Agent-based Computational Demography
Using Simulation to Improve Our Understanding of Demographic Behaviour

Agent-Based Computational Demography (ABCD) aims at starting a new stream of research among social scientists whose interests lie in understanding demographic behaviour. The book takes a micro-demographic (agent-based) perspective and illustrates the potentialities of computer simulation as an aid in theory building. The chapters of the book, written by leading experts either in demography or in agent-based modelling, address several key questions. Why do we need agent-based computational demography? How can ABCD be applied to the study of migrations, family demography, and historical demography? What are the peculiarities of agent-based models as applied to the demography of human populations? ABCD is of interest to all scientists interested in studying demographic behaviour, as well as to computer scientists and modellers who are looking for a promising field of application.

F.C. Billari et al.: Introduction.- T.K. Burch: Data, Models, Theory and Reality: The Structure of Demographic Knowledge.- E. Chattoe: The Role of Agent-Based Modelling in Demographic Explanation.- W. Jager, M.A. Janssen: Diffusion Processes in Demographic Transitions: A Prospect on Using Multi Agent Simulation to Explore the Role of Cognitive Strategies and Social Interactions.- F. Heiland: The Collapse of the Berlin Wall - Simulating State-Level East to West German Migration Patterns.- I. Benenson et al.: Agent-Based Modeling of Householders' Migration Behavior and Its Consequences.- P.M. Todd, F.C. Billari: Population-Wide Marriage Patterns Produced by Individual Mate-Search Heuristics.- F.C. Billari et al.: On the Cultural Evolution of Age-at-Marriage Norms.- M. Murphy: Bringing Behavior Back into Micro-Simulation: Feedback Mechanisms in Demographic Models.- U.C. Ewert et al.: Consequences of Mortality Crises in Pre-Modern European Towns.- A. Konig et al.: Agents, Hierarchies and Sustainability.