%0 Journal Article
%T Complex Networks and Symmetry II: Reciprocity and Evolution of World Trade
%A Franco Ruzzenenti
%A Diego Garlaschelli
%A Riccardo Basosi
%J Symmetry
%D 2010
%I MDPI AG
%R 10.3390/sym2031710
%X We exploit the symmetry concepts developed in the companion review of this article to introduce a stochastic version of link reversal symmetry, which leads to an improved understanding of the reciprocity of directed networks. We apply our formalism to the international trade network and show that a strong embedding in economic space determines particular symmetries of the network, while the observed evolution of reciprocity is consistent with a symmetry breaking taking place in production space. Our results show that networks can be strongly affected by symmetry-breaking phenomena occurring in embedding spaces, and that stochastic network symmetries can successfully suggest, or rule out, possible underlying mechanisms.
%K complexity
%K networks
%K symmetry breaking
%K World Trade Web
%U http://www.mdpi.com/2073-8994/2/3/1710