@dantheman
Social networks as contract enforcement

Abstract. Absence of well-functioning formal institutions leads to reliance on social
networks to enforce informal contracts. Social ties may aid cooperation, but agents
vary in network centrality, and this hierarchy may hinder cooperation. To assess
the extent to which networks substitute for enforcement, we conducted high-stakes
games across 34 Indian villages. We randomized subjects’ partners and whether contracts
were enforced to estimate how partners’ relative network position differentially
matters across contracting environments. Socially close pairs cooperate even without
enforcement; distant pairs do not. Pairs with unequal importance behave less
cooperatively without enforcement. Thus capacity for cooperation in the absence of
contract enforcement depends on the underlying network.

I have to say one thing which is special about the Bitshares community is Bitshares actually takes care of it's members. It's something we can't say about every community. The idea of social network as contract enforcement applies here with smart contracts. I call it social network enforced smart contracts or community enforced smart contracts. The point being that any blockchain exists to serve the community (not the other way around). This means the ability to exit, to fork, must always be on the table in any free community and in any free market.

References
https://stanford.edu/~arungc/CKL.pdf