University of Leuven (KU Leuven), Belgium, September 18-19, 2014
Since the publication of the ground-breaking volume edited by Francesco Billari and Alexia Fürnkranz-Prskawetz in 2003 (Agent-Based Computational Demography, Physica Verlag), an increasing number of scholars have been advocating the use of agent-based modelling (ABM) in population studies. The premise is that ABM offers a number of benefits for the field, such as (1) enhanced theory formation by better linking the micro-level with the macro-level, (2) the ability to represent populations more adequately as complex systems, and (3) providing laboratories in which rare events and the implications of alternative mechanisms can be studied.
The increasing number of ABM studies published in the main scholarly journals in population studies shows that the merits of the approach have received increasing recognition in the field. Yet, at the same time new debates and questions have arisen that still have to be resolved. Examples include things such as (1) how multi-actor networks can be integrated in demographic models, (2) the usefulness of ABM for forecasting, (3) how ABM can be injected with empirical data to achieve a better match between model and reality, (4) how geographic information can be fruitfully used in ABM, and (5) how ABM results can effectively and correctly be reported in a concise way.
The goal of this workshop is to see how we have proceeded in applications of ABM in population studies over the last decade and to discuss fruitful directions for the future. To this end, we invite conceptual and applied research addressing topics such as (but not limited to):
Conceptual
• The use of ABM for explanation and forecasting
• Injecting models with empirical population data
• The use of geographic information
• Combining ABM with micro- and macro-simulation
• Model verification and validation
• The representation of social networks
• Reporting of model details and results
Applied
• Mate selection and union formation
• Fertility
• Mortality
• Ageing society
• (International) Migration
We would like to keep the workshop small-scale in order to stimulate an informal and lively exchange of ideas, so we will limit the number of papers. We are aiming to publish accepted contributions in a peer reviewed volume or special journal issue. Participation will be free of charge, but participants need to cover their own travel and housing expenses. Potential participants are asked to send an
extended abstract (500 - 1000 words) or a full paper with a short abstract to
abm.workshop@soc.kuleuven.be before January 31, 2014. Notifications about paper acceptance will be send out before March 31, 2014.
Confirmed speakers are:
Alexia Fürnkranz-Prskawetz (Vienna Institute of Demography at the Austrian Academy of Sciences/Institute for Mathematical Methods in Economics at the Vienna University of Technology)
http://www.oeaw.ac.at/vid/staff/staff_alexia_fuernkranz.shtml
Francesco Billari (Department of Sociology at Nuffield College, University of Oxford)
http://www.sociology.ox.ac.uk/index.php/staff-profiles/francesco-billari.html
IMPORTANT DATES
Workshop: September 18-19, 2014
Deadline for submission: January 31, 2014
Authors’ notification: March 31, 2014
SUBMISSION
Extended abstract (500 - 1000 words) or (preferably) full paper with a short abstract to abm.workshop@soc.kuleuven.be
SCIENTIFIC ORGANIZATION
André Grow (Centre for Sociological Research, KU Leuven, Belgium)
Jan Van Bavel (Centre for Sociological Research, KU Leuven, Belgium)