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The unfair consequences of equal opportunities: Comparing exchange models of wealth distribution

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Abstract.

Simple agent based exchange models are a commonplace in the study of wealth distribution of artificial societies. Generally, each agent is characterized by its wealth and by a risk-aversion factor, and random exchanges between agents allow for a redistribution of the wealth. However, the detailed influence of the amount of capital exchanged has not been fully analyzed yet. Here we present a comparison of two exchange rules and also a systematic study of the time evolution of the wealth distribution, its functional dependence, the Gini coefficient and time correlation functions. In many cases a stable state is attained, but, interesting, some particular cases are found in which a very slow dynamics develops. Finally, we observe that the time evolution and the final wealth distribution are strongly dependent on the exchange rules in a nontrivial way.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Instituto de Física, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Caixa Postal 15051, 91501-970, Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil

    G. M. Caon, S. Gonçalves & J. R. Iglesias

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  1. G. M. Caon
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  2. S. Gonçalves
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  3. J. R. Iglesias
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Caon, G., Gonçalves, S. & Iglesias, J. The unfair consequences of equal opportunities: Comparing exchange models of wealth distribution. Eur. Phys. J. Spec. Top. 143, 69–74 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1140/epjst/e2007-00072-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1140/epjst/e2007-00072-4

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