How to build and use agent-based models in social science

Gilbert, Nigel; Terna, Pietro

doi:10.1007/bf02512229

Cited by 347 publications

(190 citation statements)

References 6 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

164

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…These models operate by prescribing rules on how individuals and/or institutions (the agents) interact, and therefore allow heterogeneity to be included. They compute the interactions at the microlevel which leads to observed behavior at higher levels [Gilbert, 2008;Gilbert and Terna, 2000]. The disadvantage of these models is that they can become extremely complex and opaque [Turchin, 2003], results might be difficult to interpret, and they are often not generalizable [Janssen and Ostrom, 2006].…”

Section: A Novel Approach To Explore Changes In Flood Riskmentioning

confidence: 99%

Debates—Perspectives on socio‐hydrology: Capturing feedbacks between physical and social processes

Baldassarre

Viglione²,

Carr

et al. 2015

Water Resources Research

381

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

In flood risk assessment, there remains a lack of analytical frameworks capturing the dynamics emerging from two-way feedbacks between physical and social processes, such as adaptation and levee effect. The former, ''adaptation effect'', relates to the observation that the occurrence of more frequent flooding is often associated with decreasing vulnerability. The latter, ''levee effect'', relates to the observation that the non-occurrence of frequent flooding (possibly caused by flood protection structures, e.g. levees) is often associated to increasing vulnerability. As current analytical frameworks do not capture these dynamics, projections of future flood risk are not realistic. In this paper, we develop a new approach whereby the mutual interactions and continuous feedbacks between floods and societies are explicitly accounted for. Moreover, we show an application of this approach by using a socio-hydrological model to simulate the behavior of two main prototypes of societies: green societies, which cope with flooding by resettling out of flood-prone areas; and technological societies, which deal with flooding also by building levees or dikes. This application shows that the proposed approach is able to capture and explain the aforementioned dynamics (i.e. adaptation and levee effect) and therefore contribute to a better understanding of changes in flood risk, within an iterative process of theory development and empirical research.

show abstract

Section: A Novel Approach To Explore Changes In Flood Riskmentioning

confidence: 99%

Debates—Perspectives on socio‐hydrology: Capturing feedbacks between physical and social processes

Baldassarre

Viglione²,

Carr

et al. 2015

Water Resources Research

381

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…ABM helps examine emergent patterns -in this case, membership in a self-regulatory system À which are not obvious from individual actors' decisions (Gilbert & Terna, 2000). In this paper, operators' behaviour is emulated applying simple rules using NetLogo 5.0.4 software.…”

Section: Methodology and Scenariosmentioning

confidence: 99%

Towards a tipping point? Exploring the capacity to self-regulate Antarctic tourism using agent-based modelling

Student

Amelung

Lamers

2016

Journal of Sustainable Tourism

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Antarctica attracts tourists who want to explore its unique nature and landscapes. Antarctic tourism has rapidly grown since 1991 and is currently picking up again after the recent global economic downturn. Tourism activities are subject to the rules of the Antarctic Treaty System (ATS) and the decisions made by the Antarctic Treaty Consultative Parties (ATCPs), but within this context, the industry has considerable freedom to self-organise. The industry is self-regulated by a voluntary member-based group, the International Association of Antarctica Tour Operators (IAATO). Researchers and policy-makers express concern about IAATO's ability to deal with further tourism development and the environmental consequences. This study applies a new approach to understand what affects self-regulation, consisting of a literature review and agent-based modelling (ABM). The review identifies four challenges for self-regulation: operator commitment, tourism growth, operator diversification, and accidents. The ABM simulations help conceptualise the complex concepts and theories surrounding self-regulation. Self-regulation is measured by the capacity of the simulated self-regulatory system to maintain a majority membership at the end of 20 years. The model suggests that a number of the challenges are nonlinear and have tipping points. This approach provides insights that industry officials and policy-makers can use to proactively regulate Antarctic tourism.

show abstract

“…As Gilbert and Tierna note (Gilbert and Terna 2000), emergent phenomena in social science reflects a certain additional complexity in comparison to the natural sciences:…”

Section: Levins: Still Useful For Social Scientists?mentioning

confidence: 99%

Analysis: Frameworks and Theories for Social Simulation

Silverman

2018

Methodological Investigations in Agent-Based Modelling

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The previous chapter focused upon the current methodologies and theoretical implications of agent-based modelling in the social sciences. While many within this growing field accept that agent-based models provide a potentially powerful new method for examining social behaviours and structures, a great debate still continues over the best methods for utilising the strengths of this methodology.As seen in Part I, such debates are not unique to social simulation. Indeed, artificial life and more conventional forms of biological modelling have faced similar challenges over the past few decades. With this in mind, this chapter begins by placing artificial life within the various theoretical frameworks discussed thus far in Chaps. 3, 4 and 5. In this way the limitations of each framework can be illuminated.Social science simulation using agent-based models shares a number of constraints and methodological difficulties with biological modelling using the same methodology. Thus, having placed artificial life and biological models within a theoretical framework, social simulation will be subjected to a similar analysis. Finding the most appropriate framework for social simulation will lay the groundwork for Chap. 7, in which one of the more prominent exemplars of social simulation will be subjected to theoretical and methodological analysis. Chapter 7 lays the foundation for the conclusions of Part II, in which our analysis of Schelling's residential segregation model will provide a means to demonstrate the most important elements of a useful modelling framework for the social sciences.

show abstract

How to build and use agent-based models in social science

Abstract: agent based computational economics, social simulation, neural networks, classifier systems, genetic algorithms,

Cited by 347 publications

References 6 publications

Debates—Perspectives on socio‐hydrology: Capturing feedbacks between physical and social processes

Debates—Perspectives on socio‐hydrology: Capturing feedbacks between physical and social processes

Towards a tipping point? Exploring the capacity to self-regulate Antarctic tourism using agent-based modelling

Analysis: Frameworks and Theories for Social Simulation

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About