A framework for agent-based models of human needs and ecological limits

Joël Foramitti

doi:10.1016/j.ecolecon.2022.107651

A framework for agent-based models of human needs and ecological limits

Joël Foramitti^*

^*Corresponding author for this work

Institute for Environmental Studies

Research output: Contribution to Journal › Article › Academic › peer-review

Abstract

The social and ecological challenges of our time require a better understanding of the complex interactions between the multiple dimensions of human well-being and environmental impacts. This article introduces the Needs and Limits (N&L) framework, a theoretical and computational foundation for agent-based simulations of heterogeneous individuals who try to increase their quality of life through the satisfaction of human needs. Based on psychological research, human needs are described as satiable, adaptive, and interdependent with the social and bio-physical environment. The N&L framework represents a generic foundation that can be applied to a broad range of socio-economic and ecological scenarios. A comparison is provided with classical utility approaches. The framework is illustrated for the topics of income inequality and climate policy.

Original language	English
Article number	107651
Pages (from-to)	1-12
Number of pages	12
Journal	Ecological Economics
Volume	204
Issue number	Part A
Early online date	4 Nov 2022
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolecon.2022.107651
Publication status	Published - Feb 2023

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
This study has received funding through an ERC Advanced Grant from the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme (grant agreement no 741087). I am grateful to Franziska Klein, whose ideas have greatly benefited the application examples. I further thank Jeroen van den Bergh, Ivan Savin, Théo Konc, Manuel Scholz-Wäckerle, Tania Treibich, Jarmo Kikstra, and Yannick Oswald for their helpful comments and support. The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.

Funding Information:
This study has received funding through an ERC Advanced Grant from the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme (grant agreement no 741087 ).

Publisher Copyright:
© 2022 The Author(s)

Funding

This study has received funding through an ERC Advanced Grant from the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme (grant agreement no 741087). I am grateful to Franziska Klein, whose ideas have greatly benefited the application examples. I further thank Jeroen van den Bergh, Ivan Savin, Théo Konc, Manuel Scholz-Wäckerle, Tania Treibich, Jarmo Kikstra, and Yannick Oswald for their helpful comments and support. The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper. This study has received funding through an ERC Advanced Grant from the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme (grant agreement no 741087 ).

Keywords

agent-based modeling
bio-physical constraints
human needs
quality of life
social simulation

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

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10.1016/j.ecolecon.2022.107651

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Cite this

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abstract = "The social and ecological challenges of our time require a better understanding of the complex interactions between the multiple dimensions of human well-being and environmental impacts. This article introduces the Needs and Limits (N\&L) framework, a theoretical and computational foundation for agent-based simulations of heterogeneous individuals who try to increase their quality of life through the satisfaction of human needs. Based on psychological research, human needs are described as satiable, adaptive, and interdependent with the social and bio-physical environment. The N\&L framework represents a generic foundation that can be applied to a broad range of socio-economic and ecological scenarios. A comparison is provided with classical utility approaches. The framework is illustrated for the topics of income inequality and climate policy.",

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A framework for agent-based models of human needs and ecological limits

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Funding

Keywords

UN SDGs

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