An Adaptive Toolbox Model: a Pluralistic Modelling Approach for Human Behaviour Based on Observation

This article describes a social simulation model based on an economic experiment about altruistic behavior. The experiment by Fehr and Gächter showed that participants made frequent use of costly punishment in order to ensure continuing cooperation in a common pool resource game. The model reproduces not only the aggregated but also the individual data from the experiment. It was based on the data rather than theory. By this approach new insights about human behaviour and decision making may be found. The model was not designed as a stand-alone model, but as a starting point for a comprehensive Adaptive Toolbox Model. This may form a framework for modelling results from different economic experiments, comparing results and underlying assumptions, and exploring whether the insights thus gained also apply to more realistic situations.