DISTRIBUTED PROCESSES IN A AGENT-BASED MODEL OF INNOVATION

In this work we investigate the conditions influencing the creation of novelties and their diffusion through networks composed by agents interacting via the exchange of artifacts. By means of simulation we verified that the presence of stereotyped routines deeply influences (negatively) the robustness properties of the system, whereas the impact of strong spatial limitations or of a particular kind of direct information exchange (a request system) have more complex consequences, not all aligned to the same direction. None of these results is obvious, nor can it be simply deduced from the qualitative theory. Therefore, the simulations could make possible comparisons between the model behaviors and the theory claims, indicating new ways of improvement and development.