[gov3009-l] Applied Statistics Seminar Announcement

"Geography, Power, and the Size of Nations: An Agent-Based Model of the International System" Presentation by Anders Corr (Harvard University, Government Department) Wednesday October 16 at noon Center for Basic Research in the Social Sciences 34 Kirkland Street, Room 22 Lunch will be served. The Research Workshop in Applied Statistics is a forum for graduate students, faculty, and visiting scholars to present and discuss statistical innovations and applications in the social sciences. For more information, contact corr(a)fas.harvard.edu. Abstract: Power discrepancy is an observed characteristic of the international system. Lars-Erik Cederman's agent-based computer model, GeoSim, simulates the interaction of states in an international system, but produces equilibria in which power is distributed homogenously over system members (Cederman 2002). Alesina and Spolaore (forthcoming) likewise model changes in the size of nations without accounting for equilibria in which small and large states coexist. This study enriches Cederman's model by adding geography, thereby supplying a missing link in both literatures. As expected, geography yields a long-run distribution of power consistent with the empirical discrepancy between states, including the simultaneous existence of small and hegemonic polities. The paper may be accessed at: http://www.courses.fas.harvard.edu/~gov3009/handouts/geosimgeog8.pdf