Social Simulation using MABS. At present, research to expand SocLab in order to model emotions and morality.
Others: Organisations, Soft Systems, Planning methodologies.

My dissertation research at the Johnson-Shoyama Graduate School of Public Policy focuses on food safety and consumer choices, using agent-based models as a novel method for investigating this policy space.

In this paper, we explore the dynamic of stock prices over time by developing an agent-based market. The developed artificial market comprises of heterogeneous agents occupied with various behaviors and trading strategies. To be specific, the agents in the market may expose to overconfidence, conservatism or loss aversion biases. Additionally, they may employ fundamental, technical, adaptive (neural network) strategies or simply being arbitrary agents (zero intelligence agents). The market has property of direct interaction. The environment takes the form of network structure, namely, it takes the manifestation of scale-free network. The information will flow between the agents through the linkages that connect them. Furthermore, the tax imposed by the regulator is investigated. The model is subjected to goodness of fit to the empirical observations of the S\&P500. The fitting of the model is refined by calibrating the model parameters through heuristic approach, particularly, scatter search. Conclusively, the parameters are validated against normality, absence of correlations, volatility cluster and leverage effect using statistical tests.

I am broadly interested in using Agent-based Modelling, Microsimulation, Geosimulation or a hybrid of these approaches as methodology to investigate complex dynamics of systems in various domains. I am also interested in exploring the potential of simulation models as decision support and policy-informing tools.

Agent-based modeling, Participatory modeling, Socio-technical systems, Complexity, Sustainability, Circular Economy, Design Science, Action research.

Direction of the Vector-Borne Disease Network (www.vecnet.org), an international research consortium developing modeling tools that support the development of new strategies to eliminate malaria.

Applying agent-based models to archaeological data, using modern ethnoarchaeological data as an analog for behavior.

Complex systems

I am a spatial (GIS) agent-based modeler i.e. modeler that simulates the impact of various individual decisions on the environment. My work is mainly methodological i.e. I develop tools that make agent-based modeling (ABM) easier to do. I especially focus on developing tools that allow for evaluating various uncertainties in ABM. One of these uncertainties are the ways of quantifying agent decisions (i.e. the algorithmic representation of agent decision rules) for example to address the question of “How do the agents decide whether to grow crops or rather put land to fallow?”. One of the methods I developed focuses on representing residential developers’ risk perception for example to answer the question: “to what extent is the developer risk-taking and would be willing to build new houses targeted at high-income families (small market but big return on investment)?”. Other ABM uncertainties that I evaluate are various spatial inputs (e.g. different representations of soil erosion, different maps of environmental benefits from land conservation) and various demographics (i.e. are retired farmers more willing to put land to conservation?). The tools I develop are mostly used in (spatial) sensitivity analysis of ABM (quantitative, qualitative, and visual).