"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