Statistical Model Checking of NetLogo Models

Marco Pangallo (), Daniele Giachini () and Andrea Vandin ()
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Marco Pangallo: http://www.marcopangallo.it/
Daniele Giachini: https://www.santannapisa.it/it/daniele-giachini
Andrea Vandin: https://www.santannapisa.it/en/andrea-vandin

Journal of Artificial Societies and Social Simulation, 2026, vol. 29, issue 4, 5

Abstract: Agent-based models (ABMs) are increasingly used across several domains because they can represent complex systems that are not easily expressible with classical mathematical models. This expressivity and richness come at a cost: ABMs can typically be analyzed only through simulation, making their analysis challenging. Specifically, when studying the output of ABMs, the analyst is often confronted with practical questions such as: (i) how many independent replications should be run? (ii) how many initial time steps should be discarded as a warm-up? (iii) after the warm-up, how long should the model run? (iv) what are the right parameter values? Analysts usually resort to rules of thumb and experimentation, which lack statistical rigor. This is mainly because addressing these points takes time, and analysts prefer to spend their limited time improving the model. In this paper, we propose to automate the process and provide guarantees of statistical rigor for ABMs written in NetLogo, one of the most popular ABM platforms, drawing on the field of Statistical Model Checking. We discuss MultiVeStA, a tool that reduces the time and human intervention needed to run statistically rigorous checks on ABM outputs, and introduce its integration with NetLogo as our key technical contribution. Using two ABMs from the NetLogo library, we demonstrate the analysis capabilities of MultiVeStA and extend its transient analysis to statistically rigorous calibration, our main methodological contribution. Our tool-chain facilitates statistical checks with NetLogo models, promoting more rigorous and reliable analyses of ABM outputs.

Keywords: NetLogo; MultiVeStA; Transient Analysis; Calibration; Warmup Estimation; Steady-State Analysis (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2026-10-31
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:jas:jasssj:2025-145-3

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