It is argued that due to the complexity of most economic phenomena, the chances of deriving correct models from a priori principles are small. Instead are more descriptive approach to modelling should be pursued. Agent-based modelling is characterised as a step in this direction. However many...

Paper journals use a small number of trusted academics to select information on behalf of all their readers. This inflexibility in the selection was justified due to the expense of publishing. The advent of cheap distribution via the internet allows a new trade-off between time and expense and...

In this paper we propose a methodology to help analyse tendencies in MAS to complement those of simple inspection, Monte Carlo and syntactic proof. We suggest an architecture that allows an exhaustive model-based search of possible system trajectories in significant fragments of a MAS using...

Agents that act as information brokers in large distributed systems (such as the internet) lower the cost of obtaining information. Agents have direct access to only a small part of such systems at any one time. This paper investigates the conditions in which agents successfully go through other...

The use of context can considerably facilitate reasoning by restricting the beliefs reasoned upon to those relevant and providing extra information specific to the context. Despite the use and formalization of context being extensively studied both in AI and ML, context has not been much...

In many markets, customer preferences depend on the activity of the customer. The authors have previously demonstrated a model that allows the testing of the qualitative judgments of domain experts in spirits markets against relevant EPOS price and sales data. This paper extends the use of...

There is a certain style of paper which has become traditional in MAS - one where a formal logic is introduced to express some ideas, or where a logic is extended on the basis that it then covers certain particular cases, but where the logic is not actually used to make any substantial...

Genetic Programming is extended so that the solutions being evolved do so in the context of local domains within the total problem domain. This produces a situation where different "species" of solution develop to exploit different "niches" of the problem - indicating exploitable solutions. It...

The simulation of social behavior in a variety of domains is an increasingly important technological tool. A reference survey of social simulation work, This book comprehensively collects the most exciting developments in the field. Drawing research contributions from a vibrant community of...