Modeling complexity in economic and social systems / [editor] Frank Schweitzer.

Format:

Book

Contributor:

Schweitzer, Frank.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Economics--Mathematical models.

Economics.

Economics, Mathematical.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (x, 391 p. ) ill.

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

New Jersey : World Scientific, c2002.

Summary:

Economics and the social sciences are, in fact, the "hard" sciences, as Herbert Simon argued, because the complexity of the problems dealt with cannot simply be reduced to analytically solvable models or decomposed into separate subprocesses. Nevertheless, in recent years, the emerging interdisciplinary "sciences of complexity" have provided new methods and tools for tackling these problems, ranging from complex data analysis to sophisticated computer simulations. In particular, advanced methods developed in the natural sciences have recently also been applied to social and economic problems. The twenty-one chapters of this book reflect this modern development from various modeling perspectives (such as agent-based models, evolutionary game theory, reinforcement learning and neural network techniques, time series analysis, non-equilibrium macroscopic dynamics) and for a broad range of socio-economic applications (market dynamics, technological evolution, spatial dynamics and economic growth, decision processes, and agent societies). They jointly demonstrate a shift of perspective in economics and the social sciences that is allowing a new outlook in this field to emerge.

Contents:

A. Market dynamics. ch. 1. Trading behavior and excess volatility in toy markets / M. Marsili and D. Challet

ch. 2. Percolation models of financial market dynamics / D. Stauffer

ch. 3. Electrodynamical model of quasi-efficient financial markets / K.N. Ilinski and A.S. Stepanenko

ch. 4. Multi-agent market modeling of foreign exchange rates / G. Zimmermann, R. Neuneier and R. Grothmann

ch. 5. Forecasting price increments using an artificial neural network / F. Castiglione

ch. 6. Spectral regularization, data complexity and agent behavior / A. Ilyinsky

B. Technological evolution. ch. 7. Dynamics of economic and technological search processes in complex adaptive landscapes / W. Ebeling, Karmeshu and A. Scharnhorst

ch. 8. New results in a self-organized model of technological evolution / A. Arenas ... [et al.]

ch. 9. Firms' decision making process in an evolutionary model of industrial dynamics / W. Kwasnicki

C. Spatial dynamics and economic growth. ch. 10. Modelling migration and economic agglomeration with active Brownian particles / F. Schweitzer

ch. 11. The evolution of industrial clusters - simulating spatial dynamics / T. Brenner and N. Weigelt

ch. 12. The growth dynamics of German business firms / J. Voit

ch. 13. A dynamic theory of a firm: an application of 'economic forces' / M. Estola

D. Decision processes. ch. 14. Adaptive platform dynamics in multi-party spatial voting / B.M.R. Stadler

ch. 15. Subtle nonlinearity in popular album charts / R.A. Bentley and H.D.G. Maschner

ch. 16. Dynamical aspects in the adoption of agri-environmental measures / G. Weisbuch and G. Boudjema

ch. 17. Collective choice and mutual knowledge structures / D. Richards, B.D. McKay and W.A. Richards

E. Agent societies. ch. 18. Evolutionary study of interethnic cooperation / V. Kvasnicka and J. Pospichal

ch. 19. Coalition factor in the evolution of non-kin altruism / J.-L. Dessalles

ch. 20. Optimal payoff functions for members of collectives / D.H. Wolpert and K. Turner

ch. 21. A day at the beach: human agents self organizing on the sand pile / H. Ishii, N. Wang and S.E. Page.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9789812777263

9812777261

OCLC:

843333108