SPE Course: Agent Based Modelling: Developing a pragmatic approach

Archive note: Registration links for these past courses are closed. View current SPE courses.

Agent based modelling has a long pedigree going back to the 1930s in physics. The use of agent-based modelling has been increasing at an exponential rate since, and in some fields, such as traffic, epidemiology and battlefield simulation, they are now the state of the art.

However economics has been slower to accept agent-based modelling. This has all changed in the last 10 years with interest in ABM greatly increased amongst economists, finance and policy-makers mainly due to the problems in conventional economic modelling highlighted by the 2008 financial crisis. The advent of big data and faster computers has also made their use more practical.

So what benefits and challenges might these types of models offer to decision makers and their advisors? How can their use be effectively developed in a pragmatic and effective manner? What applications are they best suited for?

This course will help you answer these questions and more so you can be better placed to advise on the use of ABMs and work effectively with technical modellers and users. The course is not designed to train you to be an agent based modeller but is designed to equip you to advise on using ABMs effectively as another tool in the economic armoury. The course is taught by Henry Leveson-Gower who has over 25 years of experience as a practising economist. He was the first economist in the UK Government to successfully use an agent based model to inform formal impact assessments.

This one-day course costs £275.00

Booking via email to info@specourses.co.uk or visit website www.specourses.co.uk (registration closed)