Predicting organizational recruitment using a hybrid cellular model: new directions in Blau space analysis

Abstract

Ecological models are useful in modeling organizations and their competition over resources. However, the traditional approaches, particularly Blau space models, are restrictive in their dependence on a continuous space. In addition, these models are susceptible to indicating competition in sparsely populated areas of an ecology, resulting in competition being indicated where there are no resources to compete over. To deal with these problems we reconceptualize Blau space into the Hybrid Blau space model, using both a cellular structure to model a wider number of variable types, and probabilistic urn models to simulate competition between organizations. We briefly review the basic concepts of Blau space, demonstrate the issues with traditional Blau space modeling, present a new model referred to as the Hybrid model, and propose several new metrics to describe the behavior of organizations in this new model. A novel data source, attribute data from Parliament Members of the Ukrainian Parliament, are used to illustrate the Hybrid Blau space model.