Agent-based modeling for migration and modern slavery research: a systematic review

Alys McAlpine (), Ligia Kiss, Cathy Zimmerman and Zaid Chalabi
Additional contact information
Alys McAlpine: London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine
Ligia Kiss: London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine
Cathy Zimmerman: London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine
Zaid Chalabi: University College London

Journal of Computational Social Science, 2021, vol. 4, issue 1, No 12, 243-332

Abstract: Abstract This systematic review aims to synthesize how agent-based modeling (ABM) has been used in migration and modern slavery research and provide the basis to model development for social science researchers exploring the use of ABM. We searched five bibliographic databases using two terminology categories: (1) migration or modern slavery terminology; (2) complex system methods terminology. Two reviewers conducted independent article screening. Peer-reviewed articles presenting original migration or modern slavery ABMs were included. Data extraction included model development steps and model characteristics. The dataset was synthesized and compared across studies. We identified 28 articles for inclusion. Many of the ABMs tested theories and about half were based on empirical data. Model development varied considerably and reported methods were extremely opaque. Only five studies used a structured development framework. The most common model involved agents deciding whether and where to migrate and attempting migration. Climate change was a common exogenous scenario modeled. Most of the ABMs did not undergo any sensitivity analysis or validation.ABM has a greater capacity to account for heterogeneous and dynamic decision-making than more frequently applied methods in research on migration and modern slavery. However, there is still a paucity of studies adopting ABM methods. These reviewed ABMs highlight gaps in the reporting and implementing of model development. ABM is a promising technique to address many urgent and complex questions in research on migration and modern slavery to better support decision-makers, but addressing current methodological gaps is a critical first step.

Keywords: Agent-based modeling; Complex systems; Migration; Modern slavery; Trafficking (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

Downloads: (external link)
http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s42001-020-00076-7 Abstract (text/html)
Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:spr:jcsosc:v:4:y:2021:i:1:d:10.1007_s42001-020-00076-7

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
http://www.springer. ... iences/journal/42001

DOI: 10.1007/s42001-020-00076-7

Access Statistics for this article

Journal of Computational Social Science is currently edited by Takashi Kamihigashi

More articles in Journal of Computational Social Science from Springer
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().