Economy/Finance II

Agent-based modeling is a promising new route in macroeconomics research. Questions have been raised, however, regarding the validity of such models. A deeper understanding of the validation methodology in MABM is required. In order to provide this, I connect three frameworks. The first framework regards the foundations of model validation in general. In this framework, I will give a definition of model validation and relate this to the concept of model domain. The second framework regards a classification of models, dependent on how a model is validated.

While wealth distribution in the world is highly skewed and heavy-tailed, human talent as the majority of individual features is normally distributed. In a recent computational study by Pluchino et al. [Talent vs luck: The role of randomness in success and failure, Adv. Complex Syst. 21(03–04) (2018) 1850014], it has been shown that the combined e®ects of both random external factors (lucky and unlucky events) and multiplicative dynamics in capital accumula- tion are able to clarify this apparent contradiction.

Are capital market prices the product of a stochastic processes or are they determined by deterministic chaos? Is there a non-linear causality between them? We are addressing these questions by studying two basic time series: the closing prices of the S&P 500 index which is one of the main indicators of the US capital market and the volatility index (VIX) of the New York Stock Exchange. With the help of Takens theorem (Takens 1981), Singular Spectrum Analysis and the Convergent Cross Mapping (CCM) algorithm as described in (Huffaker et al.

Can finance contribute to seafood sustainability? This is an increasingly relevant question given the projected growth of seafood markets and the magnitude of social and environmental challenges associated with seafood production. As more capital enters the seafood industry, it becomes crucial that investments steer the sector toward improved sustainability, as opposed to fueling unsustainable working conditions and overexploitation of resources.

Stablecoins, usually represented by and associated with the dominant Tether (USDT) token, have evolved into an important mechanism of the whole cryptoassets system, with their main objective being to enable easy transactions between cryptoasset exchanges with a stable exchange rate mostly through pegging to and being backed by a fiat currency or a physical asset. This backing itself has become a controversial topic for the most dominant stablecoin, and its role in the 2017 skyrocketing cryptoasset prices has attracted many speculations in the community.