Economic Systems

Sandia National Laboratories continues at the forefront of agent-based computational economics. This method discovers novel aggregate economic behavior by simulating the decisions and transactions of interacting microeconomic actors. Simulations can incorporate analytical and empirical results from conventional economic approaches, as well as evolutionary learning techniques whereby agents can adapt their behavior according to changing conditions and past experience. With high-resolution detail, agent models can simulate finance, employment, migration, infrastructure, inter-industry, ecosystem, and conflict dynamics. Current efforts estimate the response and convergence of interdependent market sectors under conditions of stress and disequilibrium, as might result from terrorist attacks. Objectives focus on identifying those policies and mechanisms that will mitigate the impacts or make the economy resilient to such events. Sandia also uses agent-based models to determine the impact of continuous and abrupt climate change on interacting US and international economies. Ongoing multi-scaling, validation, and uncertainty-quantification efforts will allow the self-consistent parameterization of both agent and macro models for comprehensive assessments.  Contact: George Backus, 505-284-5787; gabacku@sandia.gov