Dynamics of Wealth Inequality in Simple Artificial Societies
Abstract
A simple generative model of a foraging society generates significant wealth inequalities from identical agents on an equal opportunity landscape. These inequalities arise in both equilibrium and non-equilibrium regimes with some societies essentially never reaching equilibrium. Reproduction costs mitigate inequality beyond their affect on intrinsic growth rate. The highest levels of inequality are found during non-equilibrium regimes. Inequality in dynamic regimes is driven by factors different than those driving steady state inequality. Evolutionary pressures drive the intrinsic growth rate as high as possible, leading to a tragedy of the commons.
Keywords
Cite
@article{arxiv.2108.11892,
title = {Dynamics of Wealth Inequality in Simple Artificial Societies},
author = {John C. Stevenson},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2108.11892},
year = {2021}
}
Comments
12 pages, 2 tables, 5 figures. Presented at the Social Simulation Conference 2021. arXiv admin note: substantial text overlap with arXiv:2101.09817