The Mission of CSED
Computational Modeling and Simulation
The Brookings Center on Social and Economic Dynamics (CSED) applies the study of complexity to economics and public policy, mainly through computational modeling and simulation. In a public policy setting complexity, or complex systems science, focuses on situations where responses to policy change are not likely to be uniform or predictable due in part to the feedback effects, time delays and nonlinearities. In these situations, complex systems science can have advantages over more traditional approaches for analysis of emergent economic and social phenomenon.
Agent-Based Modeling
Center Director Joshua M. Epstein is a pioneer of the agent-based computational modeling (ABM) methodology. ABM creates a realistic "artificial society," that can generate a robust statistical portrait of the fundamental issue of interest (e.g., spatial disease patterns, wealth distributions, retirement behavior, etc.). The data generated from the artificial society can then be directly compared to, and validated against, real-world data. Growing these macroscopic regularities in an artificial society not only provides important insight into the casual mechanisms of the phenomena of interest, but also creates a powerful and unique computational laboratory for public policy experimentation. The computational environment quickly and cost-effectively allows CSED researchers to design and test a wide range of policy interventions.
ABM Applied to Public Policy Research
To design effective policies in an increasingly complex, interdependent world, better understanding of causal mechanisms is needed—we must understand not just what factors play a role in a given phenomena, but how and why these factors matter. Increasingly, complex systems science is used to study economics and public policy, through computational modeling and simulation. The Center on Social and Economic Dynamics’ one-of-a-kind behaviorally realistic agent-based models represent an important and innovative approach to applied public policy research.
Additional Resources