Exuberance and social contagion

Abstract

Episodes of collective exuberance that recurrently hit the economy are, in this note, associated with sentiment propagation in a network of social relations. The pivotal role played by exuberant individuals will give place to a dynamic setting where limit cycles constitute the most plausible long-term outcome. Endogenous sentiment waves, with peaks and troughs of exuberance, are in this way identified in the context of a straightforward interaction scenario.