Destabilising conventions using temporary interventions

Conventions are an important concept in multi-agent systems as they allow increased coordination amongst agents and hence a more efficient system. Encouraging and directing convention emergence has been the focus of much research, particularly through the use of fixed strategy agents. In this paper we apply temporary interventions using fixed strategy agents to destabilise an established convention by (i) replacing it with another convention of our choosing, and (ii) allowing it to destabilise in such a way that no other convention explicitly replaces it. We show that these interventions are effective and investigate the minimum level of intervention needed

Convention emergence in partially observable topologies

In multi-agent systems it is often desirable for agents to adhere to standards of behaviour that minimise clashes and wasting of (limited) resources. In situations where it is not possible or desirable to dictate these standards globally or via centralised control, convention emergence offers a lightweight and rapid alternative. Placing fixed strategy agents within a population has been shown to facilitate faster convention emergence with some degree of control. Placing these fixed strategy agents at topologically influential locations (such as high-degree nodes) increases their effectiveness. However, finding such influential locations often assumes that the whole network is visible or that it is feasible to inspect the whole network in a computationally practical time, a fact not guaranteed in many real-world scenarios. We present an algorithm, PO-Place, that finds influential nodes given a finite number of network observations. We show that PO-Place finds sets of nodes with similar reach and influence to the set of high-degree nodes and we then compare the performance of PO-Place to degree placement for convention emergence in several real-world topologies

Supporting cooperation and coordination in open multi-agent systems

Cooperation and coordination between agents are fundamental processes for increasing aggregate and individual benefit in open Multi-Agent Systems (MAS). The increased ubiquity, size, and complexity of open MAS in the modern world has prompted significant research interest in the mechanisms that underlie cooperative and coordinated behaviour. In open MAS, in which agents join and leave freely, we can assume the following properties: (i) there are no centralised authorities, (ii) agent authority is uniform, (iii) agents may be heterogeneously owned and designed, and may consequently have con icting intentions and inconsistent capabilities, and (iv) agents are constrained in interactions by a complex connecting network topology. Developing mechanisms to support cooperative and coordinated behaviour that remain effective under these assumptions remains an open research problem. Two of the major mechanisms by which cooperative and coordinated behaviour can be achieved are (i) trust and reputation, and (ii) norms and conventions. Trust and reputation, which support cooperative and coordinated behaviour through notions of reciprocity, are effective in protecting agents from malicious or selfish individuals, but their capabilities can be affected by a lack of information about potential partners and the impact of the underlying network structure. Regarding conventions and norms, there are still a wide variety of open research problems, including: (i) manipulating which convention or norm a population adopts, (ii) how to exploit knowledge of the underlying network structure to improve mechanism efficacy, and (iii) how conventions might be manipulated in the middle and latter stages of their lifecycle, when they have become established and stable. In this thesis, we address these issues and propose a number of techniques and theoretical advancements that help ensure the robustness and efficiency of these mechanisms in the context of open MAS, and demonstrate new techniques for manipulating convention emergence in large, distributed populations. Specfically, we (i) show that gossiping of reputation information can mitigate the detrimental effects of incomplete information on trust and reputation and reduce the impact of network structure, (ii) propose a new model of conventions that accounts for limitations in existing theories, (iii) show how to manipulate convention emergence using small groups of agents inserted by interested parties, (iv) demonstrate how to learn which locations in a network have the greatest capacity to in uence which convention a population adopts, and (v) show how conventions can be manipulated in the middle and latter stages of the convention lifecycle

Limited observations and local information in convention emergence

In multi-agent systems it is often desirable for agents to adhere to standards of behaviour that minimise clashes and wasting of (limited) resources. In situations where it is not possible or desirable to dictate these standards globally or via centralised control, convention emergence offers a lightweight and rapid alternative. Placing fixed strategy agents within a population has been shown to facilitate faster convention emergence with some degree of control. Placing these fixed strategy agents at topologically influential locations (such as high-degree nodes) increases their effectiveness. However, finding such influential locations often assumes that the whole network is visible or that it is feasible to inspect the whole network in a computationally practical time, a fact not guaranteed in many real-world scenarios. We present an algorithm, PO-Place, that finds influential nodes given a finite number of network observations. We show that PO-Place finds sets of nodes with similar reach and influence to the set of high-degree nodes and we then compare the performance of PO-Place to degree placement for convention emergence in several real-world topologies

Cognitive Capitalism as a Financial Economy of Production

The structural changes that occurred in the last 30 years have substantially modified the capitalistic organization of society, both at national and international level. In order to understand the evolution of social and economic systems it is necessary to focus on the relations of production, that is on those social relationships that explain the valorisation process. Since the economic crisis of the 1970's until the late 1990's the structure of production in the developed countries has been characterised by the development of highly flexible forms of production. The organizational revolution that occurred within production activity has been achieved through introducing new information technologies and restructuring of production within increasingly wider territories. A new regime of accumulation devoid of a stable mode of regulation and centred on financial valorisation of new socio-economic growth perspectives has been consolidating. Conditions imposed by financial markets in order to create the shareholder's value consisted of promoting downsizing, reengineering, outsourcing and Merger & Acquisitions processes. The flexibilization of labour force and precarization of existence has thus been the result of the established valorization norm. But why should the corporate restructuring sustain the enterprise value by creating income stock ? In order to answer this question it is necessary to analyse the importance of knowledge in the production process. For this purpose, we shall use some categories of the so called French Regulation School. The definition of a new regime of accumulation involves a research on the criteria of valorisation and the prevailing technological paradigm. The main changes of new capitalism concern mainly two spheres: the role played by knowledge in the new technological paradigm and valorisation process and the importance of finance. The dominant technological paradigm and the role played by knowledge within it are not enough to explain the evolution of the accumulation regime. It is needed to introduce further elements necessary to explain the expectations that sustain the investment choices made by capitalists; these are the conventions or collective beliefs. Then, after describing the main features of the accumulation paradigm that many scholars have named as Cognitive Capitalism , we shall attempt to provide a theoretical framework of it intended as a financial economy of production. We shall therefore proceed to the reformulation of the schemes of monetary circuit.Cognitive Capitalism; French Regulation School; Monetary Circuit; Knowledge; Crisis; Financial Convention.

COIN@AAMAS2015

COIN@AAMAS2015 is the nineteenth edition of the series and the fourteen papers included in these proceedings demonstrate the vitality of the community and will provide the grounds for a solid workshop program and what we expect will be a most enjoyable and enriching debate.Peer reviewe

Cognitive Capitalism as a Financial Economy of Production

The structural changes that occurred in the last 30 years have substantially modified the capitalistic organization of society, both at national and international level. A new regime of accumulation devoid of a stable mode of regulation and centred on financial valorisation of new socio-economic growth perspectives has been consolidating. Conditions imposed by financial markets in order to create the shareholder's value consisted of promoting downsizing, reengineering, outsourcing and M&A processes. The flexibilization of labour force and precarization of existence has thus been the result of the established valorization norm. But why should the corporate restructuring sustain the enterprise value by creating income stock ? The definition of a new regime of accumulation involves a research on the criteria of valorisation and the prevailing technological paradigm. The main changes of new capitalism concern mainly two spheres: the role played by knowledge in the new technological paradigm and valorisation process and the importance of finance. The dominant technological paradigm and the role played by knowledge within it are not enough to explain the evolution of the accumulation regime. It is needed to introduce further elements necessary to explain the expectations that sustain the investment choices made by capitalists; these are the conventions or collective beliefs. Then, after describing the main features of the accumulation paradigm that many scholars have not hesitated to name as Cognitive Capitalism , we shall attempt to provide a theoretical framework of it intended as a financial economy of production. We shall therefore proceed to the reformulation of the schemes of monetary circuit (Graziani 2003).

Herding effects in order driven markets: The rise and fall of gurus

We introduce an order driver market model with heterogeneous traders that imitate each other on a dynamic network structure. The communication structure evolves endogenously via a fitness mechanism based on agents performance. We assess under which assumptions imitation, among otherway noise traders, can give rise to the emergence of gurus and their rise and fall in popularity over time. We study the wealth distribution of gurus, followers and non followers and show that traders have an incentive to imitate and to be imitated since herding turns out to be profitable

A Global Alliance Against Forced Labour: Report I (B)

Explains how the concept of forced labor is defined in international law and discusses some parameters for identifying contemporary forced labor situations in practice. Provides the first minimum global estimate of the numbers of people in forced labor by an international organization, broken down by geographical region and by form of forced labor. Gives a global picture of contemporary patterns of forced labor, and of action to eradicate it. Reviews the ILO’s assistance to member States for the eradication of forced labor, in view of the creation of a Special Action Programme to Combat Forced Labour. Lastly, it makes recommendations for future action