Review of : S. Goyal, ' Connections. An Introduction to the Economics of Networks' (Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 2007)

The review assesses the recent volume by Sanjeev Goyal ('Connections. An Introduction to the Economics of Network') by emphasizing the dual construction of the volume, which is built around the distinction between (i) how patterns of connectivity influence coordination and cooperation outcomes;and (ii) how individual choice may influence the formation of links. It is emphasized that Goyal's volume, while recognizing that coordination outcomes presuppose a sophisticated interplay between rational deliberation and relational context, also points to a number of unsolved riddles in economic theory, such as the discovery that the traditional association between individual rationality and social efficiency no longer holds with two-sided link formation, and that centrally based network may be more efficient than alternative (decentralized) architectures.