Models Of Social Systems Research Articles

Adaptation Tipping Points of a Wetland under a Drying Climate

Wetlands experience considerable alteration to their hydrology, which typically contributes to a decline in their overall ecological integrity. Wetland management strategies aim to repair wetland hydrology and attenuate wetland loss that is associated with climate change. However, decision makers often lack the data needed to support complex social environmental systems models, making it difficult to assess the effectiveness of current or past practices. Adaptation Tipping Points (ATPs) is a policy-oriented method that can be useful in these situations. Here, a modified ATP framework is presented to assess the suitability of ecosystem management when rigorous ecological data are lacking. We define the effectiveness of the wetland management strategy by its ability to maintain sustainable minimum water levels that are required to support ecological processes. These minimum water requirements are defined in water management and environmental policy of the wetland. Here, we trial the method on Forrestdale Lake, a wetland in a region experiencing a markedly drying climate. ATPs were defined by linking key ecological objectives identified by policy documents to threshold values for water depth. We then used long-term hydrologic data (1978–2012) to assess if and when thresholds were breached. We found that from the mid-1990s, declining wetland water depth breached ATPs for the majority of the wetland objectives. We conclude that the wetland management strategy has been ineffective from the mid-1990s, when the region’s climate dried markedly. The extent of legislation, policies, and management authorities across different scales and levels of governance need to be understood to adapt ecosystem management strategies. Empirical verification of the ATP assessment is required to validate the suitability of the method. However, in general we consider ATPs to be a useful desktop method to assess the suitability of management when rigorous ecological data are lacking.

Моделювання соціокультурних систем

Моделювання соціокультурних систем

Responsibility of corporations: organisational values, formal norms and managerial competencies

A generic cultural socio-cognitive theory of a plural agency is developed, which includes 'responsibility'. Interaction between social viable systems, i.e., normative personalities, is modelled. The general definitions of the terms 'responsible' and 'responsibility' imply that there is an action-outcome-consequence relation. Consequently, for modelling cybernetic systems there is need to address issues related to: reasons for action, actual actions taken, outcomes, observation of outcomes, assessment of outcomes, reconsideration and perhaps modification of earlier action. All action has outcomes: a direct effect (performance), side effects, and effects on other agencies. Thus, there is need to integrate into social viable systems models: 1) mutual interdependencies; 2) issues related to dependence on resources; 3) competition for resources; 4) impact on other's resources. The theory will provide guidance for analysis of interaction effects between agencies within their resource environments.

Time-Sensitive and Sybil-Proof Incentive Mechanisms for Mobile Crowdsensing via Social Network

Mobile crowdsensing (MCS) has become a popular and promising paradigm in various sensing applications in urban scenarios. In recent years, some social network-based MCS systems, which utilizing the social relationship to recruit participants or perform sensing tasks, have been proposed. However, none of them have taken into consideration both the time-sensitive and Sybil-proofness, which are the two key problems for the MCS systems in the social network context. We present two social network-based MCS system models, and formulize the Sybil attack models for each model. We design two incentive mechanisms based on reverse auction, time-sensitive and sybil-proof incentive mechanism in multi-bid model (TSSP-M), and time-sensitive and sybil-proof incentive mechanism in single-bid model (TSSP-S), for each of two system models. Through both rigorous theoretical analyses and extensive simulations, we demonstrate that TSSP-M satisfies the desirable properties of computational efficiency, individual rationality, truthfulness, time-sensitive, Sybil-proofness, and optimization; TSSP-S achieves individual rationality, truthfulness, time-sensitive, and Sybil-proofness.

Survey of evolutionary computation methods in social agent-based modeling studies

Agent-based modeling is a well-established discipline today with a rich and vibrant research community. The field of evolutionary computation (EC) is also well recognized within the larger family of computational sciences. In the past decades many agent-based modeling studies of social systems have used EC methods to tackle various research questions. Despite the relative frequency of such efforts, no systematic review of the use of evolutionary computation in agent-based modeling has been put forth. Here, we review a number of prominent agent-based models of social systems that employ evolutionary algorithms as a method. We comment on some theoretical considerations, the state of current practice, and suggest some best practices for future work.

Does Social Security Crowd Out Private Savings? The Case of Bismarck’s System of Social Insurance

Imperial chancellor Bismarck’s system of social insurance (with its three pillars health, accident and pension insurance) was an important role model for social security systems across Europe and in the US. How the introduction of the German system changed economic expectations and decisions of the German workforce has not been researched, though. This article tries to close this gap by analyzing the development of Prussian savings banks’ deposits in the late 19th century. The introduction of social security can affect private savings in at least two different ways: on the one hand, it might induce households to reduce their precautionary savings; on the other hand, it might give people a reason to reflect on their financial needs at old age or when sick, thereby increasing their motivation to accumulate private savings. To identify the causal effect of social insurance on private savings in Prussia, we employ a difference-in-difference-like approach. We show that, in our example, social security crowded out private savings considerably.

Creativity identity in Colombia: the advertising creatives’ perspective

ABSTRACTThis exploratory paper analyses the way in which context influences advertising creativity practices. To establish the role of context, this paper utilized both Social Identity theory and Systems Model of Creativity. Twenty four in-depth interviews with top creative directors of the main advertising agencies in Colombia (Latin America) were collected. Findings suggest the Colombian creative identity is under construction. This identity is influenced by the broader Colombian social context including the unique business characteristics of the country's communications industry, the level of economic hardship experienced by the population, and the actual social conflict lived situation. These findings extend the Systems Model of Creativity to include social hardships and industry level characteristics. Several practical implications not only in relation to Colombia, but also the broader global advertising industry are presented.

A hierarchical composite framework of parallel discrete event simulation for modelling complex adaptive systems

As complex adaptive systems(CAS) continue to grow in scale and complexity, and the need for system adaptability increases, systems modelling has become an essential concern. Parallel discrete event simulation became a preferred choice as logical process world view, which bridges complex system modelling and high-performance computing. To resolve the shortcoming of this world view identified with respect to modularity and scalability. A hierarchical composite modelling framework was proposed, which is a three-level architecture intended to support the composition and integration of sub-models. The bottom layer is simulation model component(SMC), which is not a model but implement some simulation-specific support functionality. The middle layer is logical process model(LP), which describes an agent which can react to the current situation by executing a sequence of SMCs. The top layer is CAS system model, which defines a CAS model consist of several LPs and also the interactions between these LPs. The hierarchical composite modelling process and parallel simulation execution strategy are discussed to support the modelling and simulation of a CAS. In order to verify its effectiveness, a complex social opinion system model is proposed based on this hierarchical composite modelling framework. The experimental results confirms the viability of utilizing multi-level architecture for simulating large scale complex adaptive systems.

Models with Men and Women: Representing Gender in Dynamic Modeling of Social Systems.

Dynamic engineering models have yet to be evaluated in the context of feminist engineering ethics. Decision-making concerning gender in dynamic modeling design is a gender and ethical issue that is important to address regardless of the system in which the dynamic modeling is applied. There are many dynamic modeling tools that operationally include the female population, however, there is an important distinction between females and women; it is the difference between biological sex and the social construct of gender, which is fluid and changes over time and geography. The ethical oversight in failing to represent or misrepresenting gender in model design when it is relevant to the model purpose can have implications for model validity and policy model development. This paper highlights this gender issue in the context of feminist engineering ethics using a dynamic population model. Women are often represented in this type of model only in their biological capacity, while lacking their gender identity. This illustrative example also highlights how language, including the naming of variables and communication with decision-makers, plays a role in this gender issue.

Disaster Risk Reduction and Climate Change Adaptation—A Sustainable Development Systems Perspective

This article considers the concepts of sustainability and sustainable development in relation to disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation. We conceptualize sustainability from a social systemic perspective, that is, from a perspective that encompasses the multiple functionalities of a social system and their interrelationships in particular environmental contexts. The systems perspective is applied in our consideration and analysis of disaster risk reduction (DRR), climate change adaptation (CCA), and sustainable development (SD). Section “Sustainability and Sustainable Development” introduces briefly sustainability and sustainable development, followed by a brief presentation of the theory of complex social systems (Section “Social System Model”). The theory conceptualizes interdependent subsystems, their multiple functionalities, and the agential and systemic responses to internal and external stressors on a social system. Section “Case Studies of Response to Stressors” considers disaster risk reduction (DRR) and climate change adaptation (CCA), emerging in response to one or more systemic stressors. It illustrates these with disaster risk reduction in the cases of food and chemical security regulation in the EU. CCA is illustrated by initiatives and developments on the island of Gotland, Sweden and in the Gothenburg Metropolitan area, which go beyond a limited CCA perspective, taking into account long-term sustainability issues. Section “Sustainable Development as a Societal Development System” discusses the limitations of DRR and CCA, not only their technical limitations but economic, socio-cultural, and political limitations, as informed from a sustainability perspective. It is argued that DRRs are only partial subsystems and must be considered and assessed in the context of a more encompassing systemic perspective. Part of the discussion is focused on the distinction between sustainable and non-sustainable DRRs and CCAs. Section “Concluding Remarks” presents a few concluding remarks about the importance of a systemic perspective in analyzing DRR and CCA as well as other similar subsystems in terms of sustainable development.

--------------- (Structural and Functional Models of Social Systems)

Russian Abstract: Современные подходы управления сложными системами, а к таким, как известно, относятся и социальные, начиная от простейших производственных и заканчивая государством, всё более активно используют высоко формализованные методы, т.е. допускают возможность их описания при помощи семейства всевозможных моделей. В работе представлены авторские подходы к новому пониманию формы, содержанию и эволюции социальных организаций как систем. В глубоко логичном представлении социальной организации обоснована парадигма, включающая в себя представление о мире в целом и системах в частности, как о непрерывных переходах «порядок-хаос». В исследования автора данное соотношение охарактеризовано как «вероятностное - реальное («информационное»)» состояния динамической системы. Раскрыта роль концептуальной модели организации, ее структурно-морфологических составляющих, как основополагающей основы подобия в бесконечном мире многообразия организованных систем. English Abstract: Administrative science of social and economical marketing systems correlates directly with philosophy and studies of general marketing and services marketing, as well as development of production and financial processes methods. In accordance with the above, major marketing regularities are being researched on the example of one of the marketing system models. Major part of the book is devoted to a detailed assessment of the entity and structure of the Marketing System Conceptual Model and the basics of Services System Imitation Modeling. The book is intended for marketing experts, managers, administrators, healthcare and health insurance companies administrators, researchers of the imitation modeling and administration of the social and economical systems. Could be recommended as a learning source for graduation thesis and postgraduate education in the field of socio-economical systems administration.

Modeling behavioral social systems

This paper presents the papers published in a special issue devoted to the modeling of behavioral social systems. Some perspective ideas on possible objectives of future research are extracted from the contents of this issue and brought to the reader’s attention. The final ambitious aim is the development of a mathematical theory for complex living systems.

社会システムのモデリング・シミュレーション技術に関するアカデミック・ロードマップ

社会システムのモデリング・シミュレーション技術に関するアカデミック・ロードマップ

A switched system approach to dynamic race modelling

The paper presents and analyses some nonlinear continuous-time dynamic models of social systems whose members, groups or individuals, may change partners and/or opponents at any time, according to a greedy criterion. The main structural properties of these models, which belong to the class of positive switching systems, are investigated with particular regard to the existence of solutions, their positivity, boundedness and asymptotic behaviour. Simulations show how the cooperative or hostile attitudes of the participants affect their yield.

Some approaches to the effective functioning of the system model social infrastructure company

In today's economic conditions, characterized by a high degree of instability and uncertainty as the conditions for the functioning of economic entities, as well as political and economic conditions in general, in the management structure of the economy it is advisable to proceed from the position of the key concepts of management, optimally adapted to the real situation. In this context, it is necessary to use scientific innovation to improve the economic growth of economic entities through the effective functioning of the enterprise social infrastructure models. Lineup social infrastructure systems involves various models of a number of features of structure. In this regard, according to the strategic objectives of a business entity, on its socio-economic targets need to use all the resource capacity of the organization to achieve its objectives by means of integration in the social infrastructure system model that focuses on the efficient use of human resources in the process of increasing the economic performance of the company. So, guided by a number of basic principles of the successful implementation of social infrastructure mechanisms of enterprises, structure of the economy with a view to long-term effective operation, it is necessary to take into account the value of the vectors of the organizational culture of polarization in the motivation of personnel, which could be one of the levers of growth of efficiency of functioning of the enterprise, a powerful strategic tool to target all units and individual subjects for the organization, mobilize the initiative of employees and ensure productive interaction of subjects in the format “business-to-employee” rather than substantially predetermine the competitiveness and success of the organization in the long run.

The Epistemology of Enterprises

ABSTRACTEnterprises are essential to the sustainment of our modern society. However, they rarely receive the level of attention and rigor that technical systems do. Treating enterprises as systems is a promising approach, but enterprises depend on a substantial social component. The inherent complexity of social systems introduces epistemic limitations that inhibit our ability to model social systems and predict their behavior. Consequently, traditional engineering approaches that rely on prediction and control can be ineffective or misleading when applied to enterprises. In this paper we explore the implications of these epistemic limitations on the engineering of enterprises. We conclude that it is necessary to apply dynamic strategies to mitigate these limitations and adapt enterprise modeling efforts accordingly. The goal with enterprises, in contrast to traditional technical systems, is to influence rather than control. We outline an interdisciplinary research agenda to progress toward this goal.

Servicios Sociales en la Comunitat Valenciana: el actual ‘modelo valenciano’ y una nueva agenda de construcción de un modelo de derechos sociales

Introducción: La aprobación de la LRSAL* presenta un panorama de cambio para los Sistemas de Servicios Sociales de España, sobre todo en lo atingente a lo local. Un grupo de expertos/as de la Comunitat Valenciana ha trabajado esta circunstancia como una oportunidad positiva. Material y Métodos: Mediante el análisis documental y el debate de la realidad del sector realizado por este grupo de expertos/as, se ha desgranado el modelo actual de los servicios sociales municipales valencianos, se ha reflexionado en sus diferencias con los modelos basados en leyes de tercera generación, y a partir de ello, se atreve a proponer las bases para la construcción de un nuevo modelo del Sistema Valenciano de Servicios Sociales. Resultados: Los resultados nos han llevado a indicar que el modelo actual de los servicios sociales valencianos se caracteriza por haberse desarrollado de forma centralizada, desordenada, con escasa calidad y al margen del territorio. La comparativa en legislación nos indica que no se asienta sobre derechos subjetivos, tiene desestructurados e invisibilizados sus recursos, y sobre todo carece por completo de planificación en todos los ámbitos del sistema, siendo especialmente grave en el ámbito de la organización funcional y territorial. Discusión y conclusiones: El nuevo modelo se debe asentar en la planificación estratégica, la proximidad, la prevención, la calidad, la colaboración de y entre todos sus actores, y sobre todo en la primacía de las personas sobre el sistema.

The ISoS Modeling Framework for Infrastructure Systems Simulation

Strategic infrastructure design considers long-term and cross-sector objectives to meet societal needs. Designers rely on tools to mitigate limits on human perception and manage complex systems with high-performance requirements. This paper defines the infrastructure system-of-systems modeling framework for heterogeneous simulation models. It formally defines structural and behavioral templates and an interoperability interface using algebraic statements. Infrastructure elements are graph edges, which express functions via operational states. An interoperability interface defines requirements for resource exchanges across system model boundaries. An example application case demonstrates a model instance with 18 infrastructure elements in water, petroleum, electricity, and social system models. Results show flow validity constraint violations arise from acyclic and cyclic dependencies between models. Increasing the number of iterations per time step or shortening the time step reduces error at the cost of execution time.

National health models and the adoption of eHealth and ePrescribing in primary care – new evidence from Europe

ObjectiveRecent research from the European Commission (EC) suggests that the development and adoption of eHealth in primary care is significantly influenced by the context of the national health model in...

Optimal control of a collective migration model

Collective migration of animals in a cohesive group is rendered possible by a strategic distribution of tasks among members: some track the travel route, which is time and energy-consuming, while the others follow the group by interacting among themselves. In this paper, we study a social dynamics system modeling collective migration. We consider a group of agents able to align their velocities to a global target velocity, or to follow the group via interaction with the other agents. The balance between these two attractive forces is our control for each agent, as we aim to drive the group to consensus at the target velocity. We show that the optimal control strategies in the case of final and integral costs consist of controlling the agents whose velocities are the furthest from the target one: these agents sense only the target velocity and become leaders, while the uncontrolled ones sense only the group, and become followers. Moreover, in the case of final cost, we prove an “Inactivation” principle: there exist initial conditions such that the optimal control strategy consists of letting the system evolve freely for an initial period of time, before acting with full control on the agent furthest from the target velocity.