Geometric randomization of real networks with prescribed degree sequence

We introduce a model for the randomization of complex networks with geometric structure. The geometric randomization (GR) model assumes a homogeneous distribution of the nodes in a hidden similarity space and uses rewirings of the links to find configurations that maximize a connection probability akin to that of the popularity-similarity geometric network models. The rewiring preserves exactly the original degree sequence, thus preventing fluctuations in the degree cutoff. The GR model is manifestly simple as it relies upon a single free parameter controlling the clustering of the rewired network, and it does not require the explicit estimation of hidden degree variables. We demonstrate the applicability of GR by implementing it as a null model for the analysis of community structure. As a result, we find that geometric and topological communities detected in real networks are consistent, while topological communities are also detected in randomized counterparts as an effect of structural constraints.Peer ReviewedPostprint (published version

The interconnected wealth of nations: Shock propagation on global trade-investment multiplex networks

The increasing integration of world economies, which organize in complex multilayer networks of interactions, is one of the critical factors for the global propagation of economic crises. We adopt the network science approach to quantify shock propagation on the global trade-investment multiplex network. To this aim, we propose a model that couples a spreading dynamics, describing how economic distress propagates between connected countries, with an internal contagion mechanism, describing the spreading of such economic distress within a given country. At the local level, we find that the interplay between trade and financial interactions influences the vulnerabilities of countries to shocks. At the large scale, we find a simple linear relation between the relative magnitude of a shock in a country and its global impact on the whole economic system, albeit the strength of internal contagion is country-dependent and the inter-country propagation dynamics is non-linear. Interestingly, this systemic impact can be associated to intra-layer and inter-layer scale factors that we name network multipliers, that are independent of the magnitude of the initial shock. Our model sets-up a quantitative framework to stress-test the robustness of individual countries and of the world economy.Peer ReviewedPostprint (published version