Book Description
The explosive growth in computational power over the past several decades offers new tools and opportunities for economists. This handbook volume surveys recent research on Agent-based Computational Economics (ACE), the computational study of economic processes modeled as dynamic systems of interacting agents. Empirical referents for "agents" in ACE models can range from individuals or social groups with learning capabilities to physical world features with no cognitive function. Topics covered include: learning; empirical validation; network economics; social dynamics; financial markets; innovation and technological change; organizations; market design; automated markets and trading agents; political economy; social-ecological systems; computational laboratory development; and general methodological issues.
*Every volume contains contributions from leading researchers
*Each Handbook presents an accurate, self-contained survey of a particular topic
*The series provides comprehensive and accessible surveys
Customer Reviews:
An Invaluable Resource for Practicing and Novice Agent-based Modelers.......2006-12-29
This excellent volume should be entitled "Explorations in Agent-Based Modeling," as a comparison with Volume I of the Handbook of Computational Economics should make clear. The earlier volume is an extremely mature product summarizing the application of computer-intensive mathematical techniques to traditional economic problems--a subject the history of which goes back to the earliest applications of computers during World War II. The volume under review, Volume II, has a completely different character. Agent-based modeling is a young and vigorous, rather than a mature and technically plodding science. Mathematics, rather than being the central focus, tends to be rather a simple-minded tool, and the programming, rather than being of the number-crunching variety, tends to be a versatile and imaginative mirroring of real-world processes in silicon life-forms and object-oriented structures. The subject matter, moreover, is not limited to the bread and butter of traditional economics (computable general equilibrium, solving for Nash equilibria, macroeconomic modeling, parallel computation, dynamic programming, and the like), but rather explores novel themes in the interface between economics and the other behavioral sciences--especially in this volume politics, biology, and ecology. The chapters do accomplish fairly comprehensive literature reviews (but beware--in this fast-moving field some of the most important contributions are likely to be the most recent, and hence not referenced), but they are rarely technically detailed summaries of the state-of-the-art. Rather, chapters tend to develop themes that are particularly interesting to the author. This makes for a very readable volume, but I am not sure the appellation "Handbook" is truly appropriate.
Tesfatsion's first sentence in her introductory essay to the volume gets right to the point. "Economies," she asserts, "are complex dynamic systems." What, we may ask, makes an economy a complex dynamic system? For one thing, the complex economy is never in equilibrium, but is constantly subjected to shocks, both exogenous and endogenous, that affect its short-term movements. There are frequent local nonlinear resonances that lead to significant deviations of economic variables (prices, quantities, wages, asset prices) from their equilibrium values even in the absence of strong or systematic perturbations to the system. We see such deviations in many economic time series, which often have the "fat tails" characteristics of the power laws of complex systems, as opposed to the Gaussian distributions of Neoclassical theory. Second, in a complex (a.k.a. real-world) economy, the Law of One Price fails. For instance, in the European Union, the standard deviation of prices rose from 12.3% in 1998 to 13.8% in 2003, despite the extensive dropping of trade barriers and movement to a common currency over this period. A third characteristic of the complex economy is that it rarely, if ever, achieves the sort of optimality that can be attained in simple engineered systems. For instance, since economies are rarely in equilibrium, most production, trade, and consumption takes place out of equilibrium, and hence is Pareto-suboptimal, at least when measured against a complete information Walrasian economy that has somehow attained equilibrium.
It is evident, then, that standard Neoclassical economic theory, as taught in the college and graduate textbooks and developed in the mainstream economics journals, does not recognize that the economy is a complex dynamic system. If the first volume of this pair of Handbooks might be called "how to do traditional economics better with computers," the volume under consideration could be called "How to transform economic theory using agent based modeling." We can chart the following characteristics of the complex economy: (a) The complex economy is thermodynamically open, dynamic, nonlinear, and generally far from equilibrium, whereas the Walrasian economy is thermodynamically closed, static, and linear in the sense that it can be understood using algebraic geometry and manifold theory; (b) In the complex economy, agents have limited information and face high costs of information processing. However, under appropriate conditions, they evolve non-optimal but highly effective heuristics for operating in complex environments. There is no assurance that when faced with novel environments, individuals will shift efficiently to new heuristics. In the Neoclassical economy, by contrast, agents have perfect information and can costlessly optimize; (c) Agents in the complex economy participate in sophisticated overlapping networks that allow them to compensate for having limited information and facing formidable information processing costs. In the Walrasian economy, agents do not interact at all. Rather, each agent faces an impersonal price structure; (d) In the complex economy, macroeconomic patterns are emergent properties of micro-level interactions and behaviors, in the same sense as the chemical properties of a complex molecule, such as carbon, is an emergent property of its nuclear and electronic structure, or that thermodynamics is an emergent property of many-particle systems. In such cases we cannot analytically derive the properties of the macro system from those of its component parts, although we can apply novel mathematical techniques to model the behavior of the emergent properties. In the case of the complex economy, these higher level modeling constructs are currently largely absent, although agent-based modeling may provide the data needed to develop the appropriate mathematical tools. By contrast, the Walrasian economy has no macro properties that cannot be derived from its micro properties (for instance, the First and Second Welfare Theorems); (e) In the complex economy, the evolutionary process of differentiation, selection, and amplification provides the system with novelty and is responsible for the growth in order and complexity. In the Walrasian economy there is no mechanism for creating novelty or growth in complexity. In his chapter in this book, Axel Leijonhufvud develops the insight that many contributions to economic theory from the Marshallian tradition, effectively eclipsed by the influence of Edgeworth, Walras, and their general equilibrium successors, are echoed and developed in the agent-based simulations of economic dynamics.
Several authors address the question as to the epistemological status of agent-based models. It is indicative of the youth of this brand of research that widely divergent answers are offered. One such view is that agent-based modeling is an alternative to formal analytical economic theory. It strikes me that this is not at all the case. Rather, an agent-based model is a set of empirical data, and building such models is akin to laboratory experimentation. One can use the results of such experimentation to inspire theorists to construct analytical models in which one can derive logically the properties of the system observed in the laboratory. Or, if the complexity of the system precludes analytical modeling, one can make broad generalizations based on a comparative study of different agent-based systems. In principle, an agent-based model could provide an existence theorem for a particular emergent phenomenon, but in general there are sufficient differences between a mathematical model of a process and its agent-based implementation (for instance, real numbers are approximated by fixed-precision floating point numbers, and random numbers are approximated by deterministic algorithms with long periods), that the two models could have substantively different properties.
Representing ABM models as empirical rather than theoretical contributions is likely to improve the chances for publication in mainstream journals, and hence improve the communication among economists. Economic theorists often make the point to me that in reading an analytical paper, the assumptions and the method of proof are completely transparent, while an agent-based model must be taken on faith, since the model itself is not presented in a journal article, nor would it make much sense if it were, except to an expert in the computer language used. If the ABM is presented as a contribution to theory, it is easy to see why it is rejected by respectable journals: it is asking the reader to take the authors' assertions on faith alone. If the ABM results are represented as empirical data, this problem disappears.
When agent-based models are not accepted in mainstream economics journals, modelers tend to place the blame on the closed-mindedness and traditionalistic mentality of the reviewers. I consider this a very serious error, because it gives the agent-based modeler no means of correcting the problem. I think that it is almost always good advice to blame yourself when a paper is rejected, because the you is the only one with an incentive to change to meet the reviewers' criteria the next time around. The authors in this volume do not make this mistake, and several have valuable suggestions as to how agent-based models must be crafted to increase their scientific value (Robert Axelrod's suggestions are particularly incisive).
It is interesting that none of the authors appears to have noticed the inverse problem: agent-based models are all the rage in some circles, and many faulty models get past reviewers and are published in top journals, including Science and Nature. The fact is that if two researchers are given the same specifications and write the computer code independently, there is a very good chance their models will differ in substantial ways. There is simply no way for a reviewer to assess the quality of a simulation without spending a considerable amount of time going over the code. Moreover, I have found that researchers often bias code generation in such a way as to support their pet theories. The nature of this bias often cannot be revealed without a thorough inspection of the computer code. This sort of author behavior is not not necessarily due to our dishonesty, but rather due to our capacity to self-delude. If the ABM behaves the way we want it to, we leave the code alone. If it does not, we work over it to find out why. The resulting code is thus virtually certain to be self-serving and biased.
I do not know how to get around this problem. It is reminiscent of a similar problem with econometric research with complex data sets, where it is virtually impossible for reviewers to ascertain the significance of the results, especially in the case of economic time series. In the case of econometric analysis, the problem is attenuated if researchers are obligated to place the data in the public domain, making replication feasible. In the case of agent-based models, there is usually no "data" different from the model itself. It would be a step forward to require researchers to place their code in the public domain, so that the threat of public scrutiny might serve to attenuate the temptation to torture the code whose results one does not like, while coddling the code that reinforces our prejudices and expectations.
Another important issue not systematically addressed in this Handbook is the mechanics of producing an agent-based model. If the researcher does not do his or her own programming, clearly the researcher should generated a completely unambiguous set of specifications for programming the model. However, if the research does not know computer programming, this is impossible in all but the most simple cases. Even if the researcher is an expert programmer, he or she cannot pre-envision exactly how the model should function, since often one tries several alteratives for each piece of code, and one often does not know what the real dynamics of the model are until one has done considerable hands-on programming. For this reason, if I had my way, I would never accept a paper for publication that was not programmed by the researchers themselves, except for the simplest sort of models. Therefore, I believe training in ABM should include training in computer programming to the point of professional proficiency. I do not even accept using canned ABM software, because it is difficult to tell what the software is doing, the implementation is always painfully slow compared to a real computer language, and there are strict limits as to what can be accomplished with such software. However, I know that many leading ABM researchers disagree with this, and happily teach their students to use Swarm, StarLogo, and the like. Until this issue is thoroughly investigated and the truth sorted out from the myth, ABM will remain of limited value to the economic research community.
I commend the Editors for doing a fine job in addressing the needs of the ABM community, while producing a volume that can be profitably read by those new to the field. Nevertheless, there remain hard problems that must be soberly addressed before ABM becomes a standard part of the repertoire of economic researchers, and ABM results appear widely in top economics journals.
Book Description
The Handbook is a definitive reference source and teaching aid for econometricians. It examines models, estimation theory, data analysis and field applications in econometrics. Comprehensive surveys, written by experts, discuss recent developments at a level suitable for professional use by economists, econometricians, statisticians, and in advanced graduate econometrics courses.
For more information on the Handbooks in Economics series, please see our home page on
http://www.elsevier.nl/locate/hes
Average customer rating:
|
Handbook of Game Theory with Economic Applications Volume 2 (Handbooks in Economics)
Manufacturer: North Holland
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
 Econometrics
| Economics
| Business & Investing
| Subjects
| Books
Theory
| Economics
| Business & Investing
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Popular Economics
| Business & Investing
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Business & Investing
| Subjects
| Books
Game Theory
| Applied
| Mathematics
| Science
| Subjects
| Books
Probability & Statistics
| Applied
| Mathematics
| Science
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Medicine
| Subjects
| Books
Game Theory
| Applied
| Mathematics
| Professional Science
| Professional & Technical
| Subjects
| Books
Statistics
| Applied
| Mathematics
| Professional Science
| Professional & Technical
| Subjects
| Books
All Amazon Upgrade
| Amazon Upgrade
| Stores
| Books
Business & Investing
| Amazon Upgrade
| Stores
| Books
Medicine
| Amazon Upgrade
| Stores
| Books
Professional & Technical
| Amazon Upgrade
| Stores
| Books
Science
| Amazon Upgrade
| Stores
| Books
All Titles
| Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007
| Stores
| Books
Business & Investing
| Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007
| Stores
| Books
Medicine
| Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007
| Stores
| Books
Professional
| Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007
| Stores
| Books
Science
| Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007
| Stores
| Books
ASIN: 0444894276 |
Book Description
This is the second of three volumes surveying the state of the art in Game Theory and its applications to many and varied fields, in particular to economics. The chapters in the present volume are contributed by outstanding authorities, and provide comprehensive coverage and precise statements of the main results in each area. The applications include empirical evidence. The following topics are covered: communication and correlated equilibria, coalitional games and coalition structures, utility and subjective probability, common knowledge, bargaining, zero-sum games, differential games, and applications of game theory to signalling, moral hazard, search, evolutionary biology, international relations, voting procedures, social choice, public economics, politics, and cost allocation. This handbook will be of interest to scholars in economics, political science, psychology, mathematics and biology.
For more information on the Handbooks in Economics series, please see our home page on
http://www.elsevier.nl/locate/hes
Average customer rating:
|
Handbook of Law and Economics, Volume 2 (Handbook of Law and Economics)
Manufacturer: North Holland
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
Econometrics
| Economics
| Business & Investing
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Popular Economics
| Business & Investing
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Business & Investing
| Subjects
| Books
Business Law
| Reference
| Business & Investing
| Subjects
| Books
Franchising
| Business
| Law
| Subjects
| Books
Science & Technology
| Perspectives on Law
| Law
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Business
| Law
| Professional & Technical
| Subjects
| Books
ASIN: 0444531203 |
Book Description
Law can be viewed as a body of rules and legal sanctions that channel behavior in socially desirable directions for example, by encouraging individuals to take proper precautions to prevent accidents or by discouraging competitors from colluding to raise prices. The incentives created by the legal system are thus a natural subject of study by economists. Moreover, given the importance of law to the welfare of societies, the economic analysis of law merits prominent treatment as a subdiscipline of economics. This two volume Handbook is intended to foster the study of the legal system by economists.
*The two volumes form a comprehensive and accessible survey of the current state of the field.
*Chapters prepared by leading specialists of the area.
*Summarizes received results as well as new developments.
Average customer rating:
|
Handbook of Mathematical Economics Volume 2 (Handbooks in Economics)
Manufacturer: North Holland
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
Econometrics
| Economics
| Business & Investing
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Business & Investing
| Subjects
| Books
Operations Research
| Management & Leadership
| Business & Investing
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Reference
| Business & Investing
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Applied
| Mathematics
| Science
| Subjects
| Books
Probability & Statistics
| Applied
| Mathematics
| Science
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Applied
| Mathematics
| Professional Science
| Professional & Technical
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Reference
| Subjects
| Books
All Amazon Upgrade
| Amazon Upgrade
| Stores
| Books
Business & Investing
| Amazon Upgrade
| Stores
| Books
Professional & Technical
| Amazon Upgrade
| Stores
| Books
Reference
| Amazon Upgrade
| Stores
| Books
Science
| Amazon Upgrade
| Stores
| Books
All Titles
| Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007
| Stores
| Books
Similar Items:
-
Handbook of Game Theory with Economic Applications Volume 3 (Handbooks in Economics) (Handbooks in Economics)
ASIN: 0444861270 |
Book Description
The
Handbook of Mathematical Economics aims to provide a definitive source, reference, and teaching supplement for the field of mathematical economics. It surveys, as of the late 1970's the state of the art of mathematical economics. This is a constantly developing field and all authors were invited to review and to appraise the current status and recent developments in their presentations. In addition to its use as a reference, it is intended that this Handbook will assist researchers and students working in one branch of mathematical economics to become acquainted with other branches of this field.
Volume 2 elaborates on
Mathematical Approaches to Microeconomic Theory, including consumer, producer, oligopoly, and duality theory, as well as
Mathematical Approaches to Competitive Equilibrium including such aspects of competitive equilibrium as existence, stability, uncertainty, the computation of equilibrium prices, and the core of an economy.
For more information on the Handbooks in Economics series, please see our home page on
http://www.elsevier.nl/locate/hes
Average customer rating:
|
Microeconomics (Handbook of Applied Econometrics, Volume 2)
Manufacturer: Blackwell Publishing, Incorporated
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
Econometrics
| Economics
| Business & Investing
| Subjects
| Books
Microeconomics
| Economics
| Business & Investing
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Popular Economics
| Business & Investing
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Finance
| Accounting & Finance
| Professional & Technical
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Reference
| Subjects
| Books
ASIN: 0631216332 |
Book Description
This Handbook focuses on specific microeconomics applications, rather than on conventional econometric theory. It covers the econometric issues involved in a variety of applied microeconomic problems: The measurement of productivity. Frontier production functions and the measurement of efficiency. Consumer demand. Income inequality and economic welfare Estimation of models of dynamic optimization. Search models and duration data. Quasi-likelihood methods for count data. Analysis of business surveys.
Book Description
This digital document is an article from Advances in Competitiveness Research, published by American Society for Competitiveness on January 1, 2003. The length of the article is 1122 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.
Citation Details
Title: Andrews Tackles Global Technical Communication.(Book Review)
Author: Carol Ann Hunt
Publication:
Advances in Competitiveness Research (Refereed)
Date: January 1, 2003
Publisher: American Society for Competitiveness
Volume: 11
Issue: 1
Page: 167(3)
Article Type: Book Review
Distributed by Thomson Gale
Book Description
This digital document is an article from Business Communication Quarterly, published by Association for Business Communication on December 1, 2002. The length of the article is 748 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.
Citation Details
Title: Technical Communication in the Global Community, 2nd edition. (Book Reviews).(Book Review)
Author: Marty Blalock
Publication:
Business Communication Quarterly (Refereed)
Date: December 1, 2002
Publisher: Association for Business Communication
Volume: 65
Issue: 4
Page: 134(3)
Article Type: Book Review
Distributed by Thomson Gale
Average customer rating:
|
TECHNICAL COMMUNICATION IN THE GLOBAL COMMUNITY.(Review) (book reviews): An article from: Technical Communication
Durthy A. Washington
Manufacturer: Society for Technical Communication
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Digital
Nonfiction
| Subjects
| Books
| Audiobooks
| Automotive
| Crime & Criminals
| Current Events
| Economics
| Education
| Foreign Language Nonfiction
| Government
| Holidays
| Law
| Philosophy
| Politics
| Social Sciences
| Transportation
| True Accounts
| Urban Planning & Development
| Women's Studies
General
| Literature & Fiction
| Subjects
| Books
| Classics
| Comic
| Contemporary
| Literary
General
| Literature & Fiction
| Subjects
| e-Docs
| Formats
| Books
General
| Nonfiction
| HTML
| Formats
| e-Docs
| Formats
| Books
ASIN: B00098ZCGA
Release Date: 2005-07-28 |
Book Description
This digital document is an article from Technical Communication, published by Society for Technical Communication on August 1, 1999. The length of the article is 1478 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.
Citation Details
Title: TECHNICAL COMMUNICATION IN THE GLOBAL COMMUNITY.(Review) (book reviews)
Author: Durthy A. Washington
Publication:
Technical Communication (Refereed)
Date: August 1, 1999
Publisher: Society for Technical Communication
Volume: 46
Issue: 3
Page: 405
Article Type: Book Review
Distributed by Thomson Gale
Book Description
This digital document is an article from Business Communication Quarterly, published by Association for Business Communication on June 1, 1999. The length of the article is 1875 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.
Citation Details
Title: Technical Communication in the Global Community.(Review)
Author: Bruce Maylath
Publication:
Business Communication Quarterly (Refereed)
Date: June 1, 1999
Publisher: Association for Business Communication
Volume: 62
Issue: 2
Page: 126(6)
Article Type: Book Review
Distributed by Thomson Gale
Books:
- Handbook of Income Distribution (Handbooks in Economics)
- Helping Children Left Behind: State Aid and the Pursuit of Educational Equity
- History: Fiction or Science? (Chronology, No. 1)
- History: Fiction or Science? (Chronology, No. 1)
- History: Fiction or Science? (Chronology, No. 1)
- History: Fiction or Science? (Chronology, No. 1)
- History: Fiction or Science? (Chronology, No. 1)
- Hotel Front Office Simulation Workbook with CD-ROM
- Human Capital: A Theoretical and Empirical Analysis, with Special Reference to Education
- Industrial Evolution in Developing Countries: Micro Patterns of Turnover, Productivity, and Market Structure
Books Index
Books Home
Recommended Books
- A History of the English-Speaking Peoples Since 1900
- The House of Dies Drear
- Infertility in the Modern World: Present and Future Prospects
- Man and Microbes: Disease and Plagues in History and Modern Times
- Old Black Fly
- The Accelerated Learning Handbook: A Creative Guide to Designing and Delivering Faster, More Effecti
- The Bishop in the West Wing: A Bishop Blackie Ryan Novel
- Splendours of Imperial India: British Architecture in the 18th and 19th Centuries
- Ming Furniture in the Light of Chinese Architecture
- A Garden of Bristlecones: Tales of Change in the Great Basin
Generative Social Science: Studies in Agent-Based Computational Modeling (Princeton Studies in Complexity)
Complex Adaptive Systems: An Introduction to Computational Models of Social Life (Princeton Studies in Complexity)
Managing Business Complexity: Discovering Strategic Solutions with Agent-Based Modeling and Simulation
Handbook of Computational Economics
Agent-Based Computational Modelling: Applications in Demography, Social, Economic and Environmental Sciences (Contributions to Economics)
