An Agent-Based Model of Plastic Bags Ban Policy Diffusion in California

This paper uses an agent-based model to study plastic bags ban policy adoption in California. By simulating the policy diffusion among counties in California with close-to-reality data, this study seeks to identify the mechanism of policy diffusion and interaction among individuals as well as counties and between individuals and counties. This work models each individual with his/her own attributes, including education, preference, and wealth. Individuals may either influence or be influenced by interacting with others based on preference difference from others. Preferences of individuals are also affected by neighboring counties' preference changes, while aggregated individual preference change determines the policy adoption and the change of preference of counties. By understanding the mechanism of policy diffusion from interconnected multi-level interaction, this work insights applicable to different areas of policy diffusion.