  Coupled Ising models are studied in a discrete choice theory framework, where
they can be understood to represent interdependent choice making processes for
homogeneous populations under social influence. Two different coupling schemes
are considered. The nonlocal or group interdependence model is used to study
two interrelated groups making the same binary choice. The local or individual
interdependence model represents a single group where agents make two binary
choices which depend on each other. For both models, phase diagrams, and their
implications in socioeconomic contexts, are described and compared in the
absence of private deterministic utilities (zero opinion fields).

Physics and Society;Statistical Mechanics;Social and Information Networks