exactly relevant it is to the original post here.
I’d be interested as well. 
Part of the OSHW work I was doing with FarmHack was based around the co-operatives working in the Primary Industry sectors, and there were some very interesting ideas there.