Role of volatility mixing in wealth condensation transition
Abstract
We study the role of heterogeneous volatility in a networked wealth dynamics model and its impact on the wealth condensation transition. Extending the Bouchaud--M{\'e}zard framework, we introduce binary volatility in networks and investigate how its configuration affects the effective power-law tail exponent of the wealth distribution. Using a stochastic block model, we control the mixing between volatility groups and show that the effective exponent is governed not only by the global parameter but also by the volatility configuration in the network. We find that local interactions between nodes with different volatility induce a neutralization of group-wise exponents, which lowers the aggregate tail exponent and can drive a condensation transition across . Our results identify volatility mixing as another control mechanism for wealth condensation and highlight the importance of noise heterogeneity in nonequilibrium systems on networks.
Keywords
Cite
@article{arxiv.2604.13885,
title = {Role of volatility mixing in wealth condensation transition},
author = {Jaeseok Hur and Meesoon Ha and Hawoong Jeong},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2604.13885},
year = {2026}
}