Fractal and multifractal analysis of complex networks: Estonian network of payments

Abstract

Complex networks have gained much attention from different areas of knowledge in recent years. Particularly, the structures and dynamics of such systems have attracted considerable interest. Complex networks may have characteristics of multifractality. In this study, we analyze fractal and multifractal properties of a novel network: the large scale economic network of payments of Estonia, where companies are represented by nodes and the payments done between companies are represented by links. We present a fractal scaling analysis and examine the multifractal behavior of this network by using a sandbox algorithm. Our results indicate the existence of multifractality in this network and consequently, the existence of multifractality in the Estonian economy. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study that analyzes multifractality of a complex network of payments.

13 pages

References in corpus (7)

• Uncovering the overlapping community structure of complex networks in nature and society
• How to calculate the fractal dimension of a complex network: the box covering algorithm
• Fractality in complex networks: critical and supercritical skeletons
• Scale-free trees: the skeletons of complex networks
• Twenty-five years of multifractals in fully developed turbulence: a tribute to Giovanni Paladin
• Determination of multifractal dimensions of complex networks by means of the sandbox algorithm
• Exploring self-similarity of complex cellular networks: The edge-covering method with simulated annealing and log-periodic sampling