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Examining social processes with agent-based models

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Abstract

It is plain that the Austrian revival that began in the 1970s has yet to succeed in convincing the mainstream of the academy to jettison their physics-based mathematical models in favor of the sort of models and forms of argumentation that contemporary Austrians advocate. Agent-based computational modeling is still in its relative infancy but is beginning to gain recognition among economists disenchanted with the neoclassical paradigm. The purpose of this paper is to assuage concerns that readers might have regarding methodological consistency between agent-based modeling and Austrian economics and to advocate its adoption as a means to convey Austrian ideas to a wider audience. I examine models developed and published by other researchers and ultimately provide an outline of how one might develop a research agenda that leverages this technique. I argue that agent-based modeling can be used to enhance Austrian theorizing and offers a viable alternative to the neoclassical paradigm.

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Acknowledgments

I would like to thank Richard Wagner, Charles Rowley, Robert Axtell, Virgil Storr, David Prychitko, Steven Horwitz, as well as the participants at the 2009 SDAE conference for helpful comments and insights on earlier versions of this paper. I thank two anonymous referees for their thoughtful comments, as well. Any errors remain mine alone. The views expressed herein are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of the Department of Defense.

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  1. Operations Research Department, Naval Postgraduate School, 1411 Cunningham Road, Monterey, CA, 93943, USA

    Chad W. Seagren

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  1. Chad W. Seagren
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Correspondence to Chad W. Seagren.

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Seagren, C.W. Examining social processes with agent-based models. Rev Austrian Econ 24, 1–17 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11138-010-0128-y

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