Multi Agent Based Simulation Xxii

This book constitutes the thoroughly refereed post-conference proceedings of the 21st International Workshop on Multi-Agent-Based Simulation, MABS 2021, held in May 2021 as part of AAMAS 2021. The conference was held virtually due to COVID 19 pandemic. The 14 revised full papers included in this volume were carefully selected from 23 submissions. The workshop focused on finding efficient solutions to model complex social systems, in such areas as economics, management, organizational and social sciences in general. In all these areas, agent theories, metaphors, models, analysis, experimental designs, empirical studies, and methodological principles, all converge into simulation as a way of achieving explanations and predictions, exploration and testing of hypotheses, better designs and systems and providing decision-support in a wide range of applications.

This book constitutes the thoroughly refereed post-proceedings of the 6th International Workshop on Multi-Agent-Based Simulation, MABS 2005, held in Utrecht, The Netherlands in July 2005 as an associated event of AAMAS 2005, the main international conference on autonomous agents and multi-agent systems. The 12 revised full papers presented together with 1 invited talk were carefully reviewed. The papers are organized in topical sections on coalition emergence, theories and models, applications, and environments.

Fifteen papers were presented at the first workshop on Multi-Agent Systems and Agent-Based Simulation held as part of the Agents World conference in Paris, July 4-- 6, 1998. The workshop was designed to bring together two developing communities: the multi-agent systems researchers who were the core participants at Agents World, and social scientists interested in using MAS as a research tool. Most of the social sciences were represented, with contributions touching on sociology, management science, economics, psychology, environmental science, ecology, and linguistics. The workshop was organised in association with SimSoc, an informal group of social scientists who have arranged an irregular series of influential workshops on using simulation in the social sciences beginning in 1992. While the papers were quite heterogeneous in substantive domain and in their disciplinary origins, there were several themes which recurred during the workshop. One of these was considered in more depth in a round table discussion led by Jim Doran at the end of the workshop on 'Representing cognition for social simulation', which addressed the issue of whether and how cognition should be modelled. Quite divergent views were expressed, with some participants denying that individual cognition needed to be modelled at all, and others arguing that cognition must be at the centre of social simulation.

This book constitutes the thoroughly refereed post-conference proceedings of the 18th International Workshop on Multi-Agent-Based Simulation, MABS 2017, held in Sao Paulo, Brazil, in May 2017. The workshop was held in conjunction with the 16th International Conference on Autonomous Agents and Multi-Agent Systems, AAMAS 2017. The 15 revised full papers included in this volume were carefully selected from 23 submissions. The topic of the papers is about applying agent-based simulation techniques to real-world problems focusing on the confluence of socio-technical-natural sciences and multi-agent systems with a strong application/empirical vein.

This book constitutes the thoroughly refereed postproceedings of the 9th International Workshop on Multi-Agent-based Simulation, MABS 2008, held in Estoril, Portugal, in May 2008. The 16 revised full papers presented have gone through two rounds of reviewing, selection, and improvement and were selected from 44 submissions; they present state-of-the-art research results in agent-based simulation and modeling. The papers are organized in topical sections on simulation of economic behaviour; modelling and simulation of social behaviou; applications; techniques, infrastructure and technologies as well as methods and methodologies.

Although there are plenty of publications dealing with the theory of multi-agent systems and agent-based simulations, information about the practical development of such systems is scarce. The aim of this book is to fill this empty space and to provide knowledge about design and development of agent-based simulations in an easy and comprehensible way. The book begins with the fundamentals of multi-agent systems, agent principles and their interaction, and goes on to discuss the philosophy of agent-based programming. Agent-based models - like any other scientific method - have drawbacks and limitations, which are presented in the book as well. The main portion of the text is then devoted to a description of methodology and best practices for the design and development of agent-based simulation software. The methodology (called Agentology) guides the reader through the entire development process, from the formal definition of the problem, through conceptual modeling and the selection of the particular development platform, to the programming and debugging of the code itself and the final assessment of the model. The visual language as the means of representation of the conceptual model is included. The reader is also presented with a comparison of present multi-agent development environments and tools, which could be helpful for the selection of appropriate development instruments. Given that the theoretical foundation is presented in an accessible way and supported by many practical examples, figures, schemes and source codes, this publication is especially suitable as a textbook for introductory graduate-level courses on multi-agent systems and agent-based modeling. Besides appealing to students and the scientific community, the monograph can aid software architects and developers who are not familiar with agent principles, conveying valuable insights into this distinct computer paradigm.

This book constitutes the thoroughly refereed post-conference proceedings of the 13th International Workshop on Multi-Agent-Based Simulation, MABS 2012, held in Valencia, Spain, in June 2012. The 11 revised full papers presented were carefully selected from 35 submissions. The papers are organized in topical sections on modeling social interactions; cognition and agents behaviors; agents, games and finance; and methodologies and tools.

This book constitutes the thoroughly refereed post-conference proceedings of the 16th International Workshop on Multi-Agent-Based Simulation, MABS 2015, held in Istanbul, Turkey, in May 2015. The workshop was held in conjunction with the 14th International Conference on Autonomous Agents and Multi-agent Systems, AAMAS 2015. The 12 revised full papers included in this volume ware carefully selected from 22 submissions. The papers focus on the influence of social sciences and multi-agent systems, with a strong application/empirical vein, and its emphasis is stressed on exploratory agent based simulation as a principled way of undertaking scientific research in the social sciences and using social theories as an inspiration to new frameworks and developments in multi-agent systems.