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Lecture series are sponsored by

Prof. Asu Ozdaglar (MIT)

Abstract: This talk develops a unified framework for the study of how network interactions can function as a mechanism for propagation and amplification of microeconomic shocks. The framework nests various classes of games over networks, models of macroeconomic risk originating from microeconomic shocks, and models of financial interactions. Under the assumption that shocks are small, we provide a fairly complete characterization of the structure of equilibrium, clarifying the role of network interactions in translating microeconomic shocks into macroeconomic outcomes. This characterization enables us to rank different networks in terms of their aggregate performance. It also sheds light on several seemingly contradictory results in the prior literature on the role of network linkages in fostering systemic risk. This is joint work with Daron Acemoglu and Alireza Tahbaz-Salehi.

Short Bio: Asu Ozdaglar received the B.S. degree in electrical engineering from the Middle East Technical University, Ankara, Turkey, in 1996, and the S.M. and the Ph.D. degrees in electrical engineering and computer science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, in 1998 and 2003, respectively. She is currently a professor in the Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Department at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. She is also the director of the Laboratory for Information and Decision Systems. Her research expertise includes optimization theory, with emphasis on nonlinear programming and convex analysis, game theory, with applications in communication, social, and economic networks, distributed optimization and control, and network analysis with special emphasis on contagious processes, systemic risk and dynamic control. Professor Ozdaglar is the recipient of a Microsoft fellowship, the MIT Graduate Student Council Teaching award, the NSF Career award, the 2008 Donald P. Eckman award of the American Automatic Control Council, the Class of 1943 Career Development Chair, the inaugural Steven and Renee Innovation Fellowship, and the 2014 Spira teaching award. She served on the Board of Governors of the Control System Society in 2010 and was an associate editor for IEEE Transactions on Automatic Control. She is currently the area co-editor for a new area for the journal Operations Research, entitled "Games, Information and Networks" and the chair of the Control System Society Technical Committee “Networks and Communication Systems”. She is the co-author of the book entitled “Convex Analysis and Optimization” (Athena Scientific, 2003).