NISE: Norms and Institutions in the Social Environment

Amineh Ghorbani, Delft University of Technology, Netherlands

Christopher Frantz, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Norway

Societies function on social backbones that guide individual behaviour and interaction. This social environment provides the guiding principles in the form of norms (socially enforced behaviour) and institutions (formal and informal rules) that influence how decision making entities act and interact.  At the same time, the social environment regulated by these constructs exhibits dynamics, originating from the individuals embedded therein. The intangible nature of norms and institutions makes their integrated use, let alone formalization, challenging.  Yet, their inclusion in simulations not only allows us to capture the complex essentials to study social systems (e.g. emergence of collective action, representation of existing institutional arrangements), it also enables the study of the social environment itself, including norms, values and social practices. The goal of this special track is to address challenges that are related to the modelling of these concepts and to share related experiences. Challenges of relevance apply to all stages of the modelling process, including collecting data on norms and institutions, their conceptualization in models, analysis, as well as verification & validation of models. 

We invite papers addressing the issues listed below, but other related topics are also welcome:

• • Theories and frameworks for capturing norms and institutions in agent-based models
  • Methodologies for collecting data on norms and institutions and other related concepts
  • Verification and validation of models of norms and institutions
  • Models incorporating institutional or normative concepts, including the studies of dynamics

Where relevant, general as well as context-specific applications are equally relevant.