Not All Explanations Predict Satisfactorily, and Not All Good Predictions Explain

This short comment on Epstein's (2008) paper and on the response by Thompson and Derr argues that the symmetry between explanation and prediction cannot satisfactorily be discussed without making clear what prediction means - depending on which connotations the authors have with 'prediction' their arguments can or cannot be accepted.[No keywords]

The Cost of Rational Agency

The rational agency assumption limits systems to domains of application that have never been observed. Moreover, representing agents as being rational in the sense of maximising utility subject to some well specified constraints renders software systems virtually unscalable. These properties of the rational agency assumption are shown to be unnecessary in representations or analogies of markets. The demonstration starts with an analysis of how the rational agency assumption limits the applicability and scalability of the IBM information filetering economy. An unrestricted specification of the information filtering economy is developed from an analysis of the properties of markets as systems and the implementation of a model based on intelligent agents. This extended information filtering economy modelis used to test the analytical results on the scope for agents to act as intermediaries between human users and information sources

Modelos basados en agentes

Los modelos basados en agentes (mba) constituyen una nueva generación de métodos computacionales que permiten modelar la estructura de un sistema complejo y simular su evolución dinámica a lo largo del tiempo. El uso de los mba constituye una tendencia metodológica en expansión en las ciencias sociales contemporáneas; sin embargo, continúan siendo poco conocidos y enseñados en el campo sociológico, de modo que constituyen una alternativa metodológica minoritaria entre los investigadores sociales. El propósito de este trabajo es introducir a los científicos sociales en las ideas centrales de los modelos basados en agentes a partir de su articulación con ciertos problemas teóricos y metodológicos cruciales de las ciencias sociales. La primera sección problematiza la relación entre los modelos basados en agentes y los sistemas complejos en una perspectiva epistemológica crítica. Posteriormente, se analizan los aportes de los mba a la investigación social, y en la tercera sección se evalúa críticamente su aplicación en el marco de una disciplina particular: la ciencia política. Finalmente, se desarrolla un ejemplo práctico de una simulación basada en agentes a partir del trabajo clásico de Thomas Schelling sobre segregación racial.Agent-based models (abm) constitute a new generation of computer based methods that allow the modeling of the structure of a complex system and simulation of its dynamic evolution over time. The use of abm constitutes a methodological tendency expanding in contemporary social sciences; however, these models remain quite unknown and not frequently taught in the field of sociology. They therefore represent a minor methodological alternative among social researchers. The purpose of this work is to introduce social scientists to the main ideas of the agent-based models as they are articulated with certain theoretical and methodological problems of the social sciences. The first section puts into question the relationship between agent-based models and complex systems in a critical epistemological perspective. Subsequently, the contributions of abm to social research are analyzed, and in the third section, their application in the framework of a specific discipline, political science, is assessed. Finally, a practical example of a simulation based on agents from the classic work of Thomas Schelling about racial segregation is developed

Modelos basados en agentes

Los modelos basados en agentes (mba) constituyen una nueva generación de métodos computacionales que permiten modelar la estructura de un sistema complejo y simular su evolución dinámica a lo largo del tiempo. El uso de los mba constituye una tendencia metodológica en expansión en las ciencias sociales contemporáneas; sin embargo, continúan siendo poco conocidos y enseñados en el campo sociológico, de modo que constituyen una alternativa metodológica minoritaria entre los investigadores sociales. El propósito de este trabajo es introducir a los científicos sociales en las ideas centrales de los modelos basados en agentes a partir de su articulación con ciertos problemas teóricos y metodológicos cruciales de las ciencias sociales. La primera sección problematiza la relación entre los modelos basados en agentes y los sistemas complejos en una perspectiva epistemológica crítica. Posteriormente, se analizan los aportes de los mba a la investigación social, y en la tercera sección se evalúa críticamente su aplicación en el marco de una disciplina particular: la ciencia política. Finalmente, se desarrolla un ejemplo práctico de una simulación basada en agentes a partir del trabajo clásico de Thomas Schelling sobre segregación racial.Agent-based models (abm) constitute a new generation of computer based methods that allow the modeling of the structure of a complex system and simulation of its dynamic evolution over time. The use of abm constitutes a methodological tendency expanding in contemporary social sciences; however, these models remain quite unknown and not frequently taught in the field of sociology. They therefore represent a minor methodological alternative among social researchers. The purpose of this work is to introduce social scientists to the main ideas of the agent-based models as they are articulated with certain theoretical and methodological problems of the social sciences. The first section puts into question the relationship between agent-based models and complex systems in a critical epistemological perspective. Subsequently, the contributions of abm to social research are analyzed, and in the third section, their application in the framework of a specific discipline, political science, is assessed. Finally, a practical example of a simulation based on agents from the classic work of Thomas Schelling about racial segregation is developed

THE SOCIAL FROM THE ECONOMIC: THE EMERGENCE OF SOLIDARITY WITHIN NETWORKS OF ECONOMIC EXCHANGE

In this dissertation, we attempted to contribute to the discussion about the link between the economic and the social. More specifically, we addressed the debate on the consequences of economically-oriented interaction on social relations. Sociological studies have mostly focused on understanding the opposite direction, i.e., the effect of social relations on economic outcomes. Conversely, our work was motivated by the idea that the consequences of the economic on the social is crucial for social sciences and society in general. First, we reviewed the literature on solidarity and exchange relations in sociology and the behavioural sciences. The chapter aimed to elaborate a theoretical framework and working hypotheses for the following chapters. We proposed a definition of solidarity at the behavioural level and various empirical contributions have been examined. Next, we conducted an empirical study on the link between professional collaboration and social support relations. In this work, certain hypotheses were tested on a group of independent professionals sharing a \u2019coworking\u2019 space. Here, we found that solidarity can emerge as a by-product of economic exchange among strangers if they are allowed to select each other for collaboration and develop trust relations. The following chapter presents an extensive literature review of the use of Agent-Based Models (ABM) for sociological research. Given the key role of this methodology in this dissertation, the chapter aims to provide a comprehensive account of the contributions to sociology given by applications of ABM computer simulations. Moreover, a classification of these contributions is proposed according to the various methodological approaches to ABM in social research. The aim of the chapter is to review ABM as a possible means to overcome some limitations of the study presented before. Then, the final study applies computer simulation to analyze cohesion and integration of a social support network from economic exchange. In this chapter, an ABM of the mechanisms observed in the previous empirical study is presented. The model is used to simulate the effect of competition and resource distribution on social support networks. The aim of this work is to explore the effects of different environmental conditions and overcome the context-specific properties of empirical data. We argue that competition over most attractive collaborators can undermine the emergence of a cohesive social support network. Yet, this detrimental effect can be avoided if we assume that poor-resource actors are more eager to ask others for support, therefore generating a cohesive and more integrated social support network. Finally, we drew some conclusions in the last chapter

Escaping Satiation in an Evolutionary Model of Structural Economic Dynamics

This paper presents the problem of satiation in relation to a model of evolutionary endogenous growth. The model represents an attempt to provide an evolutionary economic micro foundation to Pasinetti's scheme of the structural economic dynamics of a labour economy. Like this scheme the model deals with an economic system with a varying number of sectors, each of which is producing a consumption good. The goods are produced within consumer-producer firms which organise both production and consumption for their workers. Through innovative activities firms increase their productivity with respect to individual goods. The long-run consequence of this is that labour becomes available for the production of new consumption goods. If such goods are not provided to a sufficient degree, "technological unemployment" will emerge. If there is slow productivity development in the production of new goods, the overall rate of growth will slow down irrespectively of productivity growth in old sectors. Thus, to enhance long-term growth there is a need of "anticipatory R&D", i.e. R&D which produces designs for novel consumption goods and increases productivity in the production of these goods.Evolutionary modelling, endogenous growth and development, structural economic dynamics, satiation of demand, Robinson Crusoe.

A theoretical and empirical comparison of the temporal exponential random graph model and the stochastic actor-oriented model

The temporal exponential random graph model (TERGM) and the stochastic actor-oriented model (SAOM, e.g., SIENA) are popular models for longitudinal network analysis. We compare these models theoretically, via simulation, and through a real-data example in order to assess their relative strengths and weaknesses. Though we do not aim to make a general claim about either being superior to the other across all specifications, we highlight several theoretical differences the analyst might consider and find that with some specifications, the two models behave very similarly, while each model out-predicts the other one the more the specific assumptions of the respective model are met

Practicing Safe Sects

In Practicing Safe Sects F. LeRon Shults provides scientific and philosophical resources for having “the talk” about religious reproduction: where do gods come from – and what are the costs of bearing them in our culturally pluralistic, ecologically fragile environment?; Readership: All interested in the promotion of peaceful and healthy societies, and anyone concerned with the role of religion in fostering superstition and segregation

Practicing Safe Sects

In Practicing Safe Sects F. LeRon Shults provides scientific and philosophical resources for having “the talk” about religious reproduction: where do gods come from – and what are the costs of bearing them in our culturally pluralistic, ecologically fragile environment?; Readership: All interested in the promotion of peaceful and healthy societies, and anyone concerned with the role of religion in fostering superstition and segregation

Evolution of Social Networks Among American Female Adolescents

This study delves into the evolution of social networks incorporating both elements of Rational Choice Theory and Feminist Theory inside a Social Network analysis. Simulated data was generated by modeling American female adolescents as an instantiation of a more general set of theoretical ideas about the formation of gendered relational patterns. This study uses the methodology of Computer Simulation to explore micro to macro mechanisms and account for how individual social actions aggregate to generate macro-level network structures. This research examines generative mechanisms and explores under what conditions some characteristics of gendered network structures emerge and are maintained through time. Three AVI files (movies of simulation demos) and a JAR (Java ARchive) of the JAVA code are also included