Agent-Based Computational Economics: A Constructive Approach to Economic Theory

This talk will explore the potential advantages and disadvantages of Agent-based Computational Economics (ACE) for the study of economic systems. General points will be concretely illustrated using an ACE model of a two-sector decentralized market economy and an ongoing ACE project on the testing of market designs for restructured wholesale power markets. Six issues will be highlighted: constructive understanding of production, pricing, and trade processes; the essential primacy of survival; strategic rivalry and market power; behavioral uncertainty and learning; the role of conventions and organizations; and the complex interactions among structural attributes, behaviors, and institutional arrangements