Agent-based simulation for analyzing social norms

With existence of the social custom or norm, Naylor demonstrates a possibility of stable long-run equilibria of support for a strike in a labor market, and this implies that at least some individuals will behave cooperatively and hence the prisoners7 dilemma could be escaped. In this paper, by an agent-based simulation model in which artificial adaptive agents have mechanisms of decision making and learning based on nueral networks and genetic algorithms, we compare the results from our simulation model with those from the mathematical model by Naylor. Especially, while Naylor's model is based on rationality about maximization of individual utility, our agent-base simulation model employs adaptive behavior,i.e.,agents make decisions by trial and error and learn from experiences to make better decisions