A total of six different experiments were created and executed to capture the behavior of the model under various settings.

Neo-Classical economic theory migration

Keynesian employment based migration

Gold Rush effect

GNH based migration

Agent Model for examining theories of International MigrationSubu Kandaswamy

Final Project for EECS 372 , Northwestern University

• Wage differences between regions are the main reason for labor migration. • Wage differences are primarily due to geographic differences in labor demand and labor supply• Some Other factors might play an important role as well, e.g. labor productivity, or the degree of organization of workers.• Countries with a shortage of labor relative to capital have a high equilibrium wage•countries with a relatively high labor supply have a low equilibrium wage.

•labor supply also depends on the nominal wage, not only on the real wage•there may not be a new international equilibrium, as hypothesized by neo-classical economic theory• international migration removes unemployment differences rather than real wage differences

Neo Classical Economic Theory

Keynesian Economic Theory

Next Steps

• Wage rate and employment rate are calculated as functions of demand/supply and population • The wage rates for professions dependent on population is directly proportional to the population size. • Wage rates for population-independent professions remain constant and is only affected by competition.• Relative scoring is used for the four factors of GNH. Comparison with other countries is used to set Happiness Index ranks.

• Immigration control as an influencing factor • Technological advancements effect on Labor• Effects of outsourcing.

Motivation

The Immigration agent model is designed to examine the various factors responsible for triggering migration. The model enables us to compare the explanations given by two of the famous economic theories namely Neo Classical economic theory and the Keynesian theory . In addition it compares these two established theories with a novel approach of utilizing people’s happiness, measured by Gross National Happiness index (GNH) as a causal reason for migration. The model can be used to examine the following.

•rate of immigration based on economical situation, employment rate and Gross National Happiness.

•Impact of immigration on wage rates, unemployment rate, etcImpact of population growth on migration rate, wage, etc.

Behavior Space Experiments & ResultsThe Model

Countries & Citizens• The Patches are demarcated into 4 countries..• Proportion of professionals needed for an ideal population (utopia) can be set using the sliders.• The Model enables us to manage the rate of population increase by controlling the birth rate and the life expectancy of countries.• People (Turtles) will have place of origin, nationality, employed, life and profession as properties• Keynesian economic mode (go – employment) : people will migrate only if they are unemployed. They will move to another country, which has highest employment opportunity.•Neo-classical economic mode (go – wage) : people will migrate if there is more than x% wage discrepancy as set by the wage-discrepancy slider.• In GNH mode (go – gnh) : a person will migrate based on the GNH index. They will migrate if there is more than x% GNH discrepancy as set by the gnh-discrepancy slider.• Wage-awareness? Flag is set to differentiate between ‘gold rush mode’ and normal mode.

Novel Approach: Gross National Happiness•Gross National Happiness (GNH) difference as a measure which triggers migration.• GNH is a function of health, wealth, environmental wellness, social wellness etc.•People Migrate from places which has low GNH to places perceived to have high GNH

Patches Demarcated into 4 Countries

Fine grained control over factors affecting immigration.