Income inequalities are on the rise and constitute a serious pressure in society. In our new research project we aim to understand the role of social networks in disparity dynamics.

We use a representative network for the online population in Hungary and quantify segregation of social networks in towns. We find that income inequalities are growing in those towns where social network fragmentation is paired with sharp divide in wages.

Results have been presented in Geography of Innovation in Barcelona, Complenet in Boston and IDEA in Sophia-Antipolis.