Proceedings of a Workshop on Statistics on Networks (BMSA)

Released 12.04.07

A large number of biological, physical, and social systems contain complex networks.  Knowledge about how these networks operate is critical for advancing a more general understanding of network behavior.  To this end, each of these disciplines has created different kinds of statistical theory for inference on network data.  To help stimulate further progress in the field of statistical inference on network data, the NRC sponsored a workshop that brought together researchers who are dealing with network data in different contexts.  This report—which is available on CD only—contains the text of the 18 workshop presentations.  The presentations focused on five major areas of research: network models, dynamic networks, data and measurement on networks, robustness and fragility of networks, and visualization and scalability of networks.

New Directions for Understanding Systemic Risk: A Report on a Conference Cosponsored by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York and the National Academy of Sciences  (BMSA)

Released 10.30.07

The stability of the financial system and the potential for systemic events to alter its function have long been critical issues for central bankers and researchers.  Recent events suggest that older models of systemic shocks might no longer capture all of the possible paths of such disturbances or account for the increasing complexity of the financial system.  To help assess these concerns, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York and the NRC cosponsored a conference that brought together engineers, scientists, economists, and financial market experts to promote better understanding of systemic risk in a variety of fields.  The report presents an examination of tools used in ecology and engineering to study systemic collapse in those areas; a review of current trends in economic research on systemic risk, the payments system, and the market of interbank funds; and for context, descriptions of how systemic risk in the financial system affects trading activities.