[SwarmFest2004] Presentation proposal - Swarmfest 2004

[Riccardo Boero]

Inferring Individual Behavior with GP: Agent-Based Models of Public 
Goods Provision.

Abstract

Agent Based Models are useful for the process of understanding dynamics 
and causal relations of complex social systems. That kind of modeling 
approach is based on the process of reducing real complexity to the 
model micro specification and of studying its outcomes via computer 
simulation. But to increase the scientific value of the research 
process, a deeper empirical foundation of the micro specification must 
be developed. In the paper, I report some results obtained searching for 
nano foundations of socio-economic ABMs, i.e. empirical foundations of 
the micro specification. In particular, an attempt to use data collected 
in classroom experiments is presented and a methodological procedure is 
evaluated. In fact, the paper focuses on an example based on some 
experiments about public goods provision, showing how some parts of the 
micro specification can be easily founded on reality (i.e. how the 
interaction and endowments structure can be made explicit as 
experimental ones) while individual behavior is problematic. In fact, a 
complicate procedure is needed to infer a behavioral strategy useful for 
modeling and scientific purposes. Thus, an inferring procedure using 
Genetic Programming is presented and, finally, some models are presented 
too with the aim of stressing how the proposed procedure helps building 
models to understand such kind of social and economic dilemmas.

Riccardo Boero

Dept. of Sociology
University of Surrey