This paper describes the use of an agent-based model (ABM) with the purpose of simulating interaction processes in business networks. Such an ABM must be able to capture time and process in networks while retaining a level of comprehension and overview. The ABM rests on the assumption that...

In this paper we are presenting a simple simulation of the Internet World-Wide Web, where one observes the appearance of web pages belonging to different web sites, covering a number of different thematic topics and possessing links to other web pages. The goal of our simulation is to reproduce...

A package of Lisp functions is described which implements a simple multi-level simulation toolkit, MLS. Its design owes a great deal to MIMOSE. MLS runs within Lisp-Stat. It offers a set of functions, macros and objects designed to make the specification of multi-level models straightforward and...

In this paper we study the emergence and the effects of a possession norm in an artificial society. We link the study of norms and the concept of memes as put forward by Richard Dawkins. Normative behaviour is modelled using memes as carriers for certain behaviours. For our simulations we extend...

Understanding the dynamics of attitude formation is a key issue in social psychology. The paper presents a computational model for simulating the formation and change of attitudes and the influence of the strength of attitudes on behavior. The main conceptual challenge was to capture not only...

the purpose of this paper is to present leadership as an important mechanism underlying the coordination and the cohesion of communities of practice. More precisely, it will be shown that an important factor conditioning the coordination and the cohesion of a community rests on the leaders’...

This special issue of Advances in Complex Systems presents a collection of selected papers of the 4th Conference of the European Social Simulation Association held in Tolulouse, France on 10–14 September 2007.

The paper provides an introduction to agent-based modelling and simulation of social processes. Reader is introduced to the worldview underlying agent-based models, some basic terminology, basic properties of agent-based models, as well as to what one can and what cannot expect from such models,...

This article suggests to view peer review as a social interaction problem and shows reasons for social simulators to investigate it. Although essential for science, peer review is largely understudied and current attempts to reform it are not supported by scientific evidence. We suggest that...

We lay open a position concerning the difference between scientific processes and processes in science. Not all processes in science are scientific. This leads into the center of social simulation. More scientific theories should be incorporated in social simulations, and this should lead to...