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Encyclopedia of Operations Research and Management Science pp 8–16Cite as

Agent-Based Simulation

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Introduction

Agent-based simulation (ABS) is a computational framework for simulating dynamic processes that involve autonomous agents. An autonomous agent acts on its own without external direction in response to situations the agent encounters during the simulation. Modeling a population of autonomous and heterogeneous agents that extensively interact is a defining feature of an ABS. ABS is a simulation approach made possible by advances in computational modeling and software. The agent perspective is unique among simulation approaches, unlike the process or activity perspectives of discrete-event simulation (DES), or the dynamical systems approach of system dynamics (SD). Agent-based simulation is most commonly used to model individual decision making and social and organizational behavior (Bonabeau 2001). Samuelson (2000) provides a brief overview of the early history of agent-based modeling, especially as applied to studying how organizations work, while Samuelson and Macal (2006)...

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Argonne National Laboratory, Argonne National Laboratory, Argonne, IL, USA

    Charles M. Macal & Michael J. North

  2. Infologix, Inc., 8711 Chippendale Court, Annandale, VA, 22003, USA

    Douglas A. Samuelson

Authors
  1. Charles M. Macal
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  2. Michael J. North
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  3. Douglas A. Samuelson
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Charles M. Macal .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Robert H. Smith School of Business, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, USA

    Saul I. Gass

  2. Robert H. Smith School of Business and Institute for Systems Research, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, USA

    Michael C. Fu

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© 2013 Springer Science+Business Media New York

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Macal, C.M., North, M.J., Samuelson, D.A. (2013). Agent-Based Simulation. In: Gass, S.I., Fu, M.C. (eds) Encyclopedia of Operations Research and Management Science. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-1153-7_1229

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-1153-7_1229

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4419-1137-7

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4419-1153-7

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