News Items for
Agent-Based Computational Economics (ACE)
February 2002

Prepared by:

Leigh Tesfatsion

Department of Economics

Iowa State University

Ames, Iowa 50011-1070

http://www.econ.iastate.edu/tesfatsi/

tesfatsi@iastate.edu

ACE Web Site Home Page:

http://www.econ.iastate.edu/tesfatsi/ace.htm

Appended below are news items that might be of interest to researchers interested in agent-based computational economics (ACE), the computational study of economies modelled as evolving systems of autonomous interacting agents.

ACE news items are posted at the ACE website in batched html-document form about once every two months during the regular academic year (September--May). Whenever a new posting is made, a brief announcement giving a pointer to this posting is emailed to all participants in a moderated announcements-only Majordomo ACE news list. If you would like to subscribe to (unsubscribe from) this announcements-only ACE news list, please send an email message to majordomo@iastate.edu with the following message in the email body:

subscribe (unsubscribe) acenewslist youremailaddress

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Thank you.

• General Announcements
• Journal Announcements
• Book Announcements
• Software
• Research Groups and Sites
• Miscellaneous News Items

General Announcements

• ACE Undergraduate Course
  I am currently offering an experimental undergraduate course on agent-based computational economics at Iowa State University. In response to the large number of hits the course website is receiving, I am making a concerted effort to provide links on the course syllabus to as many course materials as possible to facilitate long-distance self-study. If interested, you can access the course homepage at http://www.econ.iastate.edu/classes/econ308x/tesfatsion/

Journal Announcements

Note: Pointers to the journals listed below can be found on the journal and publisher information page linked to the ACE website home page.

• Journal of Artificial Societies and Social Simulation
  The first issue of Volume 5 of the Journal of Artificial Societies and Social Simulation (JASSS) was published on January 31st. This issue has four refereed articles, three contributions to the Forum section, and six book reviews. JASSS is an electronic refereed journal devoted to the exploration and understanding of social processes by means of computer simulation. It is freely available, with no subscription, at http://www.soc.surrey.ac.uk/JASSS/

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  Evolutionary Modeling and Economic Dynamics

  The Electronic Journal of Evolutionary Modeling and Economic Dynamics (e-JEMED), edited by Murat Yildizoglu (Universite Montesquieu Bordeaux IV, Pessac, France) seeks to foster the communication of ideas in the area of evolutionary modeling. The journal uses a double-blind refereeing process for all submissions, and promises an evaluation in ten weeks from date of submission. Authors of e-JEMED articles are permitted to publish their articles in a paper-based journal as well. The first issue of e-JEMED appeared in January 2002. For more information, visit http://www.e-jemed.org/

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  Mind and Society

  The biannual refereed journal Mind and Society, founded in 2000 by the Rosselli Foundation, publishes cognitive and epistemological studies that seek to explain social phenomena through individual action, decision-making, and reasoning processes. The journal welcomes interdisciplinary research. For more information, visit http://www.fondazionerosselli.it/mindsoc/index.htm

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  User Modeling and User-Adapted Interaction

  The Kluwer journal User Modeling and User-Adapted Interaction (UMUAI) provides an interdisciplinary forum for the dissemination of new research results on interactive computer systems that can be adapted to, or adapt themselves to, their current users, and on the usage of user models for adaptation purposes. The intended audience for the journal consists of researchers, students, and industrial practitioners from the following areas: human-computer interaction; artificial intelligence; computer-based tutoring systems; linguistics; and the information sciences. For more information, visit http://umuai.informatik.uni-essen.de/scope.html

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  Decision Support Systems

  The Elsevier journal, Decision Support Systems (DSS), publishes contributions on the concepts and operational basis for DSSs, techniques for implementing and evaluating DSSs, DSS experiences, and related studies. In treating DSS topics, manuscripts may draw upon such diverse areas as artificial intelligence, cognitive science, computer supported cooperative work, database management, decision theory, economics, linguistics, management science, mathematical modeling, operations management psychology, and user interface management systems. For more information, visit http://www.elsevier.com/locate/dsw

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  Special Issue on Computational Multi-Agent Coordination Mechanisms

  The International Journal of Group Decision and Negotiation (IJGDN) is planning to publish a special issue on "Theory and Practice of Computational Coordination Mechanisms in Multi-Agent Systems." The emphasis will be on economically motivated mechanisms for solving conflicts in distributed group decision making situations involving autonomous and individually motivated agents. The guest editors are Peyman Faratin (MIT) and Nick Jennings (Southampton University). For more information, visit http://ccs.mit.edu/peyman/dgn02.html

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  Special Issue on Dynamic Microsimulation

  The Brazilian Electronic Journal of Economics (BEJE) has published a special issue (Vol.4, number 2) on Dynamic Microsimulation guest-edited by Cathal O'Donoghue. The journal can be freely acessed at its web address: http://www.beje.decon.ufpe.br/v4n2/v4n2.htm

Book Announcements

Note: The following book announcements have been incorporated into the annotated syllabus of ACE-related readings linked to the ACE website home page. Links to publishers (for ordering purposes) can be found on the journal and publisher information page linked to the ACE website home page.

• John Maynard Smith and Eors Szathmary, The Major Transitions in Evolution, Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK, 1997. ISBN: 0-198-50294-X (Paperback, REPRINT EDITION).
  From the publisher: "This ambitious book provides the first unified discussion of the full range of evolutionary transitions. Engagingly written and filled with numerous illustrations, this book can be read with enjoyment by anyone with an undergraduate training in biology. It includes accessible discussions of a wide range of topics, from molecular biology and linguistics to insect societies."

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  Robert Aunger (ed.), Darwinizing Culture: The Status of Memetics as as a Science, Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK, 256 pp., March 2001. ISBN: 0-192-63244-2.

  From an Amazon.Com review by Howard E. Aldrich: "Unlike most edited volumes based on conferences, which typically read like random collections of papers glued between two covers, Aunger's edited volume displays a remarkable coherence. Against all odds, he enticed a highly diverse group of academics to Cambridge who then constructively debated the status of memetics as a science. ... Aungur provides excellent introductory and concluding chapters, which constitute valuable contributions in themselves. Chapter 1 beautifully lays out the issues and provides a constructive guide to the issues over which the contributers struggled. Chapter 11 concludes the book with an assessment of the contributors' arguments and a frank admission of his own skepticism. I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in the concept of memes, cultural and social evolution, and the cultural divide between the natural and social sciences."

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  Steve Grand, Creation: Life and How to Make It, Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA, 230 pp., October 2001. ISBN: 0-647-00654-2.

  From Publishers Weekly: "Blending aspects of philosophy, computer science, artificial intelligence, biology, and computer gaming, Grand attempts to define life, discuss the nature of the human soul, and demonstrate how it is possible to create entities that demand to be called both living and intelligent. ... He argues persuasively that life, both real and artificial, is an emergent property, arising inevitably from the interactions of its component parts and, as such, is something much greater than and qualitatively different from the sum of its parts. This view leads Grand to assert that most scientists working in the field of artificial intelligence are taking the wrong tack when they attempt to program intelligence into machines."

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  H. Randy Gimblett (ed.), Integrating Geographic Information Systems and Agent-Based Modeling Techniques for Simulating Social and Ecological Processes, Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK, 344 pp., Spring 2002. ISBN: 0-195-14336-1.

  From the publisher: "For those addressing ecological and natural resource management problems, this volume presents a set of coherent, cross-referenced perspectives on incorporating the spatial representation and analytical power of (geographic information systems) with agent-based modeling of evolutionary and non-linear processes and phenomena. Many recent advances in software algorithms for incorporating geographic data in modeling social and ecological behaviors and also the success in applying such algorithms have not been adequately represented in the present literature. This book fills that gap and provides much needed information on applications for the research community as well as those in the management of natural resources."

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  Paul P. Wang (ed.), Computing with Words, John Wiley and Sons, Inc., New York, 748 pp., April 2001. ISBN: 0-471-35374-4.

  From the publisher: "Researchers have dubbed the twenty-first century the `century of semantics,' and this timely volume is a response to the need and demand for a book on the evolving topic of computing with words. The chapters are written by leading reseachers within the fuzzy research community and provide a complete overview of theory, current technology, and potential applications. A larger view of semiotics and intelligence systems as they relate to computing with words is also presented. ... Researchers in fuzzy logic, information science, and linguistic computation will find (this book) an essential source on information."

  Paul P. Wang is Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the Pratt School of Engineering, Duke University, Durham, NC.

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  Bruce Eckel, Thinking in Java, Prentice Hall, NY, 1128 pp., June 2000. ISBN: 0-130-27363-5.

  From an Amazon.Com review by Richard Dragan: "Perfect for migrating to Java from a fellow object-oriented language (such as C++), the second edition of (this book) continues the earlier version's thoughtful approach to learning Java inside and out, while also bringing it up to speed with some of the latest Java 2.0 features. This massive tutorial covers many of the nooks and crannies of the language, which is of great value in the programming world."
  

  An electronic version of this book can be accessed free of charge at http://www.mindview.net/Books/TIJ/

Software

Note: Pointers to the following materials have been incorporated into the software page linked to the ACE website home page.

• Z-Tree
  Z-Tree (Zurich Toolbox for Readymade Economic Experiments), developed at the Institute for Empirical Research in Economics at the University of Zurich, Switzerland, is a user-friendly software package that permits users with little programming knowledge to develop and carry out economic experiments. The software permits communication between computers, data saving, time display, profit calculations, and tools for screen layout. It can be used for a wide range of experiments, including public good experiments, structured bargaining experiments, and market experiments (e.g., double auctions and Dutch auctions). Z-Tree can be licensed and downloaded free of charge, along with a manual, and interested parties can join a users' mailing list. For more information, visit http://www.iew.unizh.ch/ztree/index.php

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  ZEUS

  The ZEUS toolkit, developed by British Telecommunications (BT), provides a library of software components and tools that facilitate the rapid design, development, and deployment of agent systems. The three main functional components of the ZEUS toolkit are an agent component library, agent building tools, and visualization tools. For more information, visit http://www.labs.bt.com/projects/agents.htm

Research Groups and Sites

Note: Pointers to the following research groups and sites have been incorporated into the ACE-related research groups and sites page linked to the ACE website home page.

• Schelling City Segregation Model
  Denis Phan (ENST Bretagne) maintains an interactive site (in French) on the famous Schelling city segregation model. Basic information about the Schelling model is provided, together with references. Visitors can run a graphically depicted version of the Schelling model under a variety of user-specified parameter settings. The site can be accessed at http://www-eco.enst-bretagne.fr/~phan/complexe/schelling.html

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  Computer Lab Games

  A group of researchers at Carnegie Mellon maintains a ComLabGames site providing a variety of software permitting instructors and students to design, run, and analyze the outcomes of games played over the Internet. Three types of game modules are offered: strategic form games; extensive form games; and market games. The ComLabGames site can be accessed at http://www.cmu.edu/comlabgames/

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  Museum of Paleontology

  The Museum of Paleontology at the University of California at Berkeley maintains an on-line "Evolution Wing" that permits visitors to explore exhibits and other resources related to the theory of evolution and the history of evolutionary thought. The site can be accessed at http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/history/evolution.html

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  Zooland

  This extensive resource depository on artificial life has moved from its original site to a new specially designated site at http://www.a-life.com/zooland/

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  On-Line Artificial Life Book

  Prof. Dr. R. Pfeifer and Hanspeter Kunz (Institut fur Informatik, Uni Irchel) have written a comprehensive illustrated monograph titled Artificial Life that is particularly suitable for teaching purposes. Coverage includes pattern formation, distributed intelligence, agent-based simulations, and artificial evolution. All seven chapters of this book (in pdf format) can be downloaded free of charge at the following site: http://www.ifi.unizh.ch/groups/ailab/teaching/AL00.html

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  Emergence

  Mitchel Resnick and Brian Silverman (Epistemology and Learning Group, MIT Media Laboratory) maintain an "active essay" that explores the idea of emergence of global regularities arising from simple interactions. Visitors with a Java-enabled browser can activate animations that illustrate the concepts under discussion. The site can be accessed at http://el.www.media.mit.edu/groups/el/projects/emergence/

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  Edge

  Edge Foundation, Inc., was established in 1988 as an outgrowth of a group known as the Reality Club. The mandate of the Edge Foundation is to promote inquiry into, and discussion of, intellectual, philosophical, artistic, and literary issues, as well as to work for the intellectual and social achievement of society. The Edge World Question Center contains contributions from a variety of researchers whose work relates to complex systems and evolutionary modeling, such as Jared Diamond, J. Doyne Farmer, W. Daniel Hillis, Steven Pinker, Richard Dawkins, Rodney Brooks, Stephen Grossberg, Andy Clark, Freeman Dyson, Daniel Dennett, Stuart Kauffman, and Kevin Kelly, among many others. The site can be accessed at http://www.edge.org/

Miscellaneous News Items

Note: The following announcements have been incorporated into the Miscellaneous site linked to the ACE website home page.

• Forthcoming Events on Artificial Intelligence
  An extensive list of announcements for past, current, and future events focusing on artificial life and related fields, with a searchable database, can be accessed at http://www.drc.ntu.edu.sg/users/mgeorg/conferences.epl

Reminder: Items Requested for ACE News Notes and Complexity