Model Building and Description Using the Agent-Based Computational Economics Framework for Accounting

Agent-based computational economics (ACE) has been attracting attention in recent years. This method, however, is challenging because of the complexity of the model’s structure due to the coexistence of systems for decision-making and those involved in financial transactions. Further, ACE requires researchers to have skills in both the social sciences and information engineering. Therefore, programming for the resulting simulations requires a high skill level. This study developed an accounting-related framework extending bookkeeping notation and functionality; it improves the working efficiency of ACE research through accounting-related concepts that represent the relationships between financial entities in the model. Introducing accounting-related systems can enable the separation of decision-making systems from those involved in financial transactions. This improves effectiveness during the model design, programming, and simulation phases. Further, at the stage of results publication, this study enables describing a model that clearly expresses who performs what actions to whom and how the condition variables of each entity change without misinterpretation because of such actions. Based on a sample artificial macroeconomic model, this study presents a real-world example of modeling using accounting-related tables