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Mattsson CES, Criscione T, Takes FW. Circulation of a digital community currency. Sci Rep 2023; 13:5864. [PMID: 37041351 PMCID: PMC10088680 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-33184-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/08/2023] [Accepted: 04/08/2023] [Indexed: 04/13/2023] Open
Abstract
Circulation is the characteristic feature of successful currency systems, from community currencies to cryptocurrencies to national currencies. In this paper, we propose a network analysis approach especially suited for studying circulation given a system's digital transaction records. Sarafu is a digital community currency that was active in Kenya over a period that saw considerable economic disruption due to the COVID-19 pandemic. We represent its circulation as a network of monetary flow among the 40,000 Sarafu users. Network flow analysis reveals that circulation was highly modular, geographically localized, and occurring among users with diverse livelihoods. Across localized sub-populations, network cycle analysis supports the intuitive notion that circulation requires cycles. Moreover, the sub-networks underlying circulation are consistently degree disassortative and we find evidence of preferential attachment. Community-based institutions often take on the role of local hubs, and network centrality measures confirm the importance of early adopters and of women's participation. This work demonstrates that networks of monetary flow enable the study of circulation within currency systems at a striking level of detail, and our findings can be used to inform the development of community currencies in marginalized areas.
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Affiliation(s)
- Carolina E S Mattsson
- Leiden Institute of Advanced Computer Science, Leiden University, 2333 CA, Leiden, The Netherlands.
| | - Teodoro Criscione
- Department of Network and Data Science, Central European University, 1100, Wien, Austria
- Freiburg Institute for Basic Income Studies, University of Freiburg, 79098, Freiburg, Germany
| | - Frank W Takes
- Leiden Institute of Advanced Computer Science, Leiden University, 2333 CA, Leiden, The Netherlands
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Mattsson CES, Criscione T, Ruddick WO. Sarafu Community Inclusion Currency 2020-2021. Sci Data 2022; 9:426. [PMID: 35858971 PMCID: PMC9298170 DOI: 10.1038/s41597-022-01539-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/21/2022] [Accepted: 07/08/2022] [Indexed: 11/30/2022] Open
Abstract
We describe a dataset of account information and detailed transaction records for a digital complementary currency in Kenya. This “Sarafu system” initially encompassed several local, physical community currencies, which began transitioning to a feature-phone mobile interface in 2017. One unit of “Sarafu” is roughly equivalent in value to a Kenyan shilling. The published data includes anonymized account information for around 55,000 users and records of all Sarafu transactions conducted from January 25, 2020 to June 15, 2021. Transactions totaling around 300 million Sarafu capture various economic and financial activities such as purchases, transfers, and participation in savings and lending groups. So-called “chamas” are key to the operation of the Sarafu system and many such groups are labeled in the data. Describing this data contributes to research on the operation of community currencies, monetary systems, and economic networks in marginalized, food insecure areas. The observation period includes the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic and several documented pilot projects and interventions. Measurement(s) | Payment | Technology Type(s) | Monitoring | Sample Characteristic - Organism | Homo sapiens | Sample Characteristic - Environment | Complementary currency system | Sample Characteristic - Location | Kenya |
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Affiliation(s)
- Carolina E S Mattsson
- Leiden Institute of Advanced Computer Science, Leiden University, Leiden, Netherlands.
| | - Teodoro Criscione
- Department of Network and Data Science, Central European University, Vienna, Austria.,Freiburg Institute for Basic Income Studies, University of Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany
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Mattsson CES, Takes FW, Heemskerk EM, Diks C, Buiten G, Faber A, Sloot PMA. Functional Structure in Production Networks. Front Big Data 2021; 4:666712. [PMID: 34095822 PMCID: PMC8176009 DOI: 10.3389/fdata.2021.666712] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/10/2021] [Accepted: 04/19/2021] [Indexed: 12/02/2022] Open
Abstract
Production networks are integral to economic dynamics, yet dis-aggregated network data on inter-firm trade is rarely collected and often proprietary. Here we situate company-level production networks within a wider space of networks that are different in nature, but similar in local connectivity structure. Through this lens, we study a regional and a national network of inferred trade relationships reconstructed from Dutch national economic statistics and re-interpret prior empirical findings. We find that company-level production networks have so-called functional structure, as previously identified in protein-protein interaction (PPI) networks. Functional networks are distinctive in their over-representation of closed squares, which we quantify using an existing measure called spectral bipartivity. Shared local connectivity structure lets us ferry insights between domains. PPI networks are shaped by complementarity, rather than homophily, and we use multi-layer directed configuration models to show that this principle explains the emergence of functional structure in production networks. Companies are especially similar to their close competitors, not to their trading partners. Our findings have practical implications for the analysis of production networks and give us precise terms for the local structural features that may be key to understanding their routine function, failure, and growth.
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Affiliation(s)
- Carolina E. S. Mattsson
- Computational Network Science Lab, Leiden Institute of Advanced Computer Science, Leiden University, Leiden, Netherlands
- Network Science Institute, Boston, MA, United States
| | - Frank W. Takes
- Computational Network Science Lab, Leiden Institute of Advanced Computer Science, Leiden University, Leiden, Netherlands
- CORPNET, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, Netherlands
| | - Eelke M. Heemskerk
- CORPNET, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, Netherlands
- Department of Political Science, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, Netherlands
| | - Cees Diks
- Faculty Economics and Business, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, Netherlands
- Tinbergen Institute, Amsterdam, Netherlands
| | - Gert Buiten
- Statistics Netherlands, The Hague, Netherlands
| | - Albert Faber
- Ministry of Economic Affairs & Climate, The Hague, Netherlands
| | - Peter M. A. Sloot
- Computational Science Lab, Faculty of Science, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, Netherlands
- Institute for Advanced Study, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, Netherlands
- Complexity Institute, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, Singapore
- Complexity Science Hub Vienna, Vienna, Austria
- National Center for Cognitive Research, ITMO University, Saint Petersburg, Russia
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