An agent-based simulation of heterogeneous games and social systems in politics, fertility and economic development

Abstract

This paper studies both the macro and micro level, as well as the linkage between the two, to answer the question of how economic, political, and demographic factors impact a country’s development trajectory. Combining system dynamics, agent-based modeling, and evolutionary games in a complex adaptive system, I formalize a simulation framework of Politics of Fertility and Economic Development (POFED) to understand the relationship between those factors over time. I validate the original system dynamics model with updated data and measure, fuse the endogenous attributes with non-cooperative game theory in an agent-based framework, and simulate the heterogeneous interactions between individuals. This paper demonstrates the linkage between macro environment and micro behavior. Simulations of real world scenarios show network emergence under different environments. The results suggest policy implications for societies at different stages of development.