Actors, Decision-Making, and Institutions in Quantitative System Modelling

Increasing the realism with respect to the representation of actors, decision-making, and institutions is critical to better understand the transition towards a low-carbon sustainable society since actors, decision-making, and institutions are the defining elements of transition pathways. In this paper, we explore how this can be done by conducting a model-based scenario analysis. The increasing focus on implementation and transition dynamics towards long-term objectives requires a better comprehension of what drives change and how those changes can be accelerated.

We explore opportunities that arise from a deeper engagement of quantitative systems modeling with socio-technical transitions studies, initiative-based learning, and applied economics. We argue that a number of opportunities for enriching the realism in model-based scenario analysis can arise through model refinements oriented towards a more detailed approach in terms of actor heterogeneity, as well as through integration across different analytical and disciplinary approaches.

Authors

Enrica De Cian, Shouro Dasgupta, Andries F. Hof, Mariësse A.E. van Sluisveld, Jonathan Kohler, Benjamin Pfluger, Detlef P. van Vuuren

Specifications

Publication title
Actors, Decision-Making, and Institutions in Quantitative System Modelling
Publication date
19 September 2017
Publication type
Publication
Magazine
FEEM Working Paper No. 46.217
Product number
3189