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03 December, 2013

CPM Report 09-201: Relating Financial characterisation of Microfinance Groups to Conventional Social Behaviour

CPM Report No.: 09-201
By: Pablo Lucas
Lucas, Pablo; Relating Financial characterisation of Microfinance Groups and their Conventional Social Behaviour. Second CFPM - ETH EMIL fieldwork report, Manchester, England, March 2009. (Segundo Reporte, Autonomous University of Mexico, PROIMMSE).
Date: March 16th 2009


This second report synthesises results from studying the effects of social conventions
within the internal organisation and evolution of micro-finance groups, also known as
solidarity groups, at a microfinance institution (MFI) in southern Mexico. According
to our publishing agreement, their precise identity and location is omitted. The next
section contains interpretations of all collected data and graphs, drawing on answers
from the second questionnaire to credit advisors and five financial databases. I thank
the MFI director, their team, economist Federico Morales, anthropologist Ignacio García
and Chris Catlin, along with CFPM and Swiss Federal Institute of Technology for the
support provided for this research.

Available at:  http://cfpm.org/cpmrep201.html

CfP: 15th International Workshop On Multi-Agent-Based Simulation (MABS 2014), Paris

15th International Workshop On Multi-Agent-Based Simulation (MABS 2014), Paris (France), 5-6th May, 2014

http://www.uv.es/grimo/mabs2014       
e-mail: mabs2014@easychair.org


SCOPE

The meeting of researchers from MAS engineering and the social/economic/organizational sciences is extensively recognized for its role in cross-fertilization, and it has undoubtedly been an important source of inspiration for the body of knowledge that has been produced in the MAS area.

The MABS workshop series continues with its goal to bring together researchers interested in MAS engineering, with researchers focused on finding efficient solutions to model complex social systems, in such areas as economics, management, organizational and social sciences in general. In all these areas, agent theories, metaphors, models, analysis, experimental designs, empirical studies, and methodological principles, all converge into simulation as a way of achieving explanations and predictions, exploration and testing of hypotheses, better designs and systems.

This year, in addition to our usual range of topics for discussion, we would like to include a session focussing particularly on issues related to the use of Big Data in MABS. Researchers who are looking at any aspect of using Big Data to build MABS, MABS to improve understanding of Big Data, or related topics are strongly encouraged to make a submission.

TOPICS

The range of technical issues that MABS deals with is diverse and extensive and it includes:

    Simulation methodologies:
        Standards for MABS.
        Methodologies and simulation languages for MABS.
        Simulation platforms and tools for MABS.
        Visualization and analytic tools.
        Approaches for large-scale simulations.
        Scalability and robustness in MABS.
        Simulation modelling of multidirectional dynamics in complex social systems.
        Provenance and ontology driven approaches in building simulations.
    Simulation of social and economic behaviour:
        Formal and agent models of social behaviour.
        Cognitive modelling and social simulation.
        Game theory and simulation.
        Social structure: social networks and simulating organizations.
        Simulating social complexity (e.g. structures and norms, social order, emergence of cooperation and coordinated action, self-organization, the micro-macro link).
        Use of qualitative evidence to inform behavioural rules.
    Applications:
        MABS in environmental modelling.
        Agent-based experimental economics.
        Participative simulation.
        MABS and games.
    Big Data and Multi-Agent-Based Simulation:
        Data driven simulations.
        Real time data processing.
        Design and analysis of simulation experiments including uncertainty analysis.
        Handling Big Data in MABS including sense making.


SUBMISSION

Review process
MABS welcomes the submission of full papers with preference to the topics listed in the call for papers. All submissions will go through a peer review process, with two or three independent PC members reviewing each submission. Only those deemed to be 1) relevant to the workshop's aims, 2) presenting original work, and 3) of good quality and clarity will be accepted. Following the workshop, participants will be required to revise their papers, taking into account feedback received at the workshop, and then undergo a second review process before publication in the post-proceedings.

Submitting papers
All submissions should be no longer than 12 pages, in PDF format. Authors are required to use Springer LNCS format for proceedings. Eletronic submission will be managed online through the EasyChair system. To register your paper (deadline January 20th, 2014) you need to provide basic information about the submission including its title, abstract, keywords and author(s). You do not need to upload the full PDF for the purpose of paper registration, but the papers full PDF must be uploaded before the paper submission deadline (January 22nd, 2014).

Publication
All accepted papers will be included in the AAMAS 2014 Workshop Proceedings. Following the workshop, participants will be required to revise their papers, which will undergo a second review process before publication in the post-proceedings, as part of the Multi-Agent-Based Simulation Series for Springer-Verlag, Lecture Notes in Artificial Intelligence.


IMPORTANT DATES
       Electronic abstract aubmission: January 20th, 2014
       Paper submission deadline: January 22nd, 2014
       Notification of acceptance: February 19th, 2014
       Camera-Ready papers due: March 10th, 2014
       Workshop Celebration: May 5-6th, 2014


COMMITTEES

Organization
       Emma Norling (Manchester Metropolitan University, UK).
       Francisco Grimaldo (Universitat de València, Spain).

Steering Commitee
       Frédéric Amblard (University of Toulouse, France).
       Jaime Simão Sichman (University of São Paulo, Brazil).
       Keiki Takadama (University of Electro-Communications, Japan).
       Keith Sawyer (University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, USA).
       Luis Antunes (University of Lisbon, Portugal).
       Nigel Gilbert (University of Surrey, UK).
       Paul Davidsson (Malmö University, Sweden).
       Rosaria Conte (National Research Council, Italy).
       Scott Moss (Koblenz-Landau, Germany).

      
CONTACT

Emma Norling
School of Computing, Mathematics and Digital Technology
John Dalton Building
Manchester Metropolitan University
Chester Street
Manchester
United Kingdom
M1 5GD
Tel: +44 161 247 3884
norling@acm.org

Francisco Grimaldo Moreno
Departament d'Informàtica
Escola Tècnica Superior d'Enginyeria (ETSE)
Universitat de València
Avinguda de la Universitat, s/n
46100 Burjassot-València
Spain
Tel: +34 96 354 44 87 (+34 96 354 45 65)
francisco.grimaldo@uv.es

14 November, 2013

Joint-funded PhD position on ABM and the environment available

A fully funded (fees, stipend and travel expenses) PhD studentship is available. This is jointly supervised by the James Hutton Institute (Scotlands internation research centre on the environment) and the Centre for Policy Modelling in Manchester (specialists in agent-based social simulation and evaluation).

Deadline for applications 17th Jan 2014.

Details at: http://www.findaphd.com/search/ProjectDetails.aspx?PJID=49146

29 October, 2013

The CPM website is now upgraded...

... but it remains at the same old address: http://cfpm.org

20 October, 2013

Three new CPM discussion papers

CPM-13-221
Capturing the Implicit – an iterative approach to enculturing artificial agents - Peter Wallis and Bruce Edmonds

CPM-13-222
An Individual-­‐Based Model of the Impact of Human Beings on an Ecosystem - Bruce Edmonds

CPM-13-223
Man on Earth – discovering viable ecological survival strategies - Bruce Edmonds

22 April, 2013

Book announcement: "Simulating Social Complexity - a handbook"


The following book has just been published:

Edmonds, B. & Meyer, R. (eds.) (2013) Simulating Social Complexity - a
handbook
. Springer.


The chapters are as follows:

***Part I Introductory Material***

1 Introduction to the Handbook by Bruce Edmonds and Ruth Meyer

2 Historical Introduction by Klaus G. Troitzsch

3 Types of Simulation by Paul Davidsson and Harko Verhagen

***Part II Methodology***

4 Informal Approaches to Developing Simulation Models by Emma Norling,
Bruce Edmonds, and Ruth Meyer

5 A Formal Approach to Building Compositional Agent-Based Simulations by
Catholijn M. Jonker and Jan Treur

6 Checking Simulations: Detecting and Avoiding Errors and Artefacts by Jose
́ M. Gala ́n, Luis R. Izquierdo, Segismundo S. Izquierdo, Jose ́ I. Santos,
Ricardo del Olmo, and Adolfo Lo ́pez-Paredes

7 Documenting Social Simulation Models: The ODD Protocol as a Standard by
Volker Grimm, Gary Polhill, and Julia Touza

8 Validating Simulations by Nuno David

9 Understanding Simulation Results by Andrew Evans, Alison Heppenstall, and
Mark Birkin

10 Participatory Approaches by Olivier Barreteau, Pieter Bots, Katherine
Daniell, Michel Etienne, Pascal Perez, Ce ́cile Barnaud, Didier Bazile,
Nicolas Becu, Jean-Christophe Castella, William’s Dare ́, and Guy Trebuil

11 Combining Mathematical and Simulation Approaches to Understand the
Dynamics of Computer Models by Luis R. Izquierdo, Segismundo S. Izquierdo,
Jose ́ M. Gala ́n, and Jose ́ I. Santos

12 Interpreting and Understanding Simulations: The Philosophy of Social
Simulation by R. Keith Sawyer

***Part III Mechanisms***

13 Utility, Games, and Narratives by Guido Fioretti

14 Social Constraint by Martin Neumann

15 Reputation by Francesca Giardini, Rosaria Conte, and Mario Paolucci

16 Social Networks and Spatial Distribution by Fre ́de ́ric Amblard and
Walter Quattrociocchi

17 Learning by Michael W. Macy, Stephen Benard, and Andreas Flache

18 Evolutionary Mechanisms by Edmund Chattoe-Brown and Bruce Edmonds

*** Part IV Applications ***

19 Agent-Based Modelling and Simulation Applied to Environmental Management
by Christophe Le Page, Didier Bazile, Nicolas Becu, Pierre Bommel, Franc
̧ois Bousquet, Michel Etienne, Raphael Mathevet, Ve ́ronique Souche`re, Guy
Tre ́buil, and Jacques Weber

20 Assessing Organisational Design by Virginia Dignum

21 Distributed Computer Systems by David Hales

22 Simulating Complexity of Animal Social Behaviour by Charlotte Hemelrijk

23 Agent-Based Simulation as a Useful Tool for the Study of Markets by
Juliette Rouchier

24 Movement of People and Goods by Linda Ramstedt, Johanna To ̈rnquist
Krasemann, and Paul Davidsson

25 Modeling Power and Authority: An Emergentist View from Afghanistan by
Armando Geller and Scott Moss

26 Human Societies: Understanding Observed Social Phenomena by Bruce
Edmonds, Pablo Lucas, Juliette Rouchier, and Richard Taylor

The publishers page on this is at:
http://www.springer.com/computer/information+systems+and+applications/book/978-3-540-93812-5

06 April, 2013

CfP: Special issue on “Social interaction - the bridge between micro and macro”

Flaminio Squazzoni and I are editing a special issue of "Social Science Computer Review".  We are particularly looking for papers at the social science end of the simulation spectrum - those that a wide range of academics might relate to, showing the potential of agent-based simulation to shed light on current social science issues/debates.  Deadline 24th June.


Full CfP is available at: http://cfpm.org/sscr-cfp.pdf

01 March, 2013

Course Materials from the 2-day introduction to Agent-Based Modelling in NetLogo freely available

The 2-Day Introduction to Agent-Based Modelling using NetLogo course has now finished.  We were heavily over-subscribed, closing applications after we got more than twice the number of places we could cater for.

Therefore I am releasing the course materials on the web for anyone who is interested in using them. You can access them in two ways.

Via the Course Website (e.g. via the schedule or individual session pages):

Or via Collected Course Resources:

11 January, 2013

The CPM is a founding/MC member of COST action KNOWeSCAPE "Analyzing the dynamics of information and knowledge landscapes"

COST Action TD 1210

Analyzing the dynamics of information and knowledge landscapes - KNOWeSCAPE

14/12/2012-20/11/2016

Objectives

There is no escape from the expansion of information, so that structuring and locating meaningful knowledge becomes ever more difficult. This Action will tackle this urgent problem using the unique networking and capacity-building features provided by the COST framework. For the first time, a platform will be created where information professionals, sociologists, physicists, digital humanities scholars and computer scientists collaborate on problems of data mining and data curation in collections. The main objective of this Action is advancing the analysis of large knowledge spaces and systems that organize and order them. The combination of insights from complexity theory and knowledge organization will improve our understanding of the collective, self-organized nature of human knowledge production and will support the development of new principles and methods of data representation, processing, and archiving. To this end, the knowledge organization in web-based information spaces such as Wikipedia as well as collections from libraries, archives, and museums will be studied. This Action aims to create interactive knowledge maps. Their end users could be scientists working between disciplines and seeking mutual understanding; science policy makers designing funding frameworks; cultural heritage institutions aiming at better access to their collections; and students seeking a first orientation in academia.