Agent based modeling for agricultural policy evaluation: A review

In Agent-based computational economics economy is considered a complex system where the interactions between the economic agents are of ultimate importance. Simulating the economic system by modeling the behavior of the individual encompasses many advantages and certain epistemological issues are raised. In the analysis of Agricultural Policy, the agent based modeling (ABM) approach has been employed for studying Land Use Changes (LUCC), the dynamics of structural changes, the transmission of innovations, the simulation of water use management and for environmental modeling. This approach can help overcoming various simplifying assumptions of the traditional models (like the “homogenous agent” assumption) or the difficulty in modeling interactions. In this paper we initially do a short presentation of the principles of modeling economic systems with the ABM approach quoting its features, the advantages and disadvantages. Afterwards we make a discussion on the application of the ABM for modeling and evaluating agricultural policies and present four current application (Agripolis, Reg-MAS, MP-MAS, SWISSland). We finish this paper with some conclusions and suggestions.