Sustainable society formed by unselfish agents

Abstract

AbstractIt has been pointed out that if the social configuration of the three relations (market, communal, and obligatory relations) is not balanced, a market‐based society as a total system fails. Using multiagent simulations, this paper shows that a sustainable society is formed when all three relations are integrated and function appropriately.When agent trades are based on the market mechanism (i.e., agents act in their own interest and thus only market relations exist), weak agents who cannot perform transactions die. If a compulsory tax is imposed to enable all weak agents to survive (i.e., obligatory relations exist), then the fiscal deficit increases.On the other hand, if agents who have excess income undertake the unselfish action of distributing their surplus to the weak agents (i.e., communal relations exist), then the trade volume increases. It is shown that the existence of unselfish agents is necessary for the realization of a sustainable society.The survival of all agents, however, is difficult in a communal society. In an artificial society, for all agents to survive and fiscal balance to be maintained, all three social relations must be fully integrated. These results show that adjusting the balance of the three social relations will lead to the realization of a sustainable society. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Electr Eng Jpn, 157(1): 38–46, 2006; Published online in Wiley InterScience (http://www.interscience.wiley.com). DOI 10.1002/eej.20368