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Searching for Mates Using 'Fast and Frugal' Heuristics: a Demographic Perspective

Author

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  • Francesco C. Billari

    (Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Doberaner Str. 114, D-18057 Rostock, Germany)

Abstract

The paper deals with the search for a mate in human populations, where agents behave according to the bounded rational, 'fast and frugal' heuristics proposed by Todd (1997), which he calls Take the Next Best (TNB). The perspective is that of a demographer, and the main focus is on the macro regularities, in particular, the shape of the frequency distribution of mating time and the proportion of ever-mated, arising from the micro hypotheses. We show – both by simulation and by formal proof – that if agents behave homogeneously according to the same TNB rule the shape of the distribution is monotonically decreasing. Switching then to the hypothesis that individuals act heterogeneously, with different TNB rules, the typical shape of the union formation curve emerges. Finally, we argue that students of demography might gain important hints for their theories by simulation-based approaches and that a population-oriented focus might also be advantageous for studying the mental models for agents.

Suggested Citation

  • Francesco C. Billari, 2000. "Searching for Mates Using 'Fast and Frugal' Heuristics: a Demographic Perspective," Advances in Complex Systems (ACS), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 3(01n04), pages 53-65.
    • Handle: RePEc:wsi:acsxxx:v:03:y:2000:i:01n04:n:s0219525900000054
    DOI: 10.1142/S0219525900000054
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    Cited by:

    1. Sabine Zinn, 2012. "A Mate-Matching Algorithm for Continuous-Time Microsimulation Models," International Journal of Microsimulation, International Microsimulation Association, vol. 5(1), pages 31-51.
    2. Kostas Rontos & Luca Salvati, 2020. "Space Matters? Exploring Gender Differentials in the Age at Marriage, Greece (1980–2017)," Social Sciences, MDPI, vol. 9(4), pages 1-18, April.

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