IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/
MyIDEAS: Log in (now much improved!) to save this paper

Agent-Based Modeling: The Right Mathematics for the Social Sciences?

Author Info

Listed author(s):
  • Borrill, Paul L.
  • Tesfatsion, Leigh

Abstract

This study provides a basic introduction to agent-based modeling (ABM) as a powerful blend of classical and constructive mathematics, with a primary focus on its applicability for social science research. The typical goals of ABM social science researchers are discussed along with the culture-dish nature of their computer experiments. The applicability of ABM for science more generally is also considered, with special attention to physics. Finally, two distinct types of ABM applications are summarized in order to illustrate concretely the duality of ABM: Real-world systems can not only be simulated with verisimilitude using ABM; they can also be efficiently and robustly designed and constructed on the basis of ABM principles.

Download Info

If you experience problems downloading a file, check if you have the proper application to view it first. In case of further problems read the IDEAS help page. Note that these files are not on the IDEAS site. Please be patient as the files may be large.

File URL: http://www2.econ.iastate.edu/papers/p11674-2010-07-06.pdf
Download Restriction: no
File URL: http://www2.econ.iastate.edu/tesfatsi/ABMRightMath.PBLTWP.pdf
Download Restriction: no

Paper provided by Iowa State University, Department of Economics in its series Staff General Research Papers Archive with number 31674.

as
in new window

Length:
Date of creation: 05 Jul 2010
Handle: RePEc:isu:genres:31674
Contact details of provider: Postal:
Iowa State University, Dept. of Economics, 260 Heady Hall, Ames, IA 50011-1070

Phone: +1 515.294.6741
Fax: +1 515.294.0221
Web page: http://www.econ.iastate.edu
Email:


More information through EDIRC

Keywords:

Other versions of this item:

Find related papers by JEL classification:
  • B4 - Schools of Economic Thought and Methodology - - Economic Methodology
  • C6 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Mathematical Methods; Programming Models; Mathematical and Simulation Modeling
  • C9 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Design of Experiments
  • D - Microeconomics
  • E - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics

This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

References listed on IDEAS
Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.:

as
in new window


  1. Paul L. Joskow, 2006. "Markets for Power in the United States: An Interim Assessment," The Energy Journal, International Association for Energy Economics, vol. 0(Number 1), pages 1-36.
  2. Robert L. Axtell, 2000. "Effect of Interaction Topology and Activation Regime in Several Multi-Agent Systems," Working Papers 00-07-039, Santa Fe Institute.
  3. Chang, Myong-Hun & Harrington, Joseph Jr., 2006. "Agent-Based Models of Organizations," Handbook of Computational Economics, in: Leigh Tesfatsion & Kenneth L. Judd (ed.), Handbook of Computational Economics, edition 1, volume 2, chapter 26, pages 1273-1337 Elsevier.
  4. Li, Hongyan & Tesfatsion, Leigh, 2009. "ISO Net Surplus Collection and Allocation in Wholesale Power Markets Under Locational Marginal Pricing," Staff General Research Papers Archive 13092, Iowa State University, Department of Economics.
  5. Nigel Gilbert & Andreas Pyka & Petra Ahrweiler, 2001. "Innovation Networks - a Simulation Approach," Journal of Artificial Societies and Social Simulation, Journal of Artificial Societies and Social Simulation, vol. 4(3), pages 1-8.
  6. Jason M Barr & Troy Tassier & Leanne J Ussher & Blake LeBaron & Shu-Heng Chen & Shyam Sunder, 2008. "The Future of Agent-Based Research in Economics: A Panel Discussion, Eastern Economic Association Annual Meetings, Boston, March 7, 20081," Eastern Economic Journal, Palgrave Macmillan;Eastern Economic Association, vol. 34(4), pages 550-565.
  7. Dawid, Herbert, 2006. "Agent-based Models of Innovation and Technological Change," Handbook of Computational Economics, in: Leigh Tesfatsion & Kenneth L. Judd (ed.), Handbook of Computational Economics, edition 1, volume 2, chapter 25, pages 1235-1272 Elsevier.
  8. Li, Hongyan & Sun, Junjie & Tesfatsion, Leigh, 2010. "Testing Institutional Arrangements Via Agent-Based Modeling: A U.S. Electricity Market Example," Staff General Research Papers Archive 13155, Iowa State University, Department of Economics.
  9. Leigh Tesfatsion, 2002. "Agent-Based Computational Economics," Computational Economics 0203001, EconWPA, revised 15 Aug 2002.
  10. Blake LeBaron & Leigh Tesfatsion, 2008. "Modeling Macroeconomies as Open-Ended Dynamic Systems of Interacting Agents," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 98(2), pages 246-250, May.
Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.

as
in new window


Cited by:

  1. Tesfatsion, Leigh, 2017. "Modeling Economic Systems as Locally-Constructive Sequential Games," ISU General Staff Papers 201702180800001022, Iowa State University, Department of Economics.
  2. Wozniak, Marcin, 2016. "Job placement agencies in an artificial labor market," Economics - The Open-Access, Open-Assessment E-Journal, Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW), vol. 10, pages 1-54.
  3. Ali Naqvi & Miriam Rehm, 2014. "A multi-agent model of a low income economy: simulating the distributional effects of natural disasters," Journal of Economic Interaction and Coordination, Springer;Society for Economic Science with Heterogeneous Interacting Agents, vol. 9(2), pages 275-309, October.
  4. Tesfatsion, Leigh, 2017. "Modeling Economic Systems as Locally-Constructive Sequential Games," ISU General Staff Papers 201704300700001022, Iowa State University, Department of Economics.
  5. Tesfatsion, Leigh, 2017. "Modeling Economic Systems as Locally-Constructive Sequential Games," ISU General Staff Papers 201703280700001022, Iowa State University, Department of Economics.

This item is not listed on Wikipedia, on a reading list or among the top items on IDEAS.

Access and download statistics

When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:isu:genres:31674. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: (Curtis Balmer)

If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

If references are entirely missing, you can add them using this form.

If the full references list an item that is present in RePEc, but the system did not link to it, you can help with this form.

If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

This information is provided to you by IDEAS at the Research Division of the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis using RePEc data.